3rdgensooner
8/23/2011, 03:09 PM
The Greatest Program Of All-Time Is ... (http://cfn.scout.com/2/1097657.html#.TlP6w58FqJA.facebook)
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.
http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/96/961758.jpg
The AP rankings might now 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.
Around since 1936, the AP college football poll has been through World War II, has 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, the 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-flight 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 last did this in 2000, Notre Dame was on top of the world and Michigan was a close second. Ten years later and a down period, things have changed up a bit.
So here we go - here are the greatest college football programs since 1936 according to the AP rankings.
RANK TEAM POINTS
1 Oklahoma 936.5
2 Ohio State 908
3 Michigan 905
4 Notre Dame 872.5
5 Alabama 825
6 Texas 750.5
7 USC 737
8 Nebraska 699
9 Tennessee 678
10 Penn State 645
11 LSU 530
12 Auburn 517
13 Miami 511
14 Georgia 510
15 UCLA 503
16 Florida 469
17 Florida State 443
18 Arkansas 393
19 Michigan State 349
20 Texas A&M 337
21 Washington 330
22 Georgia Tech 317.5
23 Pittsburgh 293
24 Iowa 291
25 Wisconsin 289
26 Ole Miss 284.5
27 Clemson 280
28 Colorado 258
29 Army 239
30 Minnesota 229
31 Maryland 225.5
32 Arizona State 223
33 TCU 218
34 Missouri 217.5
35 Virginia Tech 217
36 Duke 210
37 Navy 207.5
38 California 207
39 North Carolina 198
40 Purdue 195.5
41 Syracuse 190.5
42 West Virginia 185
43 Brigham Young 180
44 Illinois 177
45 SMU 168
46 Stanford 167
47 Oregon 163
48 Houston 156
49 Boston College 150
50 Kansas State 143
51 Northwestern 127
52 Oregon State 124
53 Washington State 123
54 Baylor 118.5
55 Oklahoma State 114
56 Boise State 110
57 Mississippi State 105
58 Texas Tech 104
59 Kansas 96
60 Penn 95
T61 Fordham 88
T61 Kentucky 88
T61 Rice 88
64 Santa Clara 85.5
65 NC State 85
66 Tulane 80.5
67 Tulsa 79
68 Louisville 78
69 Arizona 76
T70 Air Force 75
T70 Utah 75
72 Cornell 68
73 Nevada 66
74 Indiana 63
75 Dartmouth 60
76 Miami, Ohio 57
77 Virginia 56
78 Princeton 55
79 Yale 54
80 Holy Cross 49.8
T81 Wyoming 48
T81 Duquesne 46
83 Iowa Pre-Flight 45
84 Villanova 41
85 South Carolina 40
86 Rutgers 38
87 Cincinnati 36
88 William & Mary 33
T89 Colorado State 31
T89 Toledo 31
T91 Bainbridge NTS 30
T91 Great Lakes 30
93 Wake Forest 24
94 East Carolina 23
T95 Pacific 23
T95 Randolph Field 23
97 Carnegie-Mellon 20
T98 Del Monte PF 18
T98 Marshall 18
100 Utah State 16
T101 Saint Mary's (Cal.) 14
T101 Vanderbilt 14
T104 Georgetown 13
T104 Hawaii 13
T104 Southern Miss 13
106 Norman Pre-Flight 12.5
107 Columbia 12
T108 El Toro Marines 10
T108 San Diego State 10
T110 Fresno State 9
T110 Hardin-Simmons 9
T110 Iowa State 9
T110 New Mexico St 9
T110 Temple 9
T115 Colorado College 8
T115 Fort Pierce 8
T117 Delaware 7
T117 Lafayette 7
T119 2nd Air Force 6
T119 Marquette 6
T119 Ohio 6
122 UCF 5
T123 Bowling Green 3
T123 Central Michigan 3
125 Saint Mary's PF 2
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.
http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/96/961758.jpg
The AP rankings might now 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.
Around since 1936, the AP college football poll has been through World War II, has 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, the 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-flight 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 last did this in 2000, Notre Dame was on top of the world and Michigan was a close second. Ten years later and a down period, things have changed up a bit.
So here we go - here are the greatest college football programs since 1936 according to the AP rankings.
RANK TEAM POINTS
1 Oklahoma 936.5
2 Ohio State 908
3 Michigan 905
4 Notre Dame 872.5
5 Alabama 825
6 Texas 750.5
7 USC 737
8 Nebraska 699
9 Tennessee 678
10 Penn State 645
11 LSU 530
12 Auburn 517
13 Miami 511
14 Georgia 510
15 UCLA 503
16 Florida 469
17 Florida State 443
18 Arkansas 393
19 Michigan State 349
20 Texas A&M 337
21 Washington 330
22 Georgia Tech 317.5
23 Pittsburgh 293
24 Iowa 291
25 Wisconsin 289
26 Ole Miss 284.5
27 Clemson 280
28 Colorado 258
29 Army 239
30 Minnesota 229
31 Maryland 225.5
32 Arizona State 223
33 TCU 218
34 Missouri 217.5
35 Virginia Tech 217
36 Duke 210
37 Navy 207.5
38 California 207
39 North Carolina 198
40 Purdue 195.5
41 Syracuse 190.5
42 West Virginia 185
43 Brigham Young 180
44 Illinois 177
45 SMU 168
46 Stanford 167
47 Oregon 163
48 Houston 156
49 Boston College 150
50 Kansas State 143
51 Northwestern 127
52 Oregon State 124
53 Washington State 123
54 Baylor 118.5
55 Oklahoma State 114
56 Boise State 110
57 Mississippi State 105
58 Texas Tech 104
59 Kansas 96
60 Penn 95
T61 Fordham 88
T61 Kentucky 88
T61 Rice 88
64 Santa Clara 85.5
65 NC State 85
66 Tulane 80.5
67 Tulsa 79
68 Louisville 78
69 Arizona 76
T70 Air Force 75
T70 Utah 75
72 Cornell 68
73 Nevada 66
74 Indiana 63
75 Dartmouth 60
76 Miami, Ohio 57
77 Virginia 56
78 Princeton 55
79 Yale 54
80 Holy Cross 49.8
T81 Wyoming 48
T81 Duquesne 46
83 Iowa Pre-Flight 45
84 Villanova 41
85 South Carolina 40
86 Rutgers 38
87 Cincinnati 36
88 William & Mary 33
T89 Colorado State 31
T89 Toledo 31
T91 Bainbridge NTS 30
T91 Great Lakes 30
93 Wake Forest 24
94 East Carolina 23
T95 Pacific 23
T95 Randolph Field 23
97 Carnegie-Mellon 20
T98 Del Monte PF 18
T98 Marshall 18
100 Utah State 16
T101 Saint Mary's (Cal.) 14
T101 Vanderbilt 14
T104 Georgetown 13
T104 Hawaii 13
T104 Southern Miss 13
106 Norman Pre-Flight 12.5
107 Columbia 12
T108 El Toro Marines 10
T108 San Diego State 10
T110 Fresno State 9
T110 Hardin-Simmons 9
T110 Iowa State 9
T110 New Mexico St 9
T110 Temple 9
T115 Colorado College 8
T115 Fort Pierce 8
T117 Delaware 7
T117 Lafayette 7
T119 2nd Air Force 6
T119 Marquette 6
T119 Ohio 6
122 UCF 5
T123 Bowling Green 3
T123 Central Michigan 3
125 Saint Mary's PF 2