The Greatest Program Of All-Time Is ...
By Staff
CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Aug 23, 2015
The AP poll is has been the most consistent ranking system over the long history of college football. Going by the final rankings, what programs come out best? Here are the top teams since 1936 according to the AP polls.
The AP rankings might be irrelevant since they don't have anything to do with determining a national champion anymore, but they're still great to use when analyzing college football on a historical scale.
The AP college football poll has been through World War II, changed and adapted with the times, and has often looked to make a statement when needed - like in 2003 by naming USC the national champion, even though LSU took home the BCS title..
Since the AP poll is the only consistent ranking system from 1936 through today, CFN came up with a scoring system to compare and contrast how the programs finished over the decades. Every time a team finished No. 1 in the final poll, it got 25 points. The No. 2 team got 24 points, No. 3 got 23 points, and so on with the No. 25 team getting one point. Through the decades, the AP ranked the top ten teams for a few years before going back to the top 20 rankings, and eventually, it went to the top 25 system it's at now.
According to the scoring system, consistent production isn't necessarily rewarded. For example, if a team finished 17th for four straight years, it would get a total of 36 points (No. 17 gets 9 points). A team that finished the beginning of the decade No. 2 (24 points) and the end of the decade ranked tenth (16 points), but wasn't ranked any year in between, would get a total 40 points.
One fascinating thing to note: all the club teams that played during World War II. Notice the rankings of the all-star teams like the Iowa Pre-Fight juggernaut and the Bainbridge NTS powerhouse. In the end, though, the big-name programs you'd think would rock, did. There's a reason the superpowers of today got their reputations - they won.
However, things can change in a big hurry. When we did this in 2000, Notre Dame was on top of the world by a huge margin. Over a decade later and a following down period, things have changed up a bit with the Irish falling down to fifth. Also, one big year can change things up fast. Ohio State beat Michigan in several ways, going from No. 3 last year up to the No. 2 spot. The Wolverines, after their problems, dropped down to fourth with Alabama moving up into the No. 3 spot. Even after a disappointing end of last year, one program stands as the far and away best of all-time - at least according to this formula.
So here we go - here are the greatest college football programs since 1936 according to the AP rankings.
1 Oklahoma 995
2 Ohio State 966
3 Alabama 964
4 Michigan 943
5 Notre Dame 924
6 USC 795
7 Nebraska 783
8 Texas 772
9 Tennessee 678
10 Penn State 648
11 LSU 602
12 Auburn 554
13 Georgia 548
14 Florida State 532
15 Miami 511
16 UCLA 503
17 Florida 486
18 Arkansas 439
19 Michigan State 423
20 Texas A&M 365
21 Georgia Tech 343
T22 Ole Miss 331
T22 Washington 331
24 Clemson 328
25 Wisconsin 322
Others Receiving Votes
26 Iowa 302
27 Pitt 293
28 Colorado 258
29 TCU 253
30 Missouri 251
31 Oregon 247
32 Arizona State 242
33 Stanford 241
34 Army 239
35 Maryland 238
36 Minnesota 236
T37 Duke 213
T37 Virginia Tech 213
T39 Navy 199
T39 North Carolina 199
41 California 198
42 Purdue 196
43 West Virginia 194
44 Syracuse 191
45 BYU 178
46 Illinois 177
47 Kansas State 176
48 SMU 168
49 Houston 165
50 Baylor 164
51 Boston College 150
T52 Boise State 146
T52 Oklahoma State 146
54 Northwestern 135
55 Washington State 123
56 Oregon State 120
57 South Carolina 118
58 Mississippi State 115
59 Rice 107
60 N.C. State 105
T61 Louisville 104
T61 Texas Tech 104
T63 Kansas 96
T63 Kentucky 96
65 Pennsylvania 95
66 Fordham 88
67 Santa Clara 86
68 Arizona 84
69 Tulane 81
70 Utah 80
71 Tulsa 79
72 Air Force 75
T73 Cornell 68
T73 Miami Univ. 68
75 Virginia 66
76 Indiana 63
77 Dartmouth 61
78 Princeton 55
79 Yale 54
80 Holy Cross 53
81 Wyoming 48
82 Duquesne 46
83 Iowa Pre-Flight 44
84 Villanova 41
85 Rutgers 40
86 Cincinnati 37
87 William & Mary 33
88 March Field 32
T89 Colorado State 31
T89 Toledo 31
91 Bainbridge NTS 30
92 Great Lakes 29
93 Utah State 26
94 Southern Miss 25
T95 East Carolina 23
T95 Pacific 23
T95 Randolph Field 23
98 Wake Forest 22
T99 Marshall 21
T99 UCF 21
101 Carnegie Tech 20
T102 St. Mary's (Cal.) 19
T102 Vanderbilt 19
104 Del Monte P-F 18
105 Nevada 15
T106 Georgetown 13
T106 Hawaii 13
T106 Norman Pre-Flight 13
T109 Columbia 12
T109 San Francisco 12
T111 Boston University 10
T111 El Toro Marines 10
T111 San Diego State 10
T114 George Washington 9
T114 Hardin-Simmons 9
T114 New Mexico State 9
T114 Temple 9
T118 Colorado College 8
T118 Fort Pierce 8
T118 Iowa State 8
T118 Washington & Lee 8
T122 Delaware 7
T122 Lafayette 7
T122 St. Mary's PF 7
T125 Fresno State 6
T125 Marquette 6
T125 Ohio 6
T125 Sec. Air Force 6
T125 VMI 6
130 San Jose State 5
131 Northern Illinois 4
132 Bowling Green 3
133 Central Michigan 3
134 Memphis 1
By Staff
CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Aug 23, 2015
The AP rankings might be irrelevant since they don't have anything to do with determining a national champion anymore, but they're still great to use when analyzing college football on a historical scale.
The AP college football poll has been through World War II, changed and adapted with the times, and has often looked to make a statement when needed - like in 2003 by naming USC the national champion, even though LSU took home the BCS title..
Since the AP poll is the only consistent ranking system from 1936 through today, CFN came up with a scoring system to compare and contrast how the programs finished over the decades. Every time a team finished No. 1 in the final poll, it got 25 points. The No. 2 team got 24 points, No. 3 got 23 points, and so on with the No. 25 team getting one point. Through the decades, the AP ranked the top ten teams for a few years before going back to the top 20 rankings, and eventually, it went to the top 25 system it's at now.
According to the scoring system, consistent production isn't necessarily rewarded. For example, if a team finished 17th for four straight years, it would get a total of 36 points (No. 17 gets 9 points). A team that finished the beginning of the decade No. 2 (24 points) and the end of the decade ranked tenth (16 points), but wasn't ranked any year in between, would get a total 40 points.
One fascinating thing to note: all the club teams that played during World War II. Notice the rankings of the all-star teams like the Iowa Pre-Fight juggernaut and the Bainbridge NTS powerhouse. In the end, though, the big-name programs you'd think would rock, did. There's a reason the superpowers of today got their reputations - they won.
However, things can change in a big hurry. When we did this in 2000, Notre Dame was on top of the world by a huge margin. Over a decade later and a following down period, things have changed up a bit with the Irish falling down to fifth. Also, one big year can change things up fast. Ohio State beat Michigan in several ways, going from No. 3 last year up to the No. 2 spot. The Wolverines, after their problems, dropped down to fourth with Alabama moving up into the No. 3 spot. Even after a disappointing end of last year, one program stands as the far and away best of all-time - at least according to this formula.
So here we go - here are the greatest college football programs since 1936 according to the AP rankings.
1 Oklahoma 995
2 Ohio State 966
3 Alabama 964
4 Michigan 943
5 Notre Dame 924
6 USC 795
7 Nebraska 783
8 Texas 772
9 Tennessee 678
10 Penn State 648
11 LSU 602
12 Auburn 554
13 Georgia 548
14 Florida State 532
15 Miami 511
16 UCLA 503
17 Florida 486
18 Arkansas 439
19 Michigan State 423
20 Texas A&M 365
21 Georgia Tech 343
T22 Ole Miss 331
T22 Washington 331
24 Clemson 328
25 Wisconsin 322
Others Receiving Votes
26 Iowa 302
27 Pitt 293
28 Colorado 258
29 TCU 253
30 Missouri 251
31 Oregon 247
32 Arizona State 242
33 Stanford 241
34 Army 239
35 Maryland 238
36 Minnesota 236
T37 Duke 213
T37 Virginia Tech 213
T39 Navy 199
T39 North Carolina 199
41 California 198
42 Purdue 196
43 West Virginia 194
44 Syracuse 191
45 BYU 178
46 Illinois 177
47 Kansas State 176
48 SMU 168
49 Houston 165
50 Baylor 164
51 Boston College 150
T52 Boise State 146
T52 Oklahoma State 146
54 Northwestern 135
55 Washington State 123
56 Oregon State 120
57 South Carolina 118
58 Mississippi State 115
59 Rice 107
60 N.C. State 105
T61 Louisville 104
T61 Texas Tech 104
T63 Kansas 96
T63 Kentucky 96
65 Pennsylvania 95
66 Fordham 88
67 Santa Clara 86
68 Arizona 84
69 Tulane 81
70 Utah 80
71 Tulsa 79
72 Air Force 75
T73 Cornell 68
T73 Miami Univ. 68
75 Virginia 66
76 Indiana 63
77 Dartmouth 61
78 Princeton 55
79 Yale 54
80 Holy Cross 53
81 Wyoming 48
82 Duquesne 46
83 Iowa Pre-Flight 44
84 Villanova 41
85 Rutgers 40
86 Cincinnati 37
87 William & Mary 33
88 March Field 32
T89 Colorado State 31
T89 Toledo 31
91 Bainbridge NTS 30
92 Great Lakes 29
93 Utah State 26
94 Southern Miss 25
T95 East Carolina 23
T95 Pacific 23
T95 Randolph Field 23
98 Wake Forest 22
T99 Marshall 21
T99 UCF 21
101 Carnegie Tech 20
T102 St. Mary's (Cal.) 19
T102 Vanderbilt 19
104 Del Monte P-F 18
105 Nevada 15
T106 Georgetown 13
T106 Hawaii 13
T106 Norman Pre-Flight 13
T109 Columbia 12
T109 San Francisco 12
T111 Boston University 10
T111 El Toro Marines 10
T111 San Diego State 10
T114 George Washington 9
T114 Hardin-Simmons 9
T114 New Mexico State 9
T114 Temple 9
T118 Colorado College 8
T118 Fort Pierce 8
T118 Iowa State 8
T118 Washington & Lee 8
T122 Delaware 7
T122 Lafayette 7
T122 St. Mary's PF 7
T125 Fresno State 6
T125 Marquette 6
T125 Ohio 6
T125 Sec. Air Force 6
T125 VMI 6
130 San Jose State 5
131 Northern Illinois 4
132 Bowling Green 3
133 Central Michigan 3
134 Memphis 1
