My question to the ARFCOM hive is which team is THE quintessential team of college football? When anyone mentions college football immediately come to mind?





Is it Notre Dame? Michigan? Ohio State? Nebraska? Alabama?





You OTHER fans of teams like Florida, do NOT mention your team that has only recently won it's FIRST national title in the last 20 years. We're talking about programs that are STEEPED in tradition.



 

In order:

Notre Dame
Alabama
USC
Oklahoma
Michigan
Ohio State
Minnesota
Miami
Nebraska
Pittsburgh

Nebraska

Notre Dame

Penn State

Alabama

Ohio State

Michigan

Florida State

Michigan

Notre Dame

Penn State

Alabama

Oregon

Harvard

USC

Florida

Oklahoma

Texas

Penn State

The top 5 programs in no particular order.

Notre Dame

Michigan

Texas

USC

Bama


There is no room to even argue here.

Michigan


Notre Dame


Alabama


Ohio State


USC


Nebraska



These are not in order, BTW

It pains me to say this but Texas and Texas A&M have to be included in the list.

I agree with this.



 

Army
Notre Dame
Penn State
Harvard
Alabama

Oklahoma Sooners, Texas, Notre Dame, USC, Texas A&M

Why are you guys putting Notre Dame on your lists?



Really? Notre Dame has sucked for a long time...

The numbers dont lie. They have 12 championships. The last was in 1988

It's not about which has had alot of recent success. It's about programs that have the most prestige and tradition dating back a long time.





 

It might have to do with the "steeped in tradition thing"....

-Erik

They had a longer time of being than being bad



 

Did you miss this part?










The thread isn't about "which team has the most championships"....it's "steeped in tradition" and Notre Dame is JUST that.



 

Fair enough. I just hate Notre Dame, and Brady Quinn.




 

Why don't you google all time wins and get back to me.

 

#1. Michigan.



#2. Notre Dame.
Everyone else are just Johnny-come-latelys.

Very good list



 

How can you hate the team that let Rudy play.







 

Upon closer inspection of the numbers, you are correct. But that is hardly impressive. Besides, their just a bunch of fuckin Texicans.

I concur.

Alabama
Notre Dame
USC
Texas
Oklahoma

In that order.

Seriously though.. some of these teams listed are




Some of them, by the time they got their FIRST National title, Michigan already had 8 by then.

Top 10 Div. I Schools by # of Games Played

 1   Rutgers         1227

 2   Navy            1205

 3   Michigan        1203

 4t  Nebraska        1194

 4t  Syracuse        1194

 6   Virginia        1192

 7   Penn State      1191

 8   Texas           1182

 9   North Carolina  1176

10   Pittsburgh      1170

Top 10 Div. I Schools by # of Games Won

 1   Michigan        872

 2   Texas           832

 3   Notre Dame      831

 4   Nebraska        817

 5   Ohio State      808

 6   Penn State      800

 7   Alabama         799

 8   Oklahoma        791

 9   Tennessee       776

10   Southern Cal    766

Meh, all but one of their titles are pre-1950.



 

Total All-Time National Champions from Major Selectors
School       Championships
Princeton          28
Yale                   27
Michigan           22
Notre Dame      21
Oklahoma         17
USC                  17
Alabama           16
Ohio State        13
Harvard             12
Nebraska          11
Pittsburgh          11
Miami                   9
Texas                   9
Florida State       7
LSU                      7


1869-present
Below is a list of all of the CFBDW recognized national championships from 1869-present.

School   Championships   Seasons  
Princeton 24 1869, 1870, 1872, 1873, 1875, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1889, 1893, 1896, 1899, 1903, 1906, 1911, 1920, 1922, 1933, 1935
Yale 19 1874, 1876, 1877, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1891, 1892, 1894, 1900, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1909
Notre Dame 12 1924, 1929, 1930, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1953, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988
Alabama 11 1925, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992
Harvard 10 1875, 1890, 1898, 1899, 1901, 1908, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1919
USC 10 1928, 1931, 1932, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978, 2003, 2004
Michigan 7 1901, 1902, 1923, 1933, 1947, 1948, 1997
Oklahoma 7 1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000
Minnesota 6 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1960
Pittsburgh 6 1910, 1916, 1918, 1936, 1937, 1976
Miami 5 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001
Nebraska 5 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997
Ohio State 5 1942, 1954, 1957, 1968, 2002
Army 4 1914, 1944, 1945, 1946
Georgia Tech 4 1917, 1928, 1952, 1990
Illinois 4 1914, 1919, 1923, 1927
Pennsylvania 4 1895, 1897, 1904, 1908
Tennessee 4 1938, 1950, 1951, 1998
Texas 4 1963, 1969, 1970, 2005
California 3 1920, 1921, 1922
Florida 3 1996, 2006, 2008
LSU 3 1958, 2003, 2007

National Poll Championships (1936–present)
School   Championships   Seasons  
Notre Dame 8 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988
USC 7 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974 (UPI), 1978 (UPI), 2003 (AP), 2004 (BCS/AP/USAT)
Oklahoma 7 1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000 (BCS/AP/USAT)
Alabama 7 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973 (UPI), 1978, 1979, 1992
Ohio State 5 1942, 1954, 1957 (UPI), 1968, 2002 (BCS/AP/USAT)
Nebraska 5 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997 (USAT)
Miami 5 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001 (BCS/AP/USAT)
Texas 4 1963, 1969, 1970 (UPI), 2005 (BCS/AP/USAT)
Minnesota 4 1936, 1940, 1941, 1960
LSU 3 1958, 2003 (BCS/USAT), 2007 (BCS/AP/USAT)
Florida 3 1996, 2006 (BCS/AP/USAT), 2008 (BCS/AP/USAT

I concur.  But again, this isn't about "most championships".




 

Nebraska deserves to be in there too. So mine is now a Top 6

It doesn't matter, I said STEEPED in tradition. All these Johnny come lately picks are stupid. Shit, Florida won their FIRST national title in 1996. Sorry, but that is not even CLOSE to being "steeped in tradition".



 

Michigan

Notre Dame

Penn State

Florida State

Penn State
Ohio State
Texas
Oklahoma
Notre Dame

Ah, someone who really knows what they're talking about.



 

Yeah and if you want to go by that. Princeton  had 20 before Michigan had their FIRST!! Whats your point?

Oregon made my list because they have an old program (1893), have a long history of Rose Bowl appearances (first in 1917), and PCC, PAC-8 and PAC-10 titles. As a kid, I can remember constantly seeing and hearing things about how great UofO's program is and this and that, and it seems to me they get more press coverage. When I think of college football, they are a team that comes to mind.

If your team's first national championship was attained in the middle of the 20th century. I hardly see how that can count as being "steeped in tradition".



 

Yep, good list. I'd add the rest of the top 10

Oklahoma

Ohio St.

Miami

Nebraska

Georgia OR Penn State


Those are the teams with the highest winning percentages and the most nation championships after the ivy league era.

Yes I agree.

I'll concede that having a long, storied history of winning lots and lots of games and championships doesn't constitute being "steeped in tradition" completely. But it certainly is a very large factor in it.





If my Detroit Lions win a Superbowl this year (they wont), I'm not going to list them in the same group as the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys or the 49ers. Because those teams have a long storied history of winning.





 

Meh...they haven't done dick since.  *shrug*





 

 

Well, where are you drawing your time line for the "steeped tradtion"? If you start in 1936, Michigan doesn't even make the top 10 in total National Championships and Notre Dame hasn't won one in 21 years.

Teams that are still at least relevant today.
The Ivy league football teams DOMINATED in the late 19th and early 20th century, but they are not in the national spot light anymore.



Like Notre Dame, sure they haven't done much lately, but they are VERY much steeped in tradition, and are still very much in the national spotlight. South Bend is considered sacred ground to MANY college football enthusiasts, whether they are a fan or not.
 

Well, if you include only schools who won a National Championship from 1936 to date, and exclude all schools that haven't won a championship in the last twenty years or only won their first National Championship within the last twenty years - I come up with:

USC
Oklahoma
Alabama
Ohio State
Nebraska
Miami
Texas
LSU
Tennessee
Michigan
Notre Dame (although their last championship was 21 years ago I agree they've got to be included)

Yeah. See, I agree with that list.




 

Being a Michigan State Spartan I hate to say this but 4 of the top 10 teams have to be Sparty's hated rivals of:

Michigan
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Penn State

other top 10 teams have to be

Nebraska
Oklahoma
USC
Texas
Alabama

Someone else can try to figure out who takes up the other spot in the top 10 (these are listed in no particular order). I really don't think any of these  9 teams can be left out of the top 10.

eta. Jo Pa and his 9 billion years as head coach put Penn State on the list.