Football Program Rankings - 1981-1990

What were the most successful programs of the '80s? Here's the complete list:

1. Miami Hurricanes
2. Nebraska Cornhuskers
3. Oklahoma Sooners
4. Florida State Seminoles
5. Auburn Tigers
6. Michigan Wolverines
7. Clemson Tigers
8. Alabama Crimson Tide
9. Yale Bulldogs
10. Florida Gators
11. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
12. Penn State Nittany Lions
13. Washington Huskies
14. UCLA Bruins
15. BYU Cougars
16. USC Trojans
17. Georgia Bulldogs
18. Ohio State Buckeyes
19. Arkansas Razorbacks
20. Tennessee Volunteers
21. Citadel Bulldogs
22. Iowa Hawkeyes
23. Texas Longhorns
24. West Virginia Mountaineers
25. Pittsburgh Panthers
26. Arizona State Sun Devils
27. Texas A&M Aggies
28. Furman Paladins
29. Maryland Terrapins
30. Arizona Wildcats
31. LSU Tigers
32. Syracuse Orange
33. South Carolina Gamecocks
34. Michigan State Spartans
35. SMU Mustangs
36. Oklahoma State Cowboys
37. Air Force Falcons
38. Illinois Fighting Illini
39. Southern Miss Golden Eagles
40. McNeese State Cowboys
41. Boston College Eagles
42. Washington State Cougars
43. Virginia Tech Hokies
44. Fresno State Bulldogs
45. Baylor Bears
46. Hawaii Warriors
47. North Carolina Tar Heels
48. Houston Cougars
49. Colgate Raiders
50. Colorado Buffaloes
51. Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs
52. Wyoming Cowboys
53. Stanford Cardinal
54. San Jose State Spartans
55. Virginia Cavaliers
56. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
57. Ole Miss Rebels
58. Oregon Ducks
59. Central Michigan Chippewas
60. NC State Wolfpack
61. Kentucky Wildcats
62. Mississippi State Bulldogs
63. San Diego State Aztecs
64. Tulsa Golden Hurricane
65. California Golden Bears
66. Dartmouth Big Green
67. Texas-Arlington Mavericks
68. Utah Utes
69. VMI Keydets
70. Indiana Hoosiers
71. Temple Owls
72. Duke Blue Devils
73. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
74. Texas Tech Red Raiders
75. Toledo Rockets
76. Missouri Tigers
77. Bowling Green Falcons
78. Wisconsin Badgers
79. Minnesota Golden Gophers
80. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
81. ECU Pirates
82. Indiana State Sycamores
83. Miami University RedHawks
84. Western Michigan Broncos
85. Holy Cross Crusaders
86. Iowa State Cyclones
87. Army Black Knights
88. Purdue Boilermakers
89. Southern Illinois Salukis
90. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks
91. Northern Illinois Huskies
92. Arkansas State Red Wolves
93. Colorado State Rams
94. Tulane Green Wave
95. Navy Midshipmen
96. TCU Horned Frogs
97. UNLV Rebels
98. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
99. Vanderbilt Commodores
100. East Tennessee State Buccaneers
101. Lamar Cardinals
102. Louisville Cardinals
103. Cal State Fullerton Titans
104. Memphis Tigers
105. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns
106. Kansas Jayhawks
107. New Mexico Lobos
108. Cincinnati Bearcats
109. Ball State Cardinals
110. Appalachian State Mountaineers
111. Long Beach State 49ers
112. Harvard Crimson
113. Oregon State Beavers
114. UTEP Miners
115. Utah State Aggies
116. Eastern Michigan Eagles
117. Drake Bulldogs
118. Illinois State Redbirds
119. William & Mary Tribe
120. Princeton Tigers
121. Akron Zips
122. West Texas A&M Buffaloes
123. Wichita State Shockers
124. Kent State Golden Flashes
125. Western Carolina Catamounts
126. Kansas State Wildcats
127. Pacific Tigers
128. Rice Owls
129. Northwestern Wildcats
130. Ohio Bobcats
131. Richmond Spiders
132. North Texas Mean Green
133. Brown Bears
134. Cornell Big Red
135. Marshall Thundering Herd
136. Columbia Lions
137. New Mexico State Aggies
138. Pennsylvania Relays

A special note: 24 of these teams, such as the Ivy League teams, have only one year (1981 - or in a couple cases two years) included in this calculation, since following that year, they dropped down to Division 1-AA status. This explains, for example, why Yale comes in a #9 for the decade, since in that one year they went 9-1. This was a very successful year for them (they finished #22 in our rankings) - and unlike even the most successful teams, there were no other (bad) years included to balance this out. Since this ranking is based on average performance throughout the decade, Yale's ranking is likely to be artificially high in this list. Likewise, if one of these teams had a bad year in 1981, there were no other (better) years to balance that out as well. Only years at which a team competed as a Division 1-A team are included in these calculations.

Teams falling under these circumstances include:

Appalachian State Mountaineers (#110)
Arkansas State Red Wolves (#92 - actually returned to Division I-A in 1990)
Brown Bears (#133)
Citadel Bulldogs (#21)
Colgate Raiders (#49)
Columbia Lions (#136)
Cornell Big Red (#134)
Dartmouth Big Green (#66)
East Tennessee State Buccaneers (#100)
Furman Paladins (#28)
Harvard Crimson (#112)
Holy Cross Crusaders (#85)
Lamar Cardinals (#101)
Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (#90)
Marshall Thundering Herd (#135)
McNeese State Cowboys (#40)
North Texas Mean Green (#132 - also played Division 1-A in 1982)
Pennsylvania Relays (#138)
Princeton Tigers (#120)
Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs (#51)
Texas-Arlington Mavericks (#67)
VMI Keydets (#69)
Western Carolina Catamounts (#125)
Yale Bulldogs (#9)

Several of these teams have since returned to the upper division and are now a part of the FBS.