Most Successful Top Division College Football Programs of the Past 75 Years (1936-2010)

A couple of months ago, we posted our rankings for The Most Successful Top Division College Football Programs of the Past 50 Years. Now, with 75 years of data, we post our rankings for the most successful programs of the past 75 years. Again, rankings are based on a school's average performance over the period included. In order to be included in this list, a school must have sponsored a top-division college football team for at least 8 of the 75 years, and only those years at which a team competed at the top division are counted.

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

Of course, a weakness of this anaylsis is that it doesn't take into account the number of years a team competed as a top division, aside from requiring a minimum number of years. As a result, teams like the Boise State Broncos end up ranked a bit high, considering Boise State only competed at the top division of football for the last 15 of the 75 years. The way the ranking is calculated, essentially, Boise State's average performance over the last 15 years is being compared to other teams' average performance over 75 years - and it is certainly much more difficult to perform consistently over 75 years than 15. While Boise State's meteoric rise to a consistent position among the top teams of college football during that time is amazing, does it really justify making the Broncos the #16 program of the past 75 years?

We have devised a formula that attempts to make appropriate adjustments for how many years (out of the 75) a team has competed at the top division in its computations, and we also include the resulting rankings here - see below. (We still require that a school sponsor top-division football for at least 8 years to be included.):

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

Special thanks to James Howell's College Football Scores, which provided the data for our analysis.