OMAHA, Neb. – One of the subplots to Florida winning the College World Series last season was that it joined an exclusive club with the title.

The Gators, it was widely publicized, became just the fourth school to win a national championship in the three major sports – football, men’s basketball and baseball. Michigan, Ohio State and UCLA are the others.

Naturally, when Arkansas advanced to the championship series of this year’s College World Series, some fans were quick to bring that up and say the Razorbacks could be No. 5 on that list. However, it’s not quite that simple.

Arkansas’ 1964 national title in football falls outside a qualification for that statistic: It was not awarded by the Associated Press poll or United Press International coaches’ poll.

Despite being the only undefeated major college football team that season, the Razorbacks were passed over by the AP and UPI for the title. The reason might be hard for young fans to comprehend.

Long before controversy arose surrounding the BCS and College Football Playoff, national champions were actually determined before bowl games. In 1964, Arkansas and Alabama each went 10-0 during the regular season. At that point, the Crimson Tide were declared champions.

The Football Writers’ Association of America, though, waited until after the postseason. That proved to benefit the Razorbacks because they beat Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl to remain undefeated and Texas – which Arkansas beat during the season – knocked off Alabama in the Orange Bowl.

Those results made it clear that the Razorbacks were the true national champion, but didn’t change the fact that the two major selectors didn’t recognize them that year.

If the criteria for football are expanded to include Arkansas’ 1964 title, there are some other schools that would also join the “triple crown” club. Their claims in football have varying degrees of legitimacy.

California won the first College World Series in 1947 and again in 1957. Two years after its second baseball title, it won the 1959 men’s basketball tournament.

In football, the Golden Bears claim five national championships. The first four were retroactively claimed for 1920-23, a stretch in which they went 36-0-2. Cal also claims the 1937 title, when it went 10-0-1 and finished No. 2 in the AP poll behind Pittsburgh (9-0-1). The Dunkel System – a power index based on math – named it the champion at the time and the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively did as well.

Another school on the west coast, Stanford, has similar claims. The Cardinal won the 1942 men’s basketball tournament and consecutive College World Series in 1987 and 1988. They also claim two football titles.

In 1926, the Dickinson System – a mathematical formula that became the first widespread national champion selector before the AP – gave Stanford the title after a 10-0-1 season. Retroactive selectors, such as Helms and the National Championship Foundation, awarded a split title with Stanford and Alabama (9-0-1).

The Cardinal also claim the 1940 title, when it went 10-0 and finished No. 2 in the AP poll behind Minnesota (8-0). The Poling system, another mathematical formula, declared it the champion at the time and Helms retroactively did as well.

The only other school that has any case for a “triple crown” of national titles is Holy Cross. The small Catholic school in Massachusetts was a powerhouse in the middle of the 20th century, winning the men’s basketball tournament in 1947 and the College World Series five years later.

Holy Cross also enjoyed some success in football, even playing in the 1946 Orange Bowl, but its best team came at the worst time. Led by Gordie Lockbaum, who finished third in Heisman Trophy voting, the Crusaders went 10-0 in 1987 and finished No. 1 in the Division I-AA (now FCS) poll. However, they had recently joined the Colonial – now Patriot – League, which deemphasized football and didn’t allow its teams to participate in the DI-AA playoffs.

It is important to note that Holy Cross does not claim the 1987 national championship, so there are only six schools – California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, Stanford and UCLA – that claim titles in all three sports.

Arkansas would become the seventh if it wins the best-of-three championship series that begins at 6 p.m. Monday against Oregon State.