*8/3 edit - bumped Oklahoma to 8th best from 11th after more deliberation*
With the 2022 season being the 20yr anniversary of the 2002 Buckeye BCS Championship season, it got me thinking about which football programs have really had the best run over the span of the past 20yrs.
It's interesting to see how some programs were strong in the 2000s but fell off in the 2010s - other programs weren't as strong and then have recently come on. The real fun was attempting to identify the 25 teams to make the list - and more importantly, rank them in order.
So without any further delay, here are the top 25 college football programs over the past 20years:
| Rank | School | National Titles | Title Game Appearances | CFPlayoff Berths | # Seasons Reached AP #1 | # Seasons Appeared AP Top 5 | #SeasonsFINISHEDAPTop10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 6 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 15 |
| 2 | LSU | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 8 |
| 3 | Ohio State | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 18 | 17 |
| 4 | Clemson | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| 5 | Florida | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| 6 | Georgia | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 12 |
| 7 | USC | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 9 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 14 |
| 9 | Texas | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 |
| 10 | Aubrun | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| 11 | Florida St | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 4 |
| 12 | Oregon | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 |
| 13 | Notre Dame | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 |
| 14 | Miami | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| 15 | Michigan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 |
| 16 | Michigan St | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| 17 | Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 18 | Penn State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 |
| 20 | TCU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| 21 | Virginia Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| 22 | Stanford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 23 | Boise St | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 24 | Iowa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 25 | West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
Rationale / Criteria used
The rankings are only my opinion and certainly up for debate in a few quadrants, but used the categories you see in the grid as my primary identifiers to build each school's resume to rank. I chose to only pull from AP rankings as the they've been around the entire 20yrs, and felt they're more genuine than Coaches Poll rankings - even if ever so slightly better. I also wanted to capture and give credit to schools who FINISH in the top 10, to hopefully balance out overvaluing vanity schools who may start the season in the top 5 off name alone, but finish unranked.
Quadrants/Groupings - UP FOR DEBATE
Bama is King.
Clearly in a category of its own, Bama is undisputedly the best program over the past 20yrs - and that's including some real down years in that span.
Schools Ranked 2 Thru 4
The pick for #2 is definitely debatable looking at LSU and Ohio State. The Buckeyes have a more consistent resume no doubt about it, but I think winning a Natty is the ultimate trump card, and the Tigers edge OSU there. This easily flips towards Ohio State in 2024 - when both schools lose a Natty from their resume. The argument then would be if Clemson deserves the #2 spot over Ohio State. Let's just presume Stroud and the boys take care of biz this season and put the debate to rest.
Schools Ranked 5 Thru 7
I give Florida the nod over Georgia and SC - again, because of cashing in that 2nd Natty. You could argue you'd rather Georgia or USC's consistency for sure, though.
Schools Ranked 8 Thru 11* (updated)
Texas gets the nod just slightly over Auburn with a better resume. Florida St and Oklahoma have strong arguments though - and the Sooners would easily crack the top 5 if we evaluated the past 22yrs (2000 title) instead of 20. A great debate would be if Oklahoma has done enough to rank 7th over USC - Instead, I rank them 11th 8th with no Natty.
Schools Ranked 12 Thru 15
Speaking of NO NATTY, the Ducks lead a quadrant of Notre Dame, Miami, and that Team Up North who haven't won a title in the past 2 decades. But honestly it may not even make sense to include Michigan in this quadrant, as they're the only team here not to appear in a title game - when the others here have at least made it to a title game.
Bottom 10 Schools Ranked
Sparty leads the last 10 ranked teams by virtue of a lone eyeroll playoff appearance in 2015 (that should've been a Buckeye title defense instead), and five top 5 showings. Cincinnati being the only other program in this group to make a playoff has a fairly respectable resume all things considered, while Penn State and Wisconsin are likely the most consistent of the rest of the bunch (without a playoff berth) which includes TCU, Va Tech, Stanford, Boise, Iowa, and West Virginia.
(Not-so) Honorable Mention
The other schools I considered for the top 25 but didn't make the list were Oklahoma St and Texas A&M - along with Utah, Baylor, Missouri, Mississippi st, and Washington. The fighting Mike Gundy's just missed the last spot, having one less season finishing in the top 10 (2 seasons) than WVU - and A&M, despite knocking off Bama a couple of times in recent memory have almost nothing that sticks to the program over the past 20 seasons, finishing only 2 of the past 20 seasons in the top 10.
Final Thoughts
I'm curious if I missed any schools who deserve consideration for the top 25 (Sorry Pitt fans, but no). Interesting to see 10 different schools win a national title during this 20yr span - and see 4 others make a title game. Bama making the title game almost half of time is a helluva stat - but so is Ohio State appearing in the top five 18 of 20 seasons (The Sooners 2nd with 17 of 20). Also finishing in the top ten 17 of 20 seasons proves the Buckeyes don't just cash in on their name like some other schools (Looking at you LSU, Fla St, Notre Dame) - the Buckeyes have earned the benefit of the doubt.
