The 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season saw the Alabama Crimson Tide bring home a national title with a perfect 12-0 season. The title was Alabama's 11th claimed, and their 6th Associated Press awarded title.
This was an extremely dominant Alabama team, only giving up 67 points the entire season and shutting out five opponents. The team won a tight game against LSU 3-0 and beat Auburn by a touchdown before beating Arkansas 24-9 in the Sugar Bowl.
There was very little movement at the top of the rankings throughout the season, as only three different teams held the top spot in the AP poll and only two in the UPI poll. USC was the pre-season top-ranked team, and held the number one ranking until a 21–21 tie with Stanford, a game USC led at halftime 21–0. A fumbled hold on the snap from center cost the Trojans a chance at a last-second field goal. Stanford was led by quarterback Turk Schonert, while freshman John Elway served as his backup. USC ended up finishing second in the country, but running back Charles White brought home the Heisman Trophy.
Number 2 Alabama then took over the top spot and never relinquished that position in the UPI poll. In the AP poll, however, Ohio State took over the top spot in the last regular season poll of the season. Ohio State had defeated #13 Michigan in Ann Arbor by a score of 18–15 to earn the Big 10 title. Two weeks later, Alabama defeated #14 Auburn 25-18 in Birmingham, but the AP voters saw fit to jump Ohio State ahead of them.
Thus, Ohio State came within one point of a national title under first-year coach Earle Bruce, who replaced coach Woody Hayes, falling to USC 17–16 in the Rose Bowl after an undefeated season. Taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_NCAA_Division_I-A_football_season

Final Stats:

AP Poll Summary
School	Conf	Final
Alabama	SEC	1
Southern California	Pac-10	2
Oklahoma	Big 8	3
Ohio State	Big Ten	4
Houston	SWC	5
Florida State	Ind	6
Pittsburgh	Ind	7
Arkansas	SWC	8
Nebraska	Big 8	9
Purdue	Big Ten	10
Washington	Pac-10	11
Texas	SWC	12
Brigham Young	WAC	13
Baylor	SWC	14
North Carolina	ACC	15
Auburn	SEC	16
Temple	Ind	17
Michigan	Big Ten	18
Indiana	Big Ten	19
Penn State	Ind	20
Notable NFL Players drafted in 1980
Rnd	Pick	Tm		Pos	College/Univ
1	3	CIN	Anthony Munoz HOF	T	USC
3	73	NWE	Steve McMichael	DT	Texas
1	18	WAS	Art Monk HOF	WR	Syracuse
1	10	SEA	Jacob Green	DE	Texas A&M
2	48	MIA	Dwight Stephenson HOF	C	Alabama
1	12	NOR	Stan Brock	T	Colorado
2	32	BAL	Ray Donaldson	C	Georgia
1	8	NYG	Mark Haynes	DB	Colorado
1	16	BUF	Jim Ritcher	G	North Carolina St.
2	41	NOR	Dave Waymer	DB	Notre Dame
3	70	RAM	LeRoy Irvin	DB	Kansas
2	43	OAK	Matt Millen	LB	Penn St.