The Top 65 College Football Teams of All Time — Part 2
For part 1, an explanation of the rankings, and teams 65–60, please click here!
#59 — Oregon State University Beavers (4.476)
Our first entry from the Pac 12, and original Pac 8 member: Oregon State. The Beavers are also the first team on the list with a Heisman Trophy winner and the first team with a first overall NFL draft pick to its name! That happens to be the same, person, Terry Baker (who also makes up one-third of the College Football Hall of Fame entries for the Beavers), who holds the rather unique record of being the only athlete to play in a Final Four and hoist the Heisman Trophy. Even more significant, his trophy win in 1962 marked the first time that a player from west of Texas won the award (part of a long history and current issue with regional bias inherent to the voting process. Pac 12 After Dark isn’t doing anyone any favors!). Throw in a Sports Illustrated “Sportsman of the Year” award, and you get an idea of how special Mr. Baker is to Oregon State University. He’s also remarkably important because of how little else there is to celebrate. In addition to a .410 win percentage since 1960, the Beaver’s performance within their own conference should look very familiar:
Not quite as bad as Mississippi State, but again, winning percentages only against the conference newcomers and extremely poor performance against top tier teams (yes, included amongst those 11 wins against USC are some absolute heartbreakers that still sting).
Overall, Oregon State has played in 1,149 total games, winning at a .480 clip. While their 60% win rate in bowl games is solid, their paltry 15 appearances are not. Throw in only 160 draft picks, 5 conference titles, 95 weeks as a ranked team (5th worst on the list) and just 8 All Americans, and it is clear there is plenty of room for improvement ahead.
#58 — Indiana University Hoosiers (4.509)
Another true basketball school on the list! Full disclosure: my wife is a Hoosier. Not that that helps with their math at all or provides a boost. In fact, there are so few things to compliment the Indiana football program on, that I need to list them all in flourishing language anyways just to fill space (don’t skip ahead, there are some good parts).
One particular bright spot that most people wouldn’t have placed in Indiana, the birthplace and headquarters of the KKK, was the stellar play and impact of George Taliaferro in the mid forties, a hall of fame African American player (name sound familiar? Lorenzo, his nephew, plays for the Baltimore Ravens). Two years before Jackie Robinson suited up for the Dodgers, Taliaferro donned the crimson and cream and broke down racial barriers in the Big 10 and college football in general. After three all american nods and the honor of leading Indiana to its only undefeated season, Taliaferro became the first African American drafted to the National Football League. His deserving induction to the College Football Hall of Fame came in 1981.
After his career Indiana returned to being Indiana and endured several (mostly 2 win) painful seasons into the mid sixties. Indiana eventually tried their hand at cheating , though it went about as well as their games on the field (harsh sanctions were slapped on after alleged accusations about recruits being offered flights and envelopes full of cash). Out of that darkness did come some strong seasons in the late sixties, including a shared Big Ten title in 1967 AND the lone Rose Bowl appearance for the program (a loss to national champion USC!). In the early 70’s, one famous name did come on board to lead the program: College Gameday’s Lee Corso. Although he did not lead Indiana to glory and largely struggled through his ten seasons before being fired in 1982, one story from his biography stands out and is emblematic of the Indiana program. In 1976 in a game against Ohio State, Corso called a second quarter time out following a Hoosier touchdown. The whole team huddled around him on the sideline to take a picture. The reason? Indiana led the Buckeyes 7–6, and it was their first lead on the conference power in 25 years. Think about that for a second. A power 5 conference team took a timeout to celebrate a mere lead over their opponent! A celebration of mediocrity in that context truly speaks to the depths this program has experienced in its history and really why they sit at #58.
#57 — University of Utah Utes (4.530)
Quick quiz: where did the University of Utah play its football games before joining the Pac 12? Kudos to you if you said Mountain West Conference. You also get points for Western Athletic Conference, where the Utes played their games before MWC affiliation.
They have much to thank for Urban Meyer’s arrival, which led to an undefeated season, a certain touch of national prominence, and eventual entry to the Pac-12. As explained in the methodology and rankings in part 1, Utah is hurt in part by its affiliation in mid-major conferences, and those conference titles count for slightly less than they would have in the power 5. And although it won’t show up in these rankings anywhere, you can always remind a Utes fan that 2 of their program’s first 3 games in 1892 were against the local YMCA (their 1–1 record against the YMCA teams may have convinced them to hang out with inferior competition later when picking conferences). Besides Utah’s interesting path to their current home in the Pac 12, there are some interesting facts to point out from their uneven football history:
- Utah coach Jack Curtice is credited with popularizing the “Utah Pass.” This feature of the Utes’ Split T formation had the quarterback performing an overhand pitch, somewhere between a handoff and a throw to a receiver or back in space. This action can be seen in some form in many of today’s popular spread formations. Grosscup, the QB for Utah who got really good at, credits his coach, who was “20 years ahead of his time,” but also gives credit to Pop Warner’s Stanford teams for the innovation.
- Utah’s 1930 team scored 42.5 points per game while only allowing 2.5 per game to their opponents.
- Utah played in the 1964 Liberty Bowl, recognized as the first major college football game played indoors. It is easy to see why the indoor game had not caught on yet: According to WVUSports - “Artificial turf was not in use yet, and the playing surface was a 4-inch-thick (100 mm) grass surface with two inches of burlap underneath it on top of concrete. Artificial lights were installed and kept running all day long to keep the grass growing. The organizers spent $16,000 on all of the field preparations for the game. To squeeze the game onto the floor of the convention hall (where the DNC and Lyndon Johnson also called home for a few days that year), the end zones at each side of the field were shortened to 8 yards in depth from the regulation 10.”
Overall, #57 sounds just about right for a program who only very recently came to be viewed with top 25 respectability. Their total win pct comes in at .590 (.556 in the modern era), and as far as I can tell they own the highest bowl winning percentage on the list (80%, although the NCAA does not officially recognize the Pineapple Bowl in their records and counts it as a regular season game instead). Where do they hurt? Goose eggs for weeks at #1, national titles, and Heismans. Also, only 6 consensus All Americans, 1 college and 1 pro football hall of famer. More on their interesting rivalry matchup with BYU later!
#56 — Texas Tech University Red Raiders (4.761)
If you only remember Texas Tech for a) Mike Leach’s dismissal and alleged abuse of players and b) Crabtree beating Texas that one time (before he became a “mediocre” pro receiver), then you’re right in line with the vast majority of college football fans! You are also most likely in the group of 99.99% of us who have never visited Lubbock, home of the Red Raiders. Be glad you have avoided it thus far, the third highest rated “thing to do” on Lubbock’s Facebook page is an actual hospital. On top of these depressing surroundings, there has been very little to cheer about on the field.
Texas Tech has only played in 1,012 games total — a result of kicking off their program in 1925. Relative to the schools listed here, only 4 teams on this ranking have played less games (and only Louisville ranks lower than TTU). Not that games played is the best indicator of quality (see Rutgers, part 1), but typically old blood programs have a more hallowed place in college football’s pecking order (with FSU and Miami being two notable exceptions). The other related item that stands out is the Red Raider’s participation in bowl games. They have played in 37 of them! You have to go all the way to #38 on our list to match that number. That’s as much as Miami and Texas A&M, and MORE than UCLA or Washington has participated in. Texas Tech is 14–22–1 in those games, but even being chosen is a small honor in itself, and one that points to more sustained positive season results than many fellow programs at this spot in the list. Other clues point to this modest sustained success as well: Their .560 overall winning percentage (.551 in the modern era) suggests that overall there are less peaks and troughs other programs go through. Want more evidence? After joining the Big 12 in its inaugural year, Texas Tech was the last program to suffer a losing season, coming all the way in 2011. Additionally, only 4 of TTU’s coaches have failed to bring the program a postseason appearance.
#56 might seem low for a program that didn’t seem to do all that much losing, but they really didn’t have all that much winning going on either. 154 draft picks — six in the first round? Pedestrian. A 38% victory rate in bowls? Few programs have worse. No NFL Hall of Famers, Heismans, or national titels? That hurts too. The 6 College Football Hall of Famers and 12 consensus All Americans is above average for this section of the list, but it’s not enough to improve their station much. And although this is starting to sound like a remarkably boring team, I’ll end on a positive note: TTU fans have helped set attendance records at ten different bowl games. I’m not entirely sure what they are cheering for, but I respect the passion!
#55 — University of Arizona Wildcats (4.803)
Before I dive into Arizona’s story, allow me a brief tangent. Did you ever wonder why Arizona, the Wildcats, features an athletics motto of “Bear Down” at all of their games? According to the official University of Arizona website, it is quite a rosy story. You can read about it here. It’s their version of “Win One for the Gipper,” and they are quick to point out that their own version predates this exponentially more famous phrase. Tl;dr — John Salmon, the student body president, multi-sport athlete, all-around golden boy at U of A, fresh off a win in the annual freshman game, gets into a car accident with his buddies coming back from a trip to Phoenix (I am picturing Gerry Bertier from Remember the Titans here). In the hospital he tells the coach, J.F “Pop” McKale: “Tell them… Tell the Team to Bear Down.” This phrase gets slapped on the gymnasium and becomes ubiquitous around campus shortly thereafter. It’s got all the makings of a Brian’s Song and Remember the Titans, right? It’s maybe a little too Disney for me. Maybe this 22 year-old BMOC was actually being a 22 year-old BMOC and living it up in Phoenix. Is it crazy to think that he was partying post-game with his buddies, someone drove when they shouldn’t have, and the crash followed (not to disrespect the dead, but it wouldn’t be the first time we have heard this story)? Regardless of the precursor to the hospital stay, it is reasonable to assume that he was either a) still under the influence of his chosen vice b) under the influence of morphine or methadone (no Oxy or Vicotin yet) or c) in incredible pain/seeing the light, and any of those factors would contribute to less than full coherence. Under those circumstances, seems like an odd place to glean a slogan! Regardless of the way it went down, every time I see Bear Down next to Wildcats, it drives me insane. Those are two different animals!!
With that, let’s dive into the on-field performance a bit. One thing that stood out to me immediately (similar to Texas Tech) was the relatively brief history of Arizona football. The program has only played 1,072 games, 7th lowest on this list and about 30 seasons worth of games below Rutgers. In that time, Arizona has won a respectable amount of games (.571 overall, .544 in the modern era), fielded 16 consensus All Americans (well above the average for the bottom third of this list, and has seen 5 Wildcats enter the College Football Hall of Fame. That success is tempered by the lack of Heismans, national championships, weeks spent at #1 in the AP poll, NFL Hall of Famers, first overall draft picks (all big fat zeroes), only six conference titles (with their first division title coming in 2014), and a losing record in bowl games. Specific to their current conference affiliation, Arizona was the only Pac 10 program to never play in a Rose Bowl (Utah and Colorado getting a pass for their recent addition to the Pac 12). The important thing for Arizona fans is that they consider themselves a program on the rise (update: then 2016 happened!) The next team, not so much.
#54 — Baylor University Bears (4.864)
When Art Briles was at the helm, Baylor University was known for its high-flying offense (2013’s 52.4 points per game is tied with the juggernaut 1995 Neraska squad for third all-time) and newfound status as a college football power. The recent turmoil surrounding the program is deserving of scorn and regrettable from a football perspective, as Baylor represented one of the “new school” programs knocking on the door of college football’s upper echelon through the use of flashy jerseys, stat pumping offenses, and glittering facilities (Oregon being the best example of this). The most prestigious programs in the nation can always rely on their tradition, history, name brand and notable alums to help bring in recruits, but changing media consumption habits and values among the younger generation are starting to erode that aura of invincibility. The window for relatively smaller, newer, and less successful programs to compete for a title has been widening, and Baylor took full advantage in recent years.
Historically, Baylor is a program that has been mired in mediocrity for decades. They have managed to win only just slightly more games than they have lost (.511), and that figure has grown markedly worse since 1960 (.471). They feature a .500 record in bowl games and no national championships to their name. One thing that they can hang their hat on, and something Coach Briles certainly talked up on the recruiting trail, is player development. Sure, Baylor is not on the NFL factory scale of a Miami or USC, but relative to their success on the field, Baylor is exceptional: 243 Baylor players have been drafted to the NFL. Of that group 21 went off the board in the first round. Outside of the top 25 teams on this list, that 234 figure ranks right around the top. And those 21 first-rounders are on par with several quality programs, including Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and Ole Miss. This has also led to 7 college football hall of fame inductions, another outsized contribution given their level of success on the field.
Outside of the great work of its players getting into the NFL, the other brightest spot for Baylor comes all the way back in 1974 during the Miracle on the Brazos. (The Brazos is the 11th longest river in the US, and snakes right through Baylor’s home base of Waco, TX. I 100% had to Google that). Prior to 1974, Baylor had endured some rough seasons, including 17 straight losses to Texas. That season led off with a surprisingly competitive game against top-tanked Oklahoma (OU led 7–5 in the 4th before winning 28–11) and even more surprising wins over the #12 ands #14 teams in the nation. Despite a loss to 8th ranked Texas A&M, Baylor came into the game against #12 Texas still in contention for the Southwest Conference title. This was significant as most Baylor fans were not even alive for their last one (1924), but also because most people felt Baylor had no business winning a title like that (except maybe Barry Switzer, the legendary OU coach who visited the Baylor locker room after their close victory earlier in the year. Said Switzer: “I just wanted to tell them what a great game they played. I told them they ought to feel they could hold their heads high.”) What transpired on the field is now a part of Baylor lore: Texas hopped out to a 24–7 lead cruising to their 18th straight victory in the series, but Baylor responded with 27 unanswered points over the final 30 minutes to shock the Longhorns. They rode that momentum to a SWC title….There is some speculation that this game, the ensuing title and the turnaround they both symbolized were key to helping Baylor win membership to the original Big 12 (one of four new teams to join the existing Big 8) in 1995. Without that, they might not even have made the list.
#53 — Washington State University Cougars (5.018)
Tough sledding when your nickname is co-opted into a synonym for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. At least in the Pacific Northwest, to “Coug it” is to fail utterly once success is reasonably ensured. No lead is safe. No coaching gaffe or dumb penalty is too outlandish or improbable. As Urban Dictionary defines it “To lose when there is no possible way to do so, and to do it in a particularly spectacular manner.” Ouch. Even their alumni embody this motto, as evidenced by the previously “sure thing” Ryan Leaf actively destroying his career where other draft busts might’ve just become a journeyman QB or retired quietly. As a team, the numbers point to an entirely mediocre history punctuated by excruciating unexpected losses. Their historical win % of .489 actually dips in the modern era to .420 (their winningest coach started his tenure in 1926 — it’s been a while). They once experienced both a 51 year bowl appearance drought and 72 year bowl victory drought (13 coaches tried and failed to win a bowl game during the latter stretch). They even list the mighty Idaho Vandals as a rival! I get the proximity thing, but… Idaho?
Even the positive notes that I would like to promote don’t necessarily counterbalance the woes they have experienced over time. For example, WSU does have 5 professional hall of famers, but 3 of them are from the Canadian Football League. The other bright spots? A .583 winning pct in bowl games (we’ll ignore, briefly, the fact that they have only been to 12 of them) and a rather remarkable 10 college football hall of famers! That’s more than LSU, Florida, Florida State and Miami (thought probably not for very long)! Unfortunately, that’s probably the only category that you find WSU ahead of these respected power programs. In fact, the Cougars have only 4 conference championships, 5 consensus all americans, and a dismal 129 weeks ranked in the AP poll to their name (oh and, you know, the total lack of national titles, #1 rankings, and Heismans).
The Cougars have recently fallen on hard times after a high point in the early 2000’s that included a conference title in 2002. Paul Wulff, the coach from 2007 to 2011, somehow produced a .184 winning percentage. That stretch did include a relative high point for the Cougars that would barely register for most programs: a rivalry win over a winless Husky squad in 2008. UW might’ve been the only program in worse shape that year (shape that quickly rebounded in the form of a marquee hire and a top 25 ranking, but still, the Cougars will always have 2008!). Adding to the Cougar’s woes, UW leads the all-time series 67 to 31, with six ties.
The good news for the Cougars is that many of their fans and alumni are more focused on more important matters, such as being a bigger party school than UW and having the best logo in college sports (it will come up in every conversation with a WSU fan, trust me). Most recently, Mike Leach has the 2016 riding high with a shot at a Pac 12 north division title and potential Rose Bowl berth on the line in the most important Apple Cup in decades. As an aside, the Mike Leach hire seems to be an ideal one for the Cougars. If there is anyone who can bring recruits out to Pullman, Washington, it is a guy who somehow brought recruits to Lubbock, Texas. Thanks to Leach, the Cougs find themselves well-positioned to contend with UW, Stanford, and Oregon in the north in the coming years.
#52 — University of South Carolina Gamecocks (5.121)
Let’s get one thing out of the way before we dive into the entirely modest history of Gamecocks football: there is only one USC, and this team is not it. True, they were founded in 1801, 79 years before the real USC, but they happened to be named South Carolina College. It is also true that in 1866, 14 years before the real USC opened, the University of South Carolina opened its doors. But alas, that college was shut down by southern Democrats angered by their progress with integration, and the school then took until 1906 (after several twists and turns along the way) to reopen its doors with a new charter as the University of South Carolina officially. That’s also officially 26 years after the real USC got its start. There’s also the matter of the U.S. Supreme Court weighing in the Trojans’ favor. In case you need further proof, I’ll wait for a second while you type in usc.edu and see where it takes you… done? Ok now Google “USC” and see which school comes up… Just the Trojans, again? We could dive into all of the other ways that this argument winds up with the university in Los Angeles, but this should do for now.
At number 52 on this list, the South Carolina’s record really embodies mediocrity: .512 overall win pct and .507 in the modern era. Fans are basically getting a coin flip every time they watch them play (the odds get even worse in bowl games, where the Gamecocks have only managed to win 8 of their 20 contests). All that coin flipping has only brought 2 conference titles and zero national titles. And it’s not like their players have gone on to do much either. Aside from the lone Heisman (a strong achievement at this point on the list), South Carolina as only 4 consensus All Americans and 4 college football hall of famers to its name, and only 12 Gamecocks have been drafted in the first round (same as Indiana). For a history that began in 1892, the program only counts 9 finishes in the AP poll. It also took 103 years to win a bowl game, suffering through 8 consecutive bowl losses in the interim.
All that being said, South Carolina’s recent history is on the general upswing! Since 2000, the Gamecocks have finished in the top 25 six times (three in the top ten with a no.4 ranking representing the high water mark), and since 2009, the program counts four top 5 SEC wins on its resume! Those might not sound like world-beating numbers, but this isn’t a program accustomed to sustained contender status. That’s not to say there haven’t been high points for the program:
- The Gamecocks won their first ever rivalry game against Clemson in 1896.
- From 1928 to 1934, South Carolina had 7 consecutive winning seasons (sadly, the last time one coach pulled this feat off).
- George Rogers, the most generically named Heisman trophy winner, played for South Carolina in 1980 and was the first overall draft pick the next year in the NFL. His illustrious career continued with a rookie of the year award and Pro Bowl nod in 1981. He remains the only Gamecock to have his number retired while still active at the university.
- Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame coach, went winless in his first season at the helm (sorry that was just a personal high point for me).
- 2011 was South Carolina’s first 11 win season, which was quickly followed by two more in 2012 and 2013.
- Jadaveon Clowney did this, which is arguably the very best moment in their history.
#51 — Southern Methodist University Mustangs (5.209)
I am assuming that most people reading this have seen Pony Express. This 30 for 30 documentary from ESPN chronicles the peak years of the program in the early 1980s, the violations taking place behind the scenes, and the eventual handing out of the “death sentence” by the NCAA in 1987 — a penalty only used once in the organization’s history. I recommend watching if only because it covers all the fun parts of SMU’s collegiate football history, and you won’t have to read the rest of this section!
For a program that has barely managed to win 40% of its games since 1960, its notoriety far exceeds its stature. Obviously, the events of Pony Express are the reason, so the question for SMU fans is — was it worth it? It’s a fair question to ask to0. Without the recruiting exploits of Ron Meyer and crew, there is almost assuredly no Eric Dickerson or Craig James or “Pony Express” rushing attack. Without the death penalty, the name SMU fades into obscurity alongside legions of mediocre mid majors. Would the fans trade the dominant seasons, the star players, the bowl games and the near national titles for all of the negativity and devastation that followed? It’s painful to watch your team struggle through one win seasons against lackluster competition, and it’s fair to speculate if the stain of this penalty led to exclusion from the Big 12 during expansion. One thing the events of Pony Express also brought are wrecked expectations for fans. Hard to cheer on a mid-major winning 3 games when you know that a national title was so close just 2 generations back. Something to ponder, though just a side project in this context.
Outside of the glory years, there is not much to talk about here. The high points include a 1963 upset victory over 4th ranked Navy and their star QB Roger Staubach, the distinction of signing the first African American player in the Southwestern Conference before the 1966 season (Jerry LeVias), and Doak Walker (the namesake to the prominent award) calling SMU home during his college career. SMU claims a few national titles in its history — 3 to be exact — though the organizations behind these nominations are lightly regarded don’t carry weight enough to be recognized outside of Dallas.
Overall, despite playing against lesser competition, SMU has only managed 477 wins (second worst ahead of Indiana) at a .476 clip. This number remarkably dips in the modern era to .409 (third worst and tied with Kentucky). Further, when you can only manage 166 draft picks (bottom third) and have a sub .500 record in your 15 bowl games, there is not much to dive into. The high points? 10 college football hall of famers and 5 in the NFL to go along with 16 consensus all americans (solid given their spot on the list).
#50 — University of Virginia Cavaliers (5.279)
If I were a University of Virginia fan, my least favorite person in history would be Colgate Darden. He represents a huge “what if?” for a school with a strong athletic history that never quite broke through on the gridiron. What did Colgate do to UVA? As President of the university of 1952, Darden decided that football would no longer be a priority in Charlottesville. The tangible consequences of this decision were felt immediately and over the next few decades. Virginia was invited to play in the Cotton Bowl Classic the very next season, a game featuring a marquee matchup with the Texas Longhorns. The program ended up turning down the invitation, which resulted in them missing the first ever televised college football game! The effects of this decision were potentially profound. Tennessee and Texas, the participants, are college football blue bloods, and I’m not insinuating that this opportunity significantly altered their fortunes, but for a program like Virginia… who knows. Even more devastating were the self-imposed restrictions to follow. Scholarships were reduced 80% relative to their new ACC peers, which didn’t exactly set the table for success on the field. In fact, their overall win pct of .521 drops to .470 when limited to the modern era.
In that light, 3 weeks spent at #1 in 1990 seems parade-worthy! Equally as impressive: shared ACC titles in 1989 (with a Spurrier-led Duke team) and 1995 (with a premier FSU program). They can also claim the NFL’s favorite twins, Tiki and Ronde, as proud alumni!
