NCAA says Bama has 17

I wrote an email to Jay Barker and he read it on the air this morning about the number of Alabama's national championships. Until the NCAA has a playoff, we will always have this "controversy" about the number each school wins. However, the University claims 12 national championships and some have come in question from critics over the years. Especially the 1941 title where Alabama went 9-2 and lost to Vanderbilt and Miss. State. I wasn't around and can't comment on the validity of it but I always point to the OFFICIAL NCAA record book which keeps these national championship claims. What I found several years ago is that the NCAA credits Alabama with a total of 17, not 12. You can dispute whether they are valid or not but I think it is interesting that the University didn't inflate the number to 17 which is recognized by the NCAA. In that same tally, Notre Dame is listed by the NCAA as having the most with 19. The groups who named national champions in the earlier days were the prelude to the AP and UPI(now ESPN/USA Today) football polls.