College Football All-Time Team Rankings

The Game Room
1

According to College Football Data Warehouse with snapshots taken after the 2008 season and just today for the 2009 season, here are the rankings All-Time for the Top 25 and the SEC teams.

Comments?



  College Football Rankings (Includes 2008 and 2009 Seasons)

http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/rankings/all_time_team_rankings.php 
 
Team Rankings
 
Sorted by Total Points
                        2008                                    2009
 
 1 Notre Dame (IN)     2334.83          1 Alabama             2257.68 SEC
 2 Alabama             2321.81   SEC    2 Notre Dame (IN)     2221.48
 3 Southern California 2255.30          3 Southern California 2170.46
 4 Michigan            2157.00          4 Oklahoma            2072.93 
 5 Oklahoma            2052.99          5 Michigan            2054.93
 6 Texas               1965.54          6 Ohio St.            2016.52
 7 Ohio St.            1956.78          7 Texas               1988.65
 8 Nebraska            1937.89          8 Nebraska            1963.11
 9 Louisiana St.       1815.69   SEC    9 Louisiana St.       1855.78 SEC 
10 Tennessee           1814.96   SEC   10 Tennessee           1759.83 SEC
11 Georgia             1735.42   SEC   11 Georgia             1713.70 SEC 
12 Georgia Tech        1717.86         12 Penn St.            1705.36
13 Princeton (NJ)      1677.98         13 Miami (FL)          1677.33 
14 Penn St.            1674.71         14 Florida             1673.79 SEC
15 Miami (FL)          1665.63         15 Georgia Tech        1635.88
16 Florida             1639.68   SEC   16 Minnesota           1583.71
17 Minnesota           1624.14         17 Auburn (AL)         1562.12 SEC
18 Pittsburgh (PA)     1604.93         18 Pittsburgh (PA)     1514.38
19 Yale (CT)           1599.47         19 Washington          1505.04
20 Harvard (MA)        1575.05         20 Texas A&M           1499.65
21 Auburn (AL)         1533.34   SEC   21 Florida St.         1476.35
22 Illinois            1533.03         22 UCLA                1448.75
23 Texas A&M           1520.74         23 Arkansas            1442.07 SEC
24 Washington          1488.07         24 Michigan St.        1440.27
25 Florida St.         1471.04         25 Illinois            1417.35

26 Arkansas            1459.64   SEC   26 Mississippi         1392.61 SEC
31 Mississippi         1396.57   SEC   47 Vanderbilt (TN)     1222.90 SEC
48 Vanderbilt (TN)     1212.74   SEC   48 Mississippi St.     1196.80 SEC
53 Mississippi St.     1179.80   SEC   52 Kentucky            1185.95 SEC
57 Kentucky            1171.36   SEC   64 South Carolina      1090.46 SEC
64 South Carolina      1081.73   SEC
2

Yeah, caring about collegiate sports is only one step about caring about high school sports. I can’t get too fired up about it, if only to have a back-and-forth with my girlfriend about Michigan/Michigan State nonsense.

Also, it helps to be a much older institution. More wins and what have you.

3

Curious that after the 2008 season, Princeton and Yale and Harvard were in the top 25 for all time, but after the 2009 season none of these Ivy league schools are to be seen. What did they do to earn such a precipitous drop, lose all of their games by triple-digit margins?

The 2008 rankings look decent for all time rankings, but these things are sort of silly.

4

Roll Tide

5

I do find the major dropoff given the Ivies suspicious…perhaps they rejiggered their formula for the 2009 season, or is this the critical year in which they start to lose the effect of the their dominance in the first quarter century? Princeton dropped from 13th to 29th, a score of 1677.98 down to 1362.10. Yale dropped from 19th to 34th, a score of 1599.47 down to 1332.51. Both dropped relatively the same number of points.

Yay my Alma Mater… Wisconsin…highest ranked school without any national championship points.

6

This update supports your notion about the formula being “rejiggered”:



College Football Rankings (Includes 2008, 2009 and 2010 Seasons)

http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/rankings/all_time_team_rankings.php 
 
Team Rankings
 
Sorted by Total Points
                        2008                                    2009                                 2010
 
 1 Notre Dame (IN)     2334.83          1 Alabama             2257.68 SEC    1 Alabama             2268.59 SEC
 2 Alabama             2321.81   SEC    2 Notre Dame (IN)     2221.48        2 Notre Dame (IN)     2223.56 
 3 Southern California 2255.30          3 Southern California 2170.46        3 Southern California 2176.16 
 4 Michigan            2157.00          4 Oklahoma            2072.93        4 Oklahoma            2097.69 
 5 Oklahoma            2052.99          5 Michigan            2054.93        5 Michigan            2065.03  
 6 Texas               1965.54          6 Ohio St.            2016.52        6 Ohio St.            2037.19 
 7 Ohio St.            1956.78          7 Texas               1988.65        7 Texas               2002.55 
 8 Nebraska            1937.89          8 Nebraska            1963.11        8 Nebraska            1980.33 
 9 Louisiana St.       1815.69   SEC    9 Louisiana St.       1855.78 SEC    9 Louisiana St.       1865.92 SEC
10 Tennessee           1814.96   SEC   10 Tennessee           1759.83 SEC   10 Tennessee           1765.71 SEC
11 Georgia             1735.42   SEC   11 Georgia             1713.70 SEC   11 Georgia             1718.55 SEC
12 Georgia Tech        1717.86         12 Penn St.            1705.36       12 Penn St.            1709.01 
13 Princeton (NJ)      1677.98         13 Miami (FL)          1677.33       13 Miami (FL)          1682.36 
14 Penn St.            1674.71         14 Florida             1673.79 SEC   14 Florida             1681.07 SEC
15 Miami (FL)          1665.63         15 Georgia Tech        1635.88       15 Georgia Tech        1640.14 
16 Florida             1639.68   SEC   16 Minnesota           1583.71       16 Auburn (AL)         1638.33 SEC ^
17 Minnesota           1624.14         17 Auburn (AL)         1562.12 SEC   17 Minnesota           1583.29     v
18 Pittsburgh (PA)     1604.93         18 Pittsburgh (PA)     1514.38       18 Pittsburgh (PA)     1516.52 
19 Yale (CT)           1599.47         19 Washington          1505.04       19 Washington          1512.38 
20 Harvard (MA)        1575.05         20 Texas A&M           1499.65       20 Texas A&M           1508.70 
21 Auburn (AL)         1533.34   SEC   21 Florida St.         1476.35       21 Florida St.         1474.46 
22 Illinois            1533.03         22 UCLA                1448.75       22 Arkansas            1462.31 SEC ^
23 Texas A&M           1520.74         23 Arkansas            1442.07 SEC   23 UCLA                1452.96     v  
24 Washington          1488.07         24 Michigan St.        1440.27       24 Michigan St.        1447.52 
25 Florida St.         1471.04         25 Illinois            1417.35       25 Illinois            1421.57 

26 Arkansas            1459.64   SEC   26 Mississippi         1392.61 SEC   26 Mississippi         1397.69 SEC 
31 Mississippi         1396.57   SEC   47 Vanderbilt (TN)     1222.90 SEC   47 Vanderbilt (TN)     1230.64 SEC
48 Vanderbilt (TN)     1212.74   SEC   48 Mississippi St.     1196.80 SEC   48 Mississippi St.     1206.89 SEC
53 Mississippi St.     1179.80   SEC   52 Kentucky            1185.95 SEC   52 Kentucky            1191.81 SEC
57 Kentucky            1171.36   SEC   64 South Carolina      1090.46 SEC   64 South Carolina      1100.47 SEC
64 South Carolina      1081.73   SEC

Note that Auburn and Arkansas moved up at the expense of their neighbors in last year’s rankings. No other changes in position in the Top 25.

7

“All-time” rankings are silly. The first poll was the AP Poll in 1934. Anybody that claims a championship before that is claiming a championship that was awarded by a committee many years after the fact. Also, a lot of schools that have high level programs now were playing at the club level in the early days. Look back at their schedules and you will see them playing the local high school in some cases.

Individual games before 1934 may have merit but any other comparison of teams and conferences gets pretty sketchy.

8

No doubt! Polls in general are silly. And yet thousands to millions rely on them to have the meaning a real playoff might have.

I have no loyalty to the CFDW (linked to in the OP) but it’s at least one approach to ranking teams for periods longer than last year.

I would enjoy this thread’s expansion into comparisons of similar long-term rankings of College Football teams, if such exist.

If you know of such a thing, please link to it or quote its findings here. Football season is too far away!

9

This is really silly. Football wasn’t even recognizable in 1934.

10

Absolutely. But at least 1934 was a starting point. There are college football factories out there that brag about how many national championship they have won when many of them were bestowed upon them in a conference room many, many years after the fact when there was not only no tournament but not even any polls.

11

Those colleges are also silly.

12

Here’s another take on the basic issue: