How would you rank the top 10 college football programs of all-time?

saturdaysarebet

3rd Team
Jul 26, 2018
222
24
42
How would you rank the top 10 college football programs of all-time?

Alabama
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Oklahoma
Ohio State
Notre Dame (since they haven't won a NC in over 30 years and have only had a few really good seasons in that time, before CNS arrived in Alabama I might have had them at one.)
USC
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Texas
Nebraska
Michigan
Penn State
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Tennessee
 

Gallowglas

All-SEC
Jan 6, 2008
1,247
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Hendersonville, TN
Probably some recency bias and bias against Notre Dame's refusal to join a conference. I also give some weight to the "product" of the school with regard to its fan base. National titles also are kind of the ultimate litmus test. Nonetheless, here's my decidedly partisan list:

Alabama
Ohio State
Oklahoma
USC
Michigan
Notre Dame
Nebraska
Texas
Miami
Florida State (although I'm torn between them and PSU)
 
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UntouchableCrew

All-SEC
Nov 30, 2015
1,530
338
102
1. Alabama
2. USC
3. Notre Dame
4. Ohio State
5. Oklahoma
6. Michigan
7. Nebraska
8. Texas
9. Miami
10. Florida

I agree that there's a noticeable gap between the top five (Alabama, USC, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oklahoma) and the next tier, though. Everyone else on that list has noticeable flaws -- Michigan has the history and total wins but has only won 1 national title in 50 years, Miami doesn't have the history but has short spurts of dominance, etc.) You could mix up the list between 6-15 (throwing in LSU, Georgia, Florida State, Penn State) but I think the top five is pretty clear.
 

Bamachamps

BamaNation Citizen
Nov 14, 2017
71
44
42
1. Alabama
2. USC
3. Notre Dame
4. Ohio State
5. Oklahoma
6. Michigan
7. Nebraska
8. Texas
9. Miami
10. Florida

I agree that there's a noticeable gap between the top five (Alabama, USC, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oklahoma) and the next tier, though. Everyone else on that list has noticeable flaws -- Michigan has the history and total wins but has only won 1 national title in 50 years, Miami doesn't have the history but has short spurts of dominance, etc.) You could mix up the list between 6-15 (throwing in LSU, Georgia, Florida State, Penn State) but I think the top five is pretty clear.
Sad what has happened to Nebraska. I wonder if they ever make a come back?
 

bamamick

All-American
Feb 22, 2005
2,047
219
82
The 'all time' thing makes this very difficult to do. Miami and Florida have no business on an 'all time' list. School like Army and Yale should most likely be on any list like this.

rtr
 

jabcmb

All-American
Feb 1, 2006
2,792
318
107
Birmingham, AL
The 'all time' thing makes this very difficult to do. Miami and Florida have no business on an 'all time' list. School like Army and Yale should most likely be on any list like this.

rtr
Agree, about a third of the SEC teams not named Florida would go on my list before Miami or Florida. A “last 40 years” list would likely include those Florida schools.
I think the original poster had a good list except I would sub LSU for the orange things, who self-eliminated from any list that might have a positive connotation.
 

BamaJama17

Hall of Fame
Sep 17, 2006
16,365
8
47
34
Hoover, AL
Well I guess we are talking Tennessee and Nebraska pre 2000... in the 21st century and post 9/11 era they haven’t even won a conference championship. Notre Dame is on a now 30 year drought of an NC. Michigan really only has its name to fall back but in the last 20 years I’d put them above Nebraska and Tennessee. Penn State just below Tennessee, Nebraska, and Michigan but Joe Pa got robbed a few times for being a a perceived weak schedule and an independent during most of his tenure. Texas has horribly underachieved thanks to Stoops and OU since 2000.
 
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UntouchableCrew

All-SEC
Nov 30, 2015
1,530
338
102
The 'all time' thing makes this very difficult to do. Miami and Florida have no business on an 'all time' list. School like Army and Yale should most likely be on any list like this.

rtr
I guess I was more thinking about it within the context of the modern era. "All Time" is a tough qualifier. But I doubt many here would be impressed with a list that had Princeton and Yale being ahead of Alabama.
 

Redwood Forrest

Hall of Fame
Sep 19, 2003
11,042
907
237
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Boaz, AL USA
This would probably be more accurate if we had three eras. Before WWII, after WWII and after Cable TV took the game over. That would no doubt have some different teams in each three sections.
 

NationalTitles18

TideFans Legend
May 25, 2003
29,635
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Mountainous Northern California
1. Alabama

No program has won games and championships as consistently over time. Top 5 all-time wins and win percentage. Unsurpassed in national titles (save for #10). Claims NT's in every decade from the 1920's on except for the '50's and 80's.

2. USC

Could interchange with #3 or #4, but I favor consistency in championships slightly over consistency in wins.

3. Notre Dame

Some want to use recency bias against them despite the fact they remain relevant, playing in one BCSNCG and the playoff last year. There are few who can measure up to Alabama over time and until CNS came along this program was arguably number one all-time. The trend is downward, but that doesn't remove history. The recent dirth of championships compared to #2 does take them further down the list than I expected.

4. Michigan

Number one in all-time wins and the same number of titles as numbers 2-3, but titles are front-loaded. Hard to believe 49 years passed between their next to last and last title, with the last being 22 years ago. Could easily put Ohio St here, but this is all-time and not all-recent.

5. Ohio St

Later start to their greatness than Michigan and if based on the last 70 years only would easily outrank their hated rival. hmmmmmm...(sorry, couldn't resist)

6. Oklahoma

fact: 4 teams have as many or more titles than OU -Princeton, Yale, Pitt (what?! It's true, though), and Harvard - but Pitt is the only one to be relevant in the last 60-80 years with its last title in 1976 and falling a little short in 1981. That said, OU has been more consistent and is still quite relevant while the others aren't really even in the picture any more.

7. Nebraska

Similar resume to #8, but one more title tips the balance.

8. Texas

#4 in terms of wins, but only 4 titles.

9. Tennessee

More titles than #7-8, and though still top 10 in wins they lag far behind the Cornhuskers and Longhorns in wins and win percentage.

10. Tie: Princeton/Yale

No, they aren't relevant today but are still more deserving of a mention here than others based on a number of factors. This is an all-time list, after all. These were the early powerhouses of college football and paved the way for others. Several others have been more relevant of late, but they have their own deficiencies in terms of wins, winning percentage, number of titles, and consistency (not to mention sportsmanship and moral fortitude). The pickings are really slim by this point, so why not honor the two teams with more titles together than the next 4 teams behind them including Alabama, ND, UM, and USC?
 
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IndyBison

1st Team
Dec 22, 2013
386
106
62
How about programs like Mount Union and North Dakota State that have dominated other levels? They don't compete directly with these teams but for their level they have been dominating programs.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
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How about programs like Mount Union and North Dakota State that have dominated other levels? They don't compete directly with these teams but for their level they have been dominating programs.
IMO, you cannot rank them with P5 programs. If either had to play in a P5 conference, they would have achieved absolutely nothing. But they are absolutely among the best lower division programs in history - just on a different list.
 

81usaf92

TideFans Legend
Apr 26, 2008
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South Alabama
If either had to play in a P5 conference, they would have achieved absolutely nothing. .
I don't know about that. NDSU has made a habit of embarrassing BIG 10 and BIG 12 teams over the years, and their inclusion to a P5 conference could effectively kill recruiting bases like Nebraska and Minnesota. I know it sounds crazy but in many cases the difference between going to Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota as opposed to NDSU for a South Dakota and Northern Iowa recruit is exposure.

I'm not saying NDSU would be beating teams like Oklahoma, Ohio st, or Michigan if they were to join either, but its not unrealistic for them to be a middle of the pack to a slightly above middle of the pack contender.
 

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
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I don't know about that. NDSU has made a habit of embarrassing BIG 10 and BIG 12 teams over the years,
Have they ever beat a top 10 ranked team, much less 2 or 3 in a season? Boise State and Central Florida are teams like NDSU. Very talented for their level of competition, but have them play a complete P5 schedule and their lack of depth becomes obvious. Even Notre Dame would have smoked NDSU this year, and they were far and away the weakest team in the CFP. NDSU loses by 30+ points to all of the CFP teams this year.
 

81usaf92

TideFans Legend
Apr 26, 2008
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South Alabama
Have they ever beat a top 10 ranked team, much less 2 or 3 in a season? Boise State and Central Florida are teams like NDSU. Very talented for their level of competition, but have them play a complete P5 schedule and their lack of depth becomes obvious. Even Notre Dame would have smoked NDSU this year, and they were far and away the weakest team in the CFP. NDSU loses by 30+ points to all of the CFP teams this year.
Iowa was #13 in 2016 when they played.
 

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