CFN ranks Top 150 All Time College Football Season Champions

[PSU73]

Yaaaawwn...as if one could compare fairly over the timeframe from 1869 until now. As one must CLICK, CLICK, CLICK to review this, I'm summing up here only the list of top 100.
The link is below for anyone who cares to click their way through any of the 'rationale' given.
150 College Football National Champion Rankings. Where’s 2021 Georgia? (collegefootballnews.com)

 

[WestSideLion]

1. Holy recency bias in the top ten, but it may be warranted. Dominating today is much harder than in the 1880s with 5 other college teams!
2. How can one compare champions across eras?

 

[Nittany1865Farmer]

Surprised that they have 2021 Georgia already at 9th in the poll. That just seems too high for a recent champion, compared with some of the other teams ranked around them.

 

[BobPSU92]

1894 Yale over 2019 lsu in an A$$. BEATING. .

 

[Alphalion75]

Surprised that they have 2021 Georgia already at 9th in the poll. That just seems too high for a recent champion, compared with some of the other teams ranked around them.

Georgia's defense was possibly the best defense in the past 25 years.

 

[TiogaLion]

Can someone please help me out as I can only find Pitt two times? I thought they had 937 championships.

 

[razpsu]

How stupid. Most of the top teams from the last 20 years. Nice try. Which 30 year old came up with this list.

 

[Big_O]

The 1994 Penn State team should be on this list. The best college offense I have ever seen in over 50 years of watching CFB. There was one year end poll of the multiple polls that had them #1. Nebraska was a fraud that year.

 

[Nitt1300]

The 1994 Penn State team should be on this list. The best college offense I have ever seen in over 50 years of watching CFB. There was one year end poll of the multiple polls that had them #1. Nebraska was a fraud that year.

Nebraska wasn't a fraud; Penn State was just better.

 

[PSU73]

Feeling bad that some past champions didn't get shown in 1st post (Cornell, Lafayette, Michigan St, TCU, Maryland, Minnesota), here's the last 50.
(Oh yeah, Pitt AGAIN, they're over 100 now, 121 actually)

 

[psu31trap]

Nebraska wasn't a fraud; Penn State was just better.

I agree, Nebraska was legit that year but not worthy of a National Championship. To be truthful they limped past a Miami team that had the lead the entire game. There is no doubt in my mind that Penn State would have beaten Nebraska that year. I’m not a big fan of the current playoff format but it is profoundly better than the popularity contest we had in 1994.

 

[Nitt1300]

I see the 1969 PSU team was slighted again, too.

 

[PSU73]

I see the 1969 PSU team was slighted again, too.

That is all owed to The Nixon, Fixin' AKA Tricky Dicky's Trick play.

 

[Nitt1300]

That is all owed to The Nixon, Fixin AKA Tricky Dicky's Trick play.

Dick Nixon before he dicks you.

 

[psu31trap]

I see the 1969 PSU team was slighted again, too.

Some of the rankings on that list are absurd. I know it’s been debated before but I agree that the 1982 Penn State team should be ranked higher than the 1986 team.

 

[LionJim]

Some of the rankings on that list are absurd. I know it’s been debated before but I agree that the 1982 Penn State team should be ranked higher than the 1986 team.

1987 Miami #60? Nope, too low.

 

[saturdaysarebetter]

2019 LSU has some great material for their case, defeating so many top 10 teams, top four teams, etc.

Do you compare teams by how dominant they were against their opposition? That can be done for every national champion and only one modern national champion won EVERY game by 14 points or more. Only one.
Nebraska 1995.

Glad to see Miami 2001 in the mid-30s. Perhaps the greatest roster of talent ever but hardly the best season. They did NOT could NOT score an offensive touchdown against mediocre Boston College and barely escaped with a victory. Think 2019 LSU or 1995 Nebraska or 2005 Texas doesn't score an offensive touchdown against BC? Miami 2001 barely beat #14 Virginia Tech as well.

The Flaw in Claiming the 2001 Miami Hurricanes are the Greatest College Football Team Ever

When the discussion comes up about which is the greatest college football team of all-time, some college football fans will say it was the 2001 Miami Hurricanes team. If you ask them why, invariabl…

johnbaranowski.wordpress.com

 

[psu31trap]

1987 Miami #60? Nope, too low.

Both the 1982 & 1986 teams are ranked way too low. The 1982 team (& 1994 team) should be ranked in the top 25 and the 1986 team in the high 30’s.

 

[BobPSU92]

The 1994 Penn State team should be on this list.

I’m sure it’s inadvertent and will be corrected in short order.

 

[Nits74]

That is all owed to The Nixon, Fixin' AKA Tricky Dicky's Trick play.

Regardless of Nixon, Penn State still would have been screwed. Bias against Eastern football at the time. Texas was truly a fraud. They barely got by Notre Dame in their bowl game and add to that, our Orange bowl opponent, Missouri, was a better team than Texas. Texas would have had trouble scoring at all against the Penn State defense. They would have eaten that wishbone offense alive. As Joe use to say, take a look at the two rosters and see who had the most future NFL players. Not even close. This, and possibly the 1968 team, were only the beginning of the long time discrimination against Penn State football.

 

[wolve1972]

Do you compare teams by how dominant they were against their opposition? That can be done for every national champion and only one modern national champion won EVERY game by 14 points or more. Only one.
Nebraska 1995.

Totally agree and I still consider them the greatest / most dominating team of all-time. Others are close but absolutely no one overwhelmed their opponents every week like they did. I quit looking at the rest when I saw they were ranked 14th - just absurd.

 

[Woodpecker]

1894 Yale over 2019 lsu in an A$$. BEATING. .

While that 1894 Yale team were no slouches, I suspect that they would lose to many of today's teams. Not only were they substantially smaller, many of them would be 150 years old.

 

[LionJim]

What are the best books on the early days of college football?

 

[Metal Mike]

I did not see Minnesota 1960. To me they were the weakest national champions. They went 8-1 in the regular season and then lost in the Rose Bowl. This was when the final AP and UPI polls were conducted before the bowl games.

 

[barry j fenchak]

I see the 1969 PSU team was slighted again, too.

Slighted by whom? That team voted to avoid playing Texas. To be the best you have to beat the best, and that team blew their chances. If you want to ***** about being slighted you need to pick a better example.

Hope that team was happy with their decision to trade a chance to prove it on the field for a vacation in Miami.

 

[TiogaLion]

What are the best books on the early days of college football?

I got this for Christmas back when I was in Jr. HS. Great read.

 

[Jim from Spicewood]

What are the best books on the early days of college football?

The Opening Kickoff: The Tumultuous Birth of a Football Nation by Dan Revsine

My favorite:
The Road to Number One: A Personal Chronicle of Penn State Football by Ridge Riley

 

[saturdaysarebetter]

Slighted by whom? That team voted to avoid playing Texas. To be the best you have to beat the best, and that team blew their chances. If you want to ***** about being slighted you need to pick a better example.

Hope that team was happy with their decision to trade a chance to prove it on the field for a vacation in Miami.

Barry, Barry, Barry, surely you know how choosing the Orange Bowl over the Cotton Bowl occurred.

 

[barry j fenchak]

Barry, Barry, Barry, surely you know how choosing the Orange Bowl over the Cotton Bowl occurred.

Absolutely. The team chose the Orange bowl. Turned out to be the wrong choice. No way that anyone else made that decision, it was there for the taking. The team voted for the Orange. The opportunity was there but it was not utilized. They screwed themselves out of it that year, don't be blaming others for that one.

Like I said, I hope they had a real good time in Miami. They paid one hell of a price for it.

 

[LionJim]

Not Barry, Not Barry, Not Barry, surely you know how choosing the Orange Bowl over the Cotton Bowl occurred.

Fixed it for everyone.

 

[Nohow]

Silliest list of all time.

 

[JVP_Yahweh]

Yawn... where is the '94 team on this list?

 

[Lacklions]

How stupid. Most of the top teams from the last 20 years. Nice try. Which 30 year old came up with this list.

The 1986 national championship team had one player that was 300 lbs or above. The o-line at psu this year was 30-40 lbs heavier than in 86. I’m going to have some old timers angry at me but the 2017 psu team wins against them. Lsu 2019 and Bama 2020 would win against any national championship team from the 80’s or before. If you’re comparing who was the best vs their competitors then sure teams from the past can be towards the top, but todays champions would have a field day on the undersized, slower teams of the past.

 

[razpsu]

The 1986 national championship team had one player that was 300 lbs or above. The o-line at psu this year was 30-40 lbs heavier than in 86. I’m going to have some old timers angry at me but the 2017 psu team wins against them. Lsu 2019 and Bama 2020 would win against any national championship team from the 80’s or before. If you’re comparing who was the best vs their competitors then sure teams from the past can be towards the top, but todays champions would have a field day on the undersized, slower teams of the past.

So the 2045 team will be much better than any team from the last ten years. Ok. Write it down.

 

[razpsu]

Slighted by whom? That team voted to avoid playing Texas. To be the best you have to beat the best, and that team blew their chances. If you want to ***** about being slighted you need to pick a better example.

Hope that team was happy with their decision to trade a chance to prove it on the field for a vacation in Miami.

That is Texas lore. The teams chose their bowl games before the last week of the year. Ohio state was number 1 and had t played Michigan yet and they weren’t allowed to go to the rose bowl. Texas hadn’t played Arkansas yet. Penn state still had games left.
So the players voted to take the team back to Florida. Players like Mitchell and Pittman were also worried about playing in Dallas at Texas home field basically. Not the best environment for them.

if they did it like they do now or even In the 70’s or beyond they would have played because they would have waited to choose a bowl and the coach would have made the decision.

 

[Lacklions]

So the 2045 team will be much better than any team from the last ten years. Ok. Write it down.

I can’t tell you what 2045 will look like, but I can tell you Georgia’s offensive and defensive lines are 40lbs heavier than our 86 team. Think how bad our current line would hold up against Georgia’s D-line, now imagine all our guys are weaker, and 25-40 lbs lighter. Again the 86 team had one player (non starter) listed at 300. We have walk ons that weigh 300 today. It’s ok to admit that athletes have progressed in the last 40 years.

 

[Jim from Spicewood]

I can’t tell you what 2045 will look like, but I can tell you Georgia’s offensive and defensive lines are 40lbs heavier than our 86 team. Think how bad our current line would hold up against Georgia’s D-line, now imagine all our guys are weaker, and 25-40 lbs lighter. Again the 86 team had one player (non starter) listed at 300. We have walk ons that weigh 300 today. It’s ok to admit that athletes have progressed in the last 40 years.

Our 1969 team didn't have a single player who weighed more than 250. IIRC Mike Reid was the biggest guy on the team at somewhere around 240-245 lbs.

 

[Metal Mike]

One thing that is missing in this discussion of the PSU 69 team is how bowls were viewed, how bowls selected the teams and how bowls affected poll voting. 1969 had some changes that affected poll voting. For one Notre Dame agreed to play in a bowl after years of not playing in a bowl. In 1960 the final AP and UPI polls were conducted before the bowl games. I am not sure when this changed but until they did change the bowls were looked at as exhibition games. This had some carry over into 1969, when Nixon declared Texas the national champs this did not cause any discussion, because the regular season was done and only an exhibition game remained. And bowl selection was much different. Some bowls had agreements with conferences to take the champ of a conference. As I remember the Orange Bowl had an agreement to take the Big 8 champ while the other team could be anybody the bowl wanted.

The Bowls had to fill the seats and provide a good product for TV. There was no NCAA involved in the bowl games. The Orange Bowl wanted the best team it could get to fill the open slot. I remember see in guys in the loud jackets come to PSU to talk up the Orange Bowl and other bowls. The decision to go to a bowl was made before the end of the regular season. PSU had NC State still on the schedule and we could have lost that game. So it was take the Orange Bowl before all the facts were in.

Turning down a bowl offer in hopes of a better bowl offer was very risky. Look at Pitt in 63. The Cotton bowl had Notre Dame against the winner of the South West Conference. PSU getting the Cotton Bowl offer was a long shot against ND since ND was coming off years of not going to a bowl.

As some have mention OSU was #1 and had been for most of the season. The were favored over Michigan and OSU could not go to any bowl. The Big 10 had a rule no team could go 2 years in a row and OSU had been to the Rose the year before. So OSU had only to beat Michigan to claim the National Championship. Texas still had to play Arkansas. There was a lot of football to be played when the decision to go to the Orange was announced. We were never sure when the formal or informal agreement to play in the Orange was decided. Some folks believed the schools and the bowl made informal agreements weeks before.

I was a senior in 69 and the students I talked to felt OSU had a lock, so go to the Orange was a good decision. Then we beat NC State, Michigan beat OSU and Texas beat Arkansas. It was different in 69.

 

[IANit]

Regardless of Nixon, Penn State still would have been screwed. Bias against Eastern football at the time. Texas was truly a fraud. They barely got by Notre Dame in their bowl game and add to that, our Orange bowl opponent, Missouri, was a better team than Texas. Texas would have had trouble scoring at all against the Penn State defense. They would have eaten that wishbone offense alive. As Joe use to say, take a look at the two rosters and see who had the most future NFL players. Not even close. This, and possibly the 1968 team, were only the beginning of the long time discrimination against Penn State football.

I know that there was anti-Eastern bias, but it seemed to be an excuse to not recognize Penn State. Penn State wasn't even ranked #1 in a weekly poll until 1978. Syracuse, Pitt, and Maryland all won titles before us. The Ivy League schools are in the East as well, but that bias probably didn't apply when they were winning.

 

[razpsu]

I can’t tell you what 2045 will look like, but I can tell you Georgia’s offensive and defensive lines are 40lbs heavier than our 86 team. Think how bad our current line would hold up against Georgia’s D-line, now imagine all our guys are weaker, and 25-40 lbs lighter. Again the 86 team had one player (non starter) listed at 300. We have walk ons that weigh 300 today. It’s ok to admit that athletes have progressed in the last 40 years.

Of course technology and weight have increased. But you are comparing 2019 lsu vs 1901 Yale when they had no helmets instead of comparing 2019 vs 2019 teams and 1969 teams vs 1969 teams. The comparison you make it silly.

1994 psu or Nebraska pound for pound would have been right there with any team across the board!