Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub

Ranking the FBS teams since 1983

Apr 15, 2023

Welcome one, welcome all! This offseason, I’ve decided to put my passion project to the test and write 131 articles in 131 days, ranking each of the current FBS programs based on their success over the last 40 years. Each post will focus on a college football program, counting down from the worst (131) to best (1). I’ll rank the team’s FBS seasons since 1983 and take a trip down memory lane, going in depth on the top 5 seasons.

What’s the Deal?

Back in 2018, UCF had just come off a 13-0 season where they were overlooked for one of the 4 college football playoff spots. They then once again finished the regular season unbeaten, again earning a 12-0 record, again not making a playoff spot. Pro-playoff UCF advocates argued that surely a team with a 25-0 record over 2 seasons deserved to compete for a national title, even with only 4 spots to spare. Playoff UCF deniers argued that 25-0 against a strength of schedule ranked 103rd and 83rd in back-to-back years wasn’t worthy of a title shot, as the other teams in the top 10 could probably achieve the same result.

I wanted to create a ranking algorithm that could remedy the two sides. One where you’re not limited by your schedule—if you can beat weak teams 100-0 every game, you’re likely a top 4 team. Likewise, if you play a full schedule of top 25 teams and finish 6-6, you’re likely a top 25 team yourself. My model is called the “JB Rankings”, and in a nutshell you gain points for a win and lose points for a loss. Scoring margin, quality of opponent, when in the season a game was played, and more also go into it. If you play a good team, it's low-risk high reward. If you play a bad team, it's high-risk low reward.

With this, your resume score is based on how you perform against the team in front of you, no matter how good they are. It does, however, still pay to schedule tough. Big non-conference games result in big point boosts for the winning team while the losing team’s score doesn’t dip much. Conversely, beating an FCS team will earn you close to nothing while losing is catastrophic.

I’ve found my rankings to be pretty fair as they’ve agreed with the Playoff Committee most years while also having teams like 2009 Boise State and 2010 TCU get into a hypothetical top 4 playoff spot. 2021 Cincinnati also earned a playoff spot, so there is ample opportunity for G5 teams to earn their spot atop the rankings.

How it Works

I'm purposely obfuscating how the rankings work to leave some suspense, but the TL;DR is your best seasons are more important than your worst, and longevity matters. If you were good for many seasons, you’ll likely be above a program that was equally as good but in the FBS for fewer years. If you were bad for many seasons, you’ll likely be below a program that was equally as bad but in the FBS for fewer years. Luckily for some teams, vacated wins do count, so USC, Ole Miss, North Carolina…you’re safe. Missouri, you’re not safe (for being Missouri).

Every day I’ll post a thread/article of a program with a ranking of their FBS seasons since 1983, fun facts about their accolades, and written descriptions of their top 5 seasons. It’s meant to be a fun retrospective as well as spark debate about which seasons were truly the best and if the program’s ranking is fair in the list of 131.

Let’s have a fun end to the 2023 offseason and count down the teams from 131 to 1 while simultaneously counting the days until college football is back. Who will be #1? Who will be #131? Who will be the top G5 team? Where will Texas, Miami (FL), USC, Ohio State rank? Those questions (and more) will be answered.