The Best College Football Program Ever

I knew it!
GO BUCKS!!!

Interesting that USC is last in winning percentage but third overall. I guess the Heismans, draft picks and other "intangibles" helped them out. Being a neutral party I could agree with your findings for the most point. I tend to think that ND is overrated by a lot of college football talking heads, OSU is somewhat underrated in my opinion. And I agree that Texas is last out of these teams. I was surprised at the number of Bowl games for Alabama and the fact they have never had a Heisman winner. I also would be interested to see where a few other teams would stack up such as Miami, Auburn, Fla St and Penn St. Also, top 10 finishes and total All-Americans would be interesting additions to your ranking system.

what matters the most is championchips, that is the true measure of how great a team has been in its history. Let's go over the teams considered my many to be the best ever:

• NBA:Boston Celtics: 16 NBA Championships
• NFL:San Francisco 49ers/Dallas Cowboys/Pittsburg Steelers: 5 Super Bowl Championships
• MLB:New York Yankees: 26 World Series titles
• NHL:Montreal Canadiens: 23 Stanley Cup titles
• NCAAB:UCLA Bruins: 11 Final Four Championships

Why should NCAAF be different? Each of those teams is regarded as the best team in it's league's history, so I think that Notre Dame is the best team in College Football History

If you would follow more Ohio teams than the Buckeyes, you'd know never to expect any support for any Ohio team - even the good one - especially from ESPN.

Where is Penn State on the list?

To reply to False Prophet. Al of those teams you mention are TRUE CHAMPIONS. They earned their championships by playing their respective games to become the champion of their sport. Before BCS NCAA football champions were voted on only. There were no championship games to determine the true champ. Notre Dame has won some voted on mythical championships. But I do not believe they have won (or even played in a championship game since the BCS began.

If you ask me it makes no sense to include stuff like 1st round picks in the NFL draft. It also makes no sense to use both overall winning percentage, especially when you are not including games before 1945, and then break it down decade by decade. If you are going to use the overall record then use the actual numbers that include ALL college football games.

Having a great college football program is not just based on team success in recent history. How about records in rivalry games? Number of fans who show up to games? Maybe even how recognizable your fight song is?

Anyone who goes to college knows that football programs are about more than just wins and losses and statistics. This isn't the pros where it is all or nothing cause no professional league has the amount of parity or good teams year in and year out. Its about the atmosphere and the legacy of the team.

And you can take your statistics and be happy with them. But you'll never have the best fight song in the country nor will you have a stadium that packs in over 100,000 people every game.

And on a final note...remember that my Wolverines still have the series lead vs the Buckeyes 57-39-6.

In response to the decade winning percentage comment. I think that is a good thing. It shows that good programs don't rest on their laurels and are high performing year after year- decade by decade. Also ND has won five national championships since the fifties. If you want to go by the total number won alone then Yale would be ahead of ND since they won 14 national championships before the turn of the century, Harvard too.

the Irish have been in a down period since the creation of the BCS. And I think they have one of the 3 longest winning streaks. The Irish have been the best team since the turn of the Century. The above stats don't prove it since they only go back to 1945. This is a scam because of that. Recalculate the stats since 1901, and throw out 1st round picks, heisman trophy winners, and HOFers.

the Irish have been in a down period since the creation of the BCS. And I think they have one of the 3 longest winning streaks. The Irish have been the best team since the turn of the Century. The above stats don't prove it since they only go back to 1945. This is a scam because of that. Recalculate the stats since 1901, and throw out 1st round picks, heisman trophy winners, and HOFers.

Yeah, this was a really interesting equation, but football is about winning, not about hardware. If you're going to include things like first round draft picks, Heismans and Hall of Famers, it should be weighted. The most important thing is winning games and winning bowl games, yet you have the team with the most Hall of Famers getting as many points as the team with the best total win percentage. That doesn't seem right. It leads to weird things like having the team that's third all-time in wins, fourth on this list in all-time win percentage, and fith on the list bowl win percentage, to being the eighth best team of all-time.

I wonder if you lose points for off the field stuff? Cough Cough Miami...

If that were the case, then Clarett, his 4 guns and flak jacket would knock OSU out of the top eight, not to even mention good old OJ and USC.

I think bowl game victories should've been included in this as well or bowl game winning percentage or something. All this talk of who is better Ohio State or Michigan makes me sick. Let's not forget neither one of them ever won three Rose Bowls in a single decade. Which team did? And it's not Penn State either.

Rutgers University, the 1869 team, they were a powerhouse. It was no long after the Civil War and they really helped heal the nation with their fantastic brand of football.

Rutgers University, the 1869 team, they were a powerhouse. It was no long after the Civil War and they really helped heal the nation with their fantastic brand of football.

Anyone else ever notice that every Buckeye argument you ever hear starts with the following... "Well, from (insert year range that makes us the best in whatever statistical category I need to feel better about today), we roXors, OMG Shirtless!!, and anybody who brings up the flaw in the argument technique is the SuXors."

How about including a 47 game winning streak. You have to respect Bud Wilkinson, the players, and the University of Oklahoma! That should give the nod to OU over OSU. If OSU is so great, why can't they win bowl games? As far as the titles are concerned, there are a few errors, it looks like he gave credit for total titles to school like Bama and ND. As for Michigan, sorry but you only have two (count them 1+1=2) You have the AP and we all count that one, but in the past they had UPI, CNN/USA, and ESPN/USA so for the school listed the correct total of Titles should be as follows:

Oklahoma 13 Ohio State 7 Michigan 2 Texas 6 Nebraska 8 Notre Dame 11 Alabama 11

USC 10

this is bullock - Alabama is the best of all time

Even know I am a Nebraska Fan I think USC should be the top team.

Yeah where's total All-Americans?? You have 1st round draft picks, but no All-Americans? That doesn't make much sense. If I'm not mistaken ND would dominate that category.

And plus you said the best program in college football HISTORY! Why are we only counting since 1945? Out of these 8 teams USC was the last program to be established, but even they started up in 1905. It should at least have started back in 1905.

You being a OSU fan I have reasons to believe why you'd start at 1945. Because prior to 1945 OSU only had 3 unbeaten seasons compared to a program like ND, which had 9. ND, Michigan, USC, Nebraska, etc. dominated those early years and these programs are getting snubbed with the BS 1945 start.

Total undefeated seasons ND 17 Michigan 14 Nebraska 10 Alabama 10 USC 10 Oklahoma 9 Ohio State 8 Texas 7

I give you credit for a very good detailed experiment, but to say here's the top 8 college football programs of ALL TIME is a bit ridiculous. Maybe the best college football team since 1945.

If your talking all time then ND is the clear, hands down choice and it's not even debatable.

The real question should be: Which program is No. 2 ALL TIME? I'd personally would go with either USC or Alabama as the No. 2 team. Michigan would be 4th on my list. I know they have the best winning percentage, but they don't have the National Championships. And that is one of the highest indicators on a discussion like this.

One time, at band camp, I put a football trophy up my pussy.

In 1902, Michigan beat Ohio State 86-0. I think we all know who the better team is.

It doesn't take into account the schedules either. Because ND is an independent they routinely have one of the toughest schedules in the country. ND has the most National Championships and if you want to take away the Championships before the BCS well then you could only take into account the last 13 years which would be ridiculous for determining an all time greatest. Since the conception of the AP which determined all the Teams Championships not just ND. With that being said ND has to be the Choice with the most National Championships, what else do you base it on? Fan base? They don't play the game. Alumni, sure they may pay the players but again nothing to do with it. Heisman winners? That is just the person who put up the most stats in a given year hence so many Heisman busts. Winning percentage can be taken into account but again the schedules for teams like Texas are extremely biased. It has to be ND because they have the most National Championships ever and the most since the conception of the AP press voting the champion.

I am a Michigan fan and i will just get that out of the way right now. I also think that 1st round draft picks shouldn't be included in the formula because a lot of where a player gets drafted has to do with how he does during the combine and not how he does actually playing for thwe school (yes i know that if he plays well he will get invited but if a player gets 4.7 40-yard dash he can drop from the 2nd round all the way to being undrafted

I stick with the premise and the outcome: OHIO STATE is the best college football program EVER. Thanks for all of your comments.

AS for the Loyal Fan above... How about OSU winning some more bowl games and actually having a winning bowl record and add a few more National Championships then you can talk. Until then it's SOONER NATION No. 1

You guys are stupid. The Buckeyes are the best. The Buckeyes have the coolest uniforms in the country. They have a great football team, and their team actually emobies the overall spirit of that state. FUCK MICHIGAN. Just wait till November 18th, 2006 mofucka! The Wolverines' are gonna be crying like a BITCH.

Prescott Burgess: "OMG I CANT STOP FUCKING CRYING CUZ WE LOST 27-7 to OHIO STATE, IM SUCH A FUCKING BITCH FOR NOT PLAYING FOR OHIO STATE!"

Fuck Oklahoma. I dont know what dumb fucker would play for the Sooners. Your fight song is annoying, and your a bunch of queers, and losers. The TROJANS FUCKING KILLED JOO! 55-19 member? My god, that was fucking hilarious seeing that dumb bitch Jason White loose. Yah thats right, 55-19 fuck head Stoops, so don't go fucking crying to yo fucking momma.

USC. Fuck the Trojans. Will beat you to in football! You fucking stink!

MATT LEINART: MY FUCKING GOD, AJ HAWK JUST FUCKING LAID OUT REGGIE BUSH... OH I FORGOT, WE FUCKING SUCK!

Thats what would happen if 05 Trojans and 05 Buckeyes played.

Texas. You aint shit, without VY. You wanna spell liar?... its spelled VINCE YOUNG. A no good trickster, and fucking liar to the Longhorn nation.

VINCE YOUNG: "DUDE, IM FO FUCKING SURE IM GUNA RETURN FOR MY SENIOR SEASON, I FUCKING PROMISE! OH SHIT LEE CORSO, DID YOU SAY WE HAVE TO PLAY OHIO STATE? FUCK, IM GOING TO THE NFL!

ALABAMA. Asshole. Losers. Assfuck. Bitches. Mommyfucker. Assbitch. Thats what ALABAMA STANDS FOR MOTHERFUCKER! I hate Alabama. They can stick their fucking fingers up their ass, and debate how good they were, no matter what they couldn't beat fucking Ohio State.

NEBRASKA. A bunch of fucking overachievers. Did you know, Tom Osbourne didn't call plays, and barely fucking advised his players. He just landed great fast players. SHIT! APPARENTLY NOBODY GIVES A SHIT SO FUCK HIM!

TOM OSBOURNE: I DONT FUCKING NO FOOTBALL, I JUST TELL THEM TO RUN. BUT I AM THE BEST COACH IN COLLEGE.

MIAMI. A Bunch of fucking no good fucking THUGS. We beat your fucking 2002 fucking squad bitch. And we would have spoiled your 2001 team to, so fuck you Larry Coker! You just inheirted what Butch Davis fucking brought to that fucking THUG invested campus.

LARRY COKER: "HI IM A DUMBFUCK. I CAN'T COACH. I GOT BUTCH'S PLAYERS, SO ILL HAVE GOOD JOB SECURITY FOR AWHILE. FUCK YOUUUU!!! PLUS MAN, I CANT WAIT TILL OUR FUCKING PLAYERS FUCKING BEAT THE SHIT OUTTA FIU, DONT FUCKING COME INTO OUR HOUSE LIKE THAT FUCKBAG!

Ohio State's tradition, and the best damn band in the land will fuck your stupid fuck programs. Go Buckeyes! FUCK YOU!!!!!

Anonymous Fanatic #14 poses a solid argument.

As for the stats, why *was* the decision made to only go back to 1945? If you're going on voting don't you have to go to 1936, the first year sportswriters actually voted on college football?

And one more question: why didn't you include the 40s as a decade for winning percentage? It only makes sense if all other stats go to '45.

Those questions coupled with the other flaws presented makes it seem that, for all the work you did, it wasn't thought through very well.

Fanatic #14 is a fucking dumbass! You want to bring uniforms and bands into a debate about the best college football team... OK, I give the nod to Bama for uniforms for holding on to the tradition of still having numbers on the helmets. As for the bands, that goes to Texas A&M. Watch them perform just once and you'll forget all about all the queers that cross the "T" or dot the"i", or whatever you lame fucks do.

You should have a winning bowl game percentage in order to be the best college program ever. Go Figure, that's when you play quality teams and as the record shows OSU isn't on the winning side of that now are they??? Answer that #14???

At least OU has played for three titles in the past 6 years. Can't say that for osu now can we.

The only reason your sick of our fight song is because you hear it all the time!!!!

BOOMER SOONER, were coming to the lil coral and were gonna kick your ass!!!

Statistically, the way this "experiment" was set-up is nonsense. Points were given for best winning percentage since 1945 and then MORE POINTS were given for each decade (so it's being double counted), but not for the 1940's. Why was 1945 the starting point, but then 1950's the first decade? And whoever said that these categories should be "weighted" is absolutely right....why is "1st-round draft picks" given the same importance as "overall winning percentage since 1945"? And why is "winning percentage in the 1960's" just as important as "overall winning percentage". I mean, it's good conversation material for sure, but as far as being statistically sound...there are too many flaws. The categories could be tweaked in so many different ways, that we could come up with a way for each team to be the #1. Like someone said - why not include records since 1901? Another person doesn't think 1st round draft picks matter. So, OSU fans would probably support any method that made their team #1, and ND fans would like to go back to 1901.

I like to look at this more like "what programs have been the most dominant" in the history of the game......not just one team....but several. In the early 1980's, I had done some research on the topic (sure things have changed since then), but for the most part the teams are the same. The top 11 teams at that time (at least in my opinion) were:

Independent: Notre Dame Penn State

SEC: Alabama Tennessee

SWC: Texas Arkansas

Big 8: Oklahoma Nebraska

Big 10: Ohio State Michigan

Pac-10:

USC

When I read what I wrote (above), it comes off sounding negative. I'm not knocking the effort you put into it, because it's more than most other people have ever bothered to do - I was just speaking about the statistics of it. But, there is no doubt (and I'm a USC fan) that Ohio State has been an absolute powerhouse in college football. But, so have the other programs mentioned.....and that's what makes Oklahoma vs. Nebraska, Ohio State vs. Michigan, Texas vs. Oklahoma, Alabama vs. Auburn, Notre Dame vs. USC such exciting games to watch. It's the best of the best going at it. Peace out......

One thing you can say about numbers is that they don't lie...

I'm glad Ohio State is about to win this game today, but Ohio State hasn't even dominated the series against Michigan. I believe Michigan has a better record in the series (by more than a little bit) and Michigan has also had more undefeated seasons.

That's why I think Notre Dame is often considered the best program...they have DOMINATED every one of their rivalries...and they have more than 1 big rivalry.

I'm not sure that Ohio State could be considered for best program all-time until they get ahead in their series vs. Michigan....and that won't be happening in the next 10 years!

Well - if nothing else, we know who the best College Football team in 2006 is.

HELLO all you fucking ohio state fans. In order to have a Great College Football Program you have to fucking win when it really counts... Like Bowl Games! Sure you can beat up on the MAC teams but when you play a quality opponent in a bowl you LOSE!!! Get a winning bowl percentage and we will talk. Until then shut the fuck up you lame ass bitches!

fuck all u guys, nebraska is def the best college program ever. tom osburne was a great coach. give our new program 2 more years and we'll be back up in the spotlight like we should, we'll fuck anyone up. GO HUSKERS!!!!!!!!!!

you put a lot of time into this and i like it!!!!!!!OSU#1

Maybe they ought to divide the total number of points received by the number of years the school has had a program. All of these schools have had programs for over 100 years...thus having a lot of years to accumulate "points". And let's face it, was the competition in the first 70 years of the 20th century really that good? Are their accomplishments really that impressive? How about FSU? They've only been around for 50 years and have got to stack up fairly well against this competition. Thoughts?

Alabama has 12 national championships, the most NCAA Bowl Appearances, A LARGE NUMBER OF wINS IN THE BOWL GAMES (36) And we had bear brant as a coach so fuck all of ou guys.

Head/Assistant Coach at The Ohio State University

Woody Hayes-5 national titles Bo Schembechler-U of Mich Bob Stoops-Oklahoma U-1 national title Jim Tressel- OSU-1 national title Ara Parseghian- ND-2 national titles Lou Holtz- ND-1 national title Larry Coker- Miami -1 national title Nick Saban- Alabama/LSU-1 national title Urban Myer- UF- 1 national title Howard Jones- USC- 4 national titles

Other notables coashes/assistants at OSU

Paul Brown Sid Gillman Mark Dantonio Lovie smith

This doesn’t include a lot of significant coaches…

Oklahoma is number one in a LOT of categories, can't argue that! GO SOONERS!!!!

USC did not finish in the top 10 for over a decade till Carroll showed up. Now they are going to have to forfeit all games Reggie Bush played in to include their 1.5 National Titles in the last 30 years. Ohio State needed help from the zebras to win against Miami in 02 and they were truly exposed for how good they really are against the Gators this last season. Good example of how the Big 10 compares to the SEC and with Michigan's fine showing against USC just reinforces how good the only two teams in that conference are. NCAA Football is nothing like it was in those days long ago with only a few good teams routing everybody else. Even back then, nobody ever got or ever will get close to 14 straight seasons in the top 5 (maybe UCLA in hoops with 11 final 4 appearances) like FSU from '87 to 2000. Check the Wall Street Journal's Dow Jones College-Football Success Index rating of over 250 teams. Nobody is even close to FSU baby. Unless you are in ancient times of course, and the only folks who flaunt that trash are the fans whose teams have fell off the map since the modern era began in the 80's. Grab some tissue and let it all out... Go Noles!

And why isn't % of graduates per program part of this discussion? After all, this is a discussion of the best "COLLEGE" program, correct?

It is funny an Ohio State Fan begins his discussion of this subject in 1945 when two of the greatest programs in college football Michigan and Notre Dame had great success before 1945. It is not our fualt OSU didn't hit a full head of steam till after WWII. Ohio State easily gets placed behind U of M and ND in this discussion because of the longevity of the program and Win percentages(all time). Skew the facts a little more, GO BLUE

Anonymous Fanatic #14....you do know 'Bama is UNDEFEATED against Ohio St., right?

3-0 against 'em.

Now, as a 'Bama fan, I can potentiall aknowledge Notre Dame as being slightly higher than the Tide, but no other. Not to say, Oklahoma isn't on par though.

Roll Tide.

The Shark,

Just stumbled across your “The Best College Football Program Ever.”

I would like to share two other formulas with you.

In 1997, there was an article in the Blue & Gold (Notre Dame's) magazine, which used the following criteria:

---

Final Ranking: One hundred points for a national championship (AP rankings only). For a No. 2 ranking, 50 points were awarded. A final ranking of 3-5 was worth 30 points. Nos. 5-10 was worth 10 points.

Bowl Games: A trip to a bowl game contributes to the tradition of a program. The paper gave 10 points for going to a bowl, a 20-point bonus for a victory, and a 10-point bonus for a tie. There were also bonuses for success in the Big Four bowls (Orange, Cotton, Rose and Sugar). A victory in one of these bowls was worth an additional 20 points (10 points for a tie).

Winning: Points were awarded based on the school’s all-time percentage. A .500 was worth zero points. Each point above or below .500 was worth two points. (Example: a .550 all-time mark is worth 100 points and a .425 all-time mark was worth 150 points.) Also, schools were given one point for each victory by the school’s all-time Winningest coach.

Honors: A Heisman Trophy was worth half a national championship (50 points). Schools got 20 points for a player taken No. 1 overall in the NFL draft, 10 points for every consensus All-American pick and 10 points for every member of the College Football Foundation Hall of Fame.

Miscellaneous: Schools were rewarded small bonuses for two other aspects – having a nickname unique to Division I-A (20 points), and having a traditional, season-ending opponent (15 points). There was also a bonus for stadium capacity. The school was awarded two points per 1,000 capacity, although the number was cut in half if the stadium is an off-campus facility.

---

I was so impressed with this, but did not necessary like everything included in the formula/criteria.

So, I created my own formula/criteria and each year I get the current “Official NCAA Football Record Book”, along with Richard Billingsley's "All Time Top Programs" (Rating) to tally everything up.

Mr. Billingsley has dedicated and spent nearly 40 years of research towards college football. Also, he is the creator of one of the few mathematical polls is used in the BCS formula.

http://www.n...rds_book.pdf

http://www.c...ams_2006.htm

My formula/criteria is based on the following:

• Wins; • Winning Percentage; • Richard Billingsley's ATTP Rating; • Academic All-Americans; • Consensus All-Americans; • Bowl Games, w/Bonus for Major/BCS Bowl Games; • Mythical National Champions, from selected polls, research & math base formula publications.

College Football’s Top 25 All-Time Greatest Programs Through the 2006 Season

1. Notre Dame – 2102 2. Michigan – 2086 3. Ohio State – 1987 4. Nebraska – 1980 5. Texas – 1960 6. Oklahoma – 1950 7. Alabama – 1948 8. Southern California – 1943 9. Penn State – 1863 10. Tennessee – 1851 11. Georgia – 1699 12. Louisiana State – 1673 13. Auburn – 1631 14. Georgia Tech – 1597 15. Washington – 1596 16. Pittsburgh – 1589 17. Florida – 1580 18. Texas A&M – 1574 19. Colorado – 1573 20. Syracuse – 1554 21. Arkansas – 1553 22. Minnesota – 1540 23. Miami, Florida – 1536 24. Army – 1526 25. West Virginia – 1517

Thanks,

Buckeye Steve

ok well heres the deal.. ohio state is 6-1 against michigan since tressle has been around. no other rivalry is bigger than the ohio state michgan football game. i dont think there is another SPORT culture than at the shoe with 105 thousand people screaming and yelling for ohio state to beat michigan. or 111 thousand people sitting on the ass watching there team getting beat two weeks in a row at home to start off the season. one against a division 1AA team and gettting their asses kicked by oregon today. playing in the ohio state michigan game is not like any other game u will ever play in. it does not matter who has the better players, its who wants it more. its all about the strategies to beat one another. THE ohio state buckeyes has preduced some of the best COLLEGE football players ever. thats what this whole thing should be about anyways. college stats. they have the only 2 heisman winner(robbed freshman year) and is tied for the most ever among schools. they techniquely are in the win because it only counts personnels winning. but after WWII, ohio state and michigan go back and forth, back and forth. but ohio state has a better win percentage in the country since then. so obviously they are the better team there. but u guys can argue about, "oh, we killed them before that". well guess what, before WWII, yale was the best team. they won 17 national championships before then.

and right now, it pretty much looks like lloyd carr is out of ann arbor michgan. lost to appalachian state, and oregon. consecutive losses at home to start off a season. something that hasnt been doen for almost 50 years. but tressel is just beginning. he has a national championship, 4 bowl wins, a heisman winner, maybe one of the best NFL classes ever, a 6-1 record against michigan, and tbdbitl allll on his side. oh and that little #8 fan is retarded. when was the last time michigan won a bowl? 3...4...5 years? oh and oklahoma got blown out worse then ohio state did, and we probably even played a better team. so tell me, how could they not be the best program ever? the best team since 1945, and the best damn band in the land

ann arbor is a whore!!!!!!!! fuck michigan!!!!!! we dont give a damn for the whole state of michigan!!!!!!

GOO BUCKEYES!!!! O---H---I---O!!

i dont know how u can call ohio state a tier 2 program when first of all, notre dame hasnt wona bowl game in ten years, the trojans did not have a ranked team up untill 7 years ago, and the crimson tide havent done shit in the past 10-15 years... the buckeyes have had a winning season for 10 years plus. been to a bowl game ever since 1994, and have a better winning percentage off both of those teams in history.. and plus, USC is just a complete ban wagon team and that is coming from someone who lives in southern california. all of the people that live here just root for them cause OMG, there good and they are from around here. but being a buckeye fan and going to plenty of ohio state game and plenty of USC games, there is not a more traditional school in the country. ohio states atmosphere is way beyond USC's. the crowd is more loud and into the game then USC. just the way ohio state fans devote their LIFE to the buckeyes is amazing. so please, tell me a better traditional team then ohio state

Since there are probably six to ten teams that seem to be a cut above the rest, then a variety of factors must be considered to break the logjam. I believe a truly great program can be sustained over a long period of time. Yes, every one of these programs has had down time, it is only natural. At the moment it is ND. However, if a team is truly great, it should have been a factor as a national prescence before 1950. There is no way Florida State or Miami can be considered for this, they have not been around long enough. If the last 25 years are considered, I would put them one and two. Yes, there are some factors that can be added to what you have, but for the most part, the criteria used seems valid to me. I think I would include the national championships from as far back as 1936, considering that is when one of the major polls began. I don't think it is fair to include the 19th century. How many teams really played football before about 1895? By the 1920s, I think things were established by then to consider such a question. Also consider the stadiums. When were all the great stadiums built; in the 1920s! Ohio Stadium and Michigan Stadium are two examples. Don't you think it is also clear that if a major media poll began a national poll in the 1930s, then that is about the time tradition really became a factor large enough to merit this poll. I read that your poll adversely affected Michigan and Notre Dame because you started so late in your rankings. Does that same person realize Ohio State had a national championship in 1942? Another thought is to contact some writers from various newspapers and ask what they think. I will bet you would read a few things you have not considered. If tradition is considered as a primary factor in your poll, then the one question that must be asked is this. When the average fan is ask who is a great program, what teams immediately pop into his mind? You are either a great team or you are not. One feather in the cap of Notre Dame that no other school can claim... how many college programs are considered worthy of having its own television contract? NBC considers ND worthy enough. Can any other school do that? I am not a ND supporter, but that is impressive. I believe ND or USC is probably the greatest program ever. Then I believe the third or fourth spots include either Michigan or Alabama. After that I think it is a toss up between Ohio State and Oklahoma. The next group, in my opinion includes Texas, Nebraska, Penn State and a few teams from the SEC (take your pick). Your thoughts?

i think you are right.. but if u started from the turn of the century in 1900, the best team ever would have to be yale. they have won by far the most national titles but they arent good now. it is seriously a complete thrown up on who the best college football team ever is. whoever somebody roots for is going to be who they think is the best team ever. im a dieheart buckeye fan. i cried on that 4-12 at the 2003 national championship game and completely hated the buckeyes this past january. but the sec and the pac ten have not been big conferences really in their history. excuse me, the sec has NOT been a huge conference till the later years. it was always the big ten and the sec really. but the big ten has always been the bigger conference in the country. just an opinion. but i think that ohio state might still be the best team ever if u conclude tradition, school band, stadium, and mostly... the committment and love for the buckeyes that fans give. there is not one more fan basis in the country that loves there football team then the ohio state buckeyes. people thought that when we played notre dame at the fiesta bowl a couple years ago that there would be more notre dame fan, but there seriously wasnt nearly as much. there was twice as many buckeye fans there and i think thats the most important part of a college football program. so thats just why i think ohio state is the best ever. but just an opinion.

so leave a comment and say what you think

Your 'statistical analysis' is lame. You have pitiful knowledge of measurement as you have taken continuous data and referenced it into discrete data for scoring. Win pct is just that, a %. You have rewarded a team winning 75.3% of its games with 800% of the points that a team winning 69.1% of its games. That is hardly fair and accurate. Perhaps you chose these criteria because your mind subconciously knew that this scoring system would reach your foregone conclusion that Ohio State was the greatest program ever. This is a crappy meta-analysis. Go get your Ph.D in some form of mathematics before you run off conducting a 'study' based on 'facts' and your rudimentary form of analysis.

ALABAMA HAS 12 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS CLAIMED BY THE UNIVERSITY. We really have 17, but we don't claim 5 for some reason. This should at least show our 12.

alabama,usc, and notre dame do not have that many National titles, i found out that if Oklahoma was to count ALL of their national titles, they would have 16

the debate should be based on national championships, winning percentage, and bowl wins. Not all americans, first round drafts picks, or winning percentage. In addition if you counted records before 1942 you would be acknowledging teams like harvard, yale, and princeton who we all know are a joke. In addition as far as the comments by the ignorant alabama and nd fans go no one has more then 8 national championships (notre dame)(oklahoma 2nd with 7). If you are in doubt check the really reputable sources like espn or the back of a fucking spirit shirt at the university the only people who claim 12 are the dumb mother fuckers who go there.

Its funny how you say of all time and yet you only list since 1945. How is what happened in 1930 any less important than what happened in 1945? You did it that way simply because it favors Ohio State. Otherwise you know Michigan would be #1. The only other school that can claim the all-time title is Notre Dame, except Michigan has been much better in recent years, so the title goes to Michigan. Ohio State fans claim they dont care about Michigans past, but you have no problem including stats from 1945?

go husker 1983 team was the best offence ever

if you counted winning % from 1900 until the present i'm pretty sure that Alabama would be higher on the list.

5 championships since 70'- 387 consecutive sellouts at home- three heismans- 42 consecutive bowl trips- 71' and 95' two of the greatest teams ever voted on by ESPN- top 3 winningest cach of all time- greatest college tradition voted on by ESPN- top 3 in all-americans since 85'- and the only defence in the nation with nationwide nickname BLACKSHIRTS!! the list could go on and on but then ESPN would have to start paying me for the amount of content i left! GO HUSKERS

j

u guys are crazy ohio state is #1 all day 5 championships 7 heisman tied for 1st so many all americans and also have the player to win the heisman in a twice row archie griffin the best dam band in the land best coach jim tressel also have ledgends like eddie george, orlando pace, chris speilman, archie griffin, chris carter, and many more recently ted ginn,troy smith,donte winter,aj hawk, nate clements, fuck it u know too many and yeah i know we lost 2 ships in a row but again were gonna get there this year and win it were to loaded

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE #1 TEAM IN THE COUNTRY.....TEAM OF THE CENTURY! MOST 10 WIN SEASONS, MOST BOWLS, MOST BOWL WINS, MOST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! GREATEST COACH EVER, PAUL "BEAR" BRYANT!!! BAMA RULES THE COUNTRY!!! SABAN WILL TAKES US TO CHAMPIONSHIP # 13!!!! ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROLL OVER EVERYONE ESSPECIALLY THE SORRY ASS IRISH AND THE FUCKEYES! ROOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDE!

I'm glad they did this list based since 1945, all other lists are since the 1880's which isn't fair to Oklahoma which wasn't even a state back then. They are usually 4 to 6 but now they're 2 i like it!!!!

I am a huge osu fan and i understand we have been outplayed the last few years by sec teams. But our program is not shit. Fucking Pryor is the shit.

Iowa Hawkeyes are the best program ever Hawkeye Pride!!!!!!!!!

michigan is the best ever. they have the most wins ever. until last year, they had the longest streak of bowl games in college fb. this year was the worst in history, but i believe rich rod can bring them back. also most winningest program in college fb. # 48 iowa hawkeyes suck at every sport shut the fuck up. osu should not be in the top 5

BOOMER SOONER!!! Going to capture National Championship # 8 in Miami...

OMG notre dame! buckeyes! NO! lets talk about #1! the USC TROJANS! ok sooners, no, they have theyre moment, but to be respected EVERY YEAR! like the trojans have, u cant be over rated, ohio state......dont get me started with the irish. its not about the hardware, thats why i dont like the bowl system, the rankings rnt statistic wise, there favor wise, iv been wahtching and following college football for a LONG time trojans #1

I respectfully agree with the original posting. Good stats. Good evaluation. As for the comment on switzer owning dr tom read the article in which Barry Switzer accredited his success to Devaney's Husker program. He copied everything about Devaney's program. No diss on Switzer he was a legend, but he accredited Nebraska for his success. T.O. took devaney's success and made 10 undefeated seasons and five national championships. GBR

Michigan has most wins ever they're the best. Done. And whatever someone said about Ohio state having the coolest uniforms.... They were just gonna be gray until ALL THOSE PUSSYS HAD THEIR PERIOD ON THEIR UNIFORMS!!! Fuck OSU go UM

This is such a bogus forum. lol What a loser fact that through the post modern age of football Nebraska wins hands down.

Overall Michigan has the most wins and one of the best percentages and National titles to go with it.

As far as titles go Alabama and USC hands down, but also remember the press only looked at the media Darlings USC when they won a majority of thier titles.

What happened to the 1890-1940...... did it just not happen?

That is why this is bogus.

The concept of what is the greatest college football program of all time can be interpreted in so many different ways that it's virtually impossible to ever come to a reasonable conclusion. Personally I think college football has just gotten so far away from it's original intention, and so corrupt the argument shouldn't be who's the best college football program, but rather who's the best at turning out NFL talent, because all division 1 college football is now is the NFL's minor league, which is a shame because that was never the intention of college football.

that is bull crap OU is the best of all time by far

u of m has most win ans best winning % to go with it and what 11 nt's you notice it wasnt till 1945 that ohio st started really competing with mich u of m won first 15 games against ohio st. and dominated the series and against all their rivals at that and any other team not to mention their accademics is far better than the rest of the teams too but notre dame all the others like usc and oklahoma are just football factories and thats it u of m is the supior collage not osu.

So one point, 1948-1975 big ten teams were not allowed to attend any bowl except for the Rose bowl and it was only the conf champ that season and they couldn't attend 2 years in a row until 1972. That being said both OSU and Michigan would have had higher points for the "bowl game section", and a higher bowl win pct as well. Both Michigan and OSU would have been at another 8-12 bowl games in that time frame where a few of those seasons they only lost to the other. If you add 11 to OSU and 9 to Michigan and adjust there bowl win pct up a bit like what would be reasonable had those restrictions not been in place. Under your logic you would adjust scores by -2 to Oklahoma, +7 OSU, +5 Michigan, -4 to texas and nebraska, and +1 USC. With new order, as much as it pains me, OSU with an overwhelming lead of 76, USC at 67, Oklahoma at 66, Michigan at 65, Alabama at 60.5 and Notre Dame at 57.5 still, Nebraska at 52 and Texas at 48. Not changing the order to much

GO BUCKEYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ohio state is trash

can't spell c_ck _ _ckers without OSU!

GO BLUE!!!