Some use 1936 (since the AP poll started) in which case TCU has a win

Some use since World War II

Some use the 1992 Bowl Alliance that changed a lot of how things were handled. Honestly, that's the definition you see most often now.


Pre-bowl era: 1869-1902 (from the invention of CFB to the first Rose Bowl)

Pre-poll era: 1902-1935 (from the Rose bowl to the first AP Poll and the start of the Sugar, Cotton, and Orange bowls)

Pre-bowl Poll era: 1936-1967 (from the first AP Poll until they started annually releasing a Poll after bowl games)

Post-bowl Poll era: 1968-1992 (from first annual poll after the bowls until the Bowl Alliance Coalition, also includes the FBS/FCS split)

Modern Era: 1992-present

Note that each of those are about 30 years so it's likely that seismic changes make a new era here soon, just based on past precedent. Wouldn't surprise me if we look back and NIL kicks off a new era