Most Successful College Football Programs of the 20's (1921-1930)

Twice national champions and with eight top five finishes (out of ten possible years) in our analyses, the team of the decade for the years 1921-1930, was clearly the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The only team that came close to having as successful a decade was the USC Trojans, whose first year competing with a top-division college football team was 1922, but they still managed to have a top-eight finish for ten straight years starting in 1924 (only seven of which count for the decade of the 20's), including Baggaley national championships in 1928, 1931, 1932 and 1933 (although, again, the last three championships belong to the decade of the 30's).

1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2. USC Trojans
3. Vanderbilt Commodores
4. Army Black Knights
5. Alabama Crimson Tide
6. Nebraska Cornhuskers
7. Yale Bulldogs
8. Michigan Wolverines
9. Texas Longhorns
10. New York University Violets
11. Detroit Mercy Titans
12. Pittsburgh Panthers
13. Dartmouth Big Green
14. Utah Utes
15. Lafayette Leopards
16. Georgia Bulldogs
17. Illinois Fighting Illini
18. Centre Colonels
19. Tennessee Volunteers
20. Colorado State Rams
21. Wisconsin Badgers
22. California Golden Bears
23. Florida Gators
24. Colgate Raiders
25. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
26. Minnesota Golden Gophers
27. Iowa Hawkeyes
28. Pennsylvania Relays
29. Navy Midshipmen
30. Stanford Cardinal
31. Furman Paladins
32. Washington Huskies
33. Carnegie Mellon Tartans
34. Colorado Buffaloes
35. Syracuse Orange
36. Cornell Big Red
37. Texas A&M Aggies
38. SMU Mustangs
39. West Virginia Mountaineers
40. North Carolina Tar Heels
41. Ohio State Buckeyes
42. Missouri Tigers
43. Tulane Green Wave
44. Northwestern Wildcats
45. Colorado College Tigers
46. Oregon State Beavers
47. Drake Bulldogs
48. Georgetown Hoyas
49. Chicago Maroons
50. Princeton Tigers
51. Utah State Aggies
52. Washington & Jefferson Presidents
53. Penn State Nittany Lions
54. Virginia Tech Hokies
55. Purdue Boilermakers
56. Kentucky Wildcats
57. Denver Pioneers
58. Marquette Golden Eagles
59. Brown Bears
60. Oklahoma Sooners
61. VMI Keydets
62. Arkansas Razorbacks
63. Washington State Cougars
64. Harvard Crimson
65. South Carolina Gamecocks
66. William & Mary Tribe
67. Baylor Bears
68. Virginia Cavaliers
69. Washington & Lee Generals
70. Kansas Jayhawks
71. Oregon Ducks
72. Kansas State Wildcats
73. TCU Horned Frogs
74. Idaho Vandals
75. Mississippi College Choctaws
76. LSU Tigers
77. Citadel Bulldogs
78. Maryland Terrapins
79. Montana State Bobcats
80. Auburn Tigers
81. Clemson Tigers
82. Iowa State Cyclones
83. Presbyterian Blue Hose
84. Columbia Lions
85. Gonzaga Bulldogs
86. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
87. Duke Blue Devils
88. NC State Wolfpack
89. Davidson Wildcats
90. Oklahoma State Cowboys
91. Sewanee Tigers
92. Michigan State Spartans
93. Mississippi State Bulldogs
94. Indiana Hoosiers
95. Montana Grizzlies
96. Creighton Bluejays
97. BYU Cougars
98. Mercer Bears
99. Richmond Spiders
100. Newberry Wolves
101. Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels
102. Ole Miss Rebels
103. Colorado Mines Orediggers
104. Grinnell Pioneers
105. Wyoming Cowboys
106. Washington (MO) Bears
107. Rice Owls
108. Northern Colorado Bears
109. Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs
110. Samford Bulls
111. Wofford Terriers
112. Western State Mountaineers

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