Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 77. Central Michigan
I've got a LeFevour, and the only prescription is...
I’ve got a LeFevour, and the only prescription is…you finish the sentence.
Central Michigan’s done pretty well for themselves. As an all-time program, they’ve got the 26th highest winning percentage of current Division 1 teams at .589. They’ve produced some NFL greats like probable future Hall of Famer WR Antonio Brown, Hall of Very Good OL Joe Staley, and former #1 pick OL Eric Fisher. CMU finishes 2nd out of the 3 directional Michigan schools, with Western taking the first spot and Eastern finishing last.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+------------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+------------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 16 | Central Michigan | 2009 | 21.788 | 12-2 |
| 28 | Central Michigan | 1991 | 13.709 | 6-1-4 |
| 28 | Central Michigan | 1983 | 11.522 | 8-3 |
| 28 | Central Michigan | 1984 | 11.291 | 8-2-1 |
| 36 | Central Michigan | 2006 | 9.306 | 10-4 |
| 31 | Central Michigan | 1990 | 9.158 | 8-3-1 |
| 30 | Central Michigan | 1994 | 7.715 | 9-3 |
| 44 | Central Michigan | 2021 | 3.384 | 9-4 |
| 37 | Central Michigan | 1985 | 1.278 | 7-3 |
| 44 | Central Michigan | 1988 | -1.302 | 7-4 |
| 59 | Central Michigan | 2020 | -4.809 | 3-3 |
| 57 | Central Michigan | 2008 | -6.542 | 8-5 |
| 56 | Central Michigan | 2005 | -7.42 | 6-5 |
| 61 | Central Michigan | 2017 | -7.561 | 8-5 |
| 64 | Central Michigan | 2015 | -7.854 | 7-6 |
| 54 | Central Michigan | 1987 | -11.49 | 5-5-1 |
| 59 | Central Michigan | 1992 | -12.266 | 5-6 |
| 63 | Central Michigan | 1989 | -12.904 | 5-5-1 |
| 74 | Central Michigan | 2014 | -12.963 | 7-6 |
| 70 | Central Michigan | 2007 | -14.08 | 8-6 |
| 75 | Central Michigan | 2019 | -14.612 | 8-6 |
| 65 | Central Michigan | 1998 | -16.416 | 6-5 |
| 63 | Central Michigan | 1993 | -16.771 | 5-6 |
| 77 | Central Michigan | 2012 | -19.031 | 7-6 |
| 71 | Central Michigan | 1986 | -19.488 | 5-5 |
| 87 | Central Michigan | 2016 | -21.822 | 6-7 |
| 76 | Central Michigan | 1996 | -23.792 | 5-6 |
| 88 | Central Michigan | 2013 | -24.375 | 6-6 |
| 73 | Central Michigan | 1995 | -27.662 | 4-7 |
| 112 | Central Michigan | 2022 | -32.236 | 4-8 |
| 97 | Central Michigan | 2004 | -36.154 | 4-7 |
| 99 | Central Michigan | 2010 | -36.932 | 3-9 |
| 97 | Central Michigan | 1999 | -36.956 | 4-7 |
| 96 | Central Michigan | 2002 | -39.844 | 4-8 |
| 101 | Central Michigan | 2011 | -40.096 | 3-9 |
| 96 | Central Michigan | 2001 | -40.204 | 3-8 |
| 105 | Central Michigan | 2003 | -48.508 | 3-9 |
| 106 | Central Michigan | 2000 | -50.395 | 2-9 |
| 103 | Central Michigan | 1997 | -52.476 | 2-9 |
| 128 | Central Michigan | 2018 | -63.714 | 1-11 |
+------+------------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 11853 (77th)231-229-8 record
5 conference titles
4-9 bowl record
0 consensus All-Americans
22 NFL players drafted
Central Michigan is the first 40-season team with a winning record! They’ve got 19 winning seasons and 5 more .500 seasons, so football in Mount Pleasant has been pretty satisfactory. Throw in 4 more years with just one more loss than win, and you’ve got 27 out of 40 seasons that have a win percentage of .454 or better. Hard to complain. Of CMU’s 5 title-winning seasons, 1990 and 1994 barely miss the list at #6 and #7, respectively, while 2007’s 8-6 team led by Butch Jones falls all the way to #20. Gives you an indication about the level of success the Chippewas have had.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2018 (1-11 overall, 0-8 MAC)
This season came out of nowhere. Sure, Central Michigan was picked 5th out of 6 teams in the MAC West and were starting a new QB. But they had made 4 straight bowl games. They had one media member pick them to win the MAC West. They had some pretty talented players on defense, but this season was a disaster. Their 1 win was 17-5 over Maine. They did have 7 losses by 11 points or less. The offense was 3rd worst in the country, averaging just 15.0 PPG. QBs Tony Poljan and Tommy Lazzaro combined for just 7 TD and 15 INT, with the offense averaging a whopping 4.5 yards per attempt. Poljan was a massive human at 6’7 250 lbs, and would eventually transition to TE, earning 2nd Team All-MAC in 2019 before transferring to Virginia and putting up a 400+ yard season for them in 2020. The defense was very good for such a bad offense, giving up 27.3 PPG with a conference-high 4 defensive players making 1st Team All-MAC. Of the 4, DL Mike Danna, DB Sean Murphy-Bunting, and DB Xavier Crawford were drafted, with Murphy-Bunting starting for the 2020 Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
5. 2006 (10-4 overall, 7-1 MAC)
There were some big names on this team. Brian Kelly was the coach, and he definitely earned his way to the top. After winning 2 Division II national titles at Grand Valley State from 1991-2003, he moved to Central Michigan, where he won the MAC title in 2006. After 2 opening losses to Boston College and Michigan, CMU got 2 very close wins over conference opponents Akron (24-21) and Eastern Michigan (24-17 in OT). After another 36-45 loss to Kentucky, it was time to get to work on winning a MAC chip. CMU was great the rest of the year, beating every MAC team aside from Northern Illinois by 2 or more possessions. Heading into the MAC title game, Ohio’s defense was allowing just 16.2 PPG and less than 300 yards per game, but Central Michigan went for 457 in a 31-10 win. RB Ontario Snead had a 96 yard TD run for the dagger and WR Damien Linson set a MAC title game record with 191 receiving yards. Central Michigan drubbed Middle Tennessee in the bowl as well, 31-14.
QB Dan LeFevour won MAC Freshman of the Year, throwing for 3000+ yards with 26 TD 10 INT, and running for 500+ with 7 TD. OT Joe Staley was 1st Team All-MAC, and ended up having a great career with the San Francisco 49ers. DE Dan Bazuin, the returning MAC Defensive POTY, had another 1st Team All-MAC season with 10.5 sacks, and was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2007 NFL Draft along with Staley in the 1st. Staley formerly played TE, and caught 11 passes for 130 yards and 1 TD as a freshman in 2003.
4. 1984 (8-2-1 overall, 6-2-1 MAC)
Central Michigan had one of the best defenses in the country, and a solid offense to boot. A 6-0-1 start helped CMU jump out to a 4-0-1 conference record, competing with Bowling Green and Toledo for the MAC title. That set up a match with Bowling Green (5-2 overall, 4-1 MAC) for 1st place. Central Michigan dominated the day 42-21, but still had Toledo to get through. A 7-8 loss to Northern Illinois shortly after sucked, but had no impact on Central’s title hunt, and they rebounded to beat Ball State 51-7. That set up a de-facto conference title game between Central Michigan (8-1-1, 6-1-1 MAC) vs Toledo (7-1-1, 6-1-1 MAC). Despite a great CMU defensive effort, the Chippewas fell 7-14, and Toledo took the title. CMU’s season ended there, but it wasn’t without accolades. The defense was top 5 in the nation, giving up just 12.8 PPG. RB Curtis Adams earned 2nd Team All-American with 1204 rushing yards and 13 TD, while 5 other CMU players earned 1st Team All-MAC.
3. 1983 (8-3 overall, 7-2 MAC)
Just like 1984, this year’s team was in the hunt for a MAC title all year long with a top 5 defense and solid offense. 1983 was a 4-horse race between Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Toledo. After a 5-1 start, Central Michigan was right there in the hunt with a 4-0 conference record, but close losses put them out of it, losing 7-12 to Miami (OH) and 14-15 to Bowling Green. Left for dead, CMU rose up and put on their best 3 stretch of games maybe ever, beating 7-1 Northern Illinois 30-14, 6-4 Ball State 38-10, and 9-1 Toledo 34-6. NIU and Toledo were the top 2 teams in the MAC, yet Central Michigan beat them by a combined score of 64-20. If not for the 1 point loss to Bowling Green, Central Michigan would’ve been conference champions. Still, a fine year, and they finished in a 3-way tie for 2nd place with BG and Toledo. RB Curtis Adams arguably had a better year than his ‘84 season, rushing for 1431 yards and 15 TD. OG Chris McKay won team MVP. DB Jim Bowman earned 1st Team All-MAC in addition to those two, ranking 3rd in the nation with 8 picks. 3 other players for a total of 6 finished 1st Team All-MAC. Bowman was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1985 NFL Draft, and Adams went in the 8th round.
2. 1991 (6-1-4 overall, 3-1-4 MAC)
I don’t even know where to begin with this one. Yes, their 4 ties tied the NCAA record for the most ties in a season. Going into week 3, CMU was 1-0-1, heading to #18 Michigan State for the Spartans’ season opener. Michigan State was coming off an 8-3-1 season in which they were Big Ten co-champions. Because of this, they were 21 point favorites over a CMU team that was coming off a conference title themselves. The game was a slow burn for MSU fans. Central Michigan took a 14-3 lead into halftime and never let up, winning 20-3. The Spartans never recovered, going 3-7 the rest of the way. For the conference slate, Central Michigan apparently loved to play it safe, going 3-1-4 for the strangest 2nd place finish you’ll ever see. Central Michigan wasn’t invited to a bowl, and can you really blame the bowl reps? Sure they only lost 1 game, but they also only won 6. Still, it was a great year. Wins included Michigan State, 6-5 Ball State, and rival 6-5 Western Michigan, with the only loss to 11-1 MAC champion Bowling Green. RB Billy Smith led the NCAA in carries, rushing 374 times for 1440 yards and just 6 TD on 3.9 YPC. This was a typical Central Michigan team for the time, ranking top 15 in PPG allowed (14.3, 12th) with a stale offense (18.6 PPG, 75th).
1. 2009 (12-2 overall, 8-0 MAC)
This was a really good team. After an opening 6-19 loss at Arizona, Central Michigan travelled to East Lansing, and just like 1991, beat Michigan State 29-27. CMU, down 20-27 with 30 seconds remaining, scored a TD and opted for 2, but QB Dan LeFevour’s pass sailed long. An onside kick and 25 second drive later, and CMU’s Andrew Aguila was kicking a 42 yard FG for the win. With 4th year starting QB Dan LeFevour and one of the best WR tandems in the country in Antonio Brown-Bryan Anderson, Central Michigan was the big bad team in the MAC, and they lived up to the hype, winning their 3rd conference title in 4 years. They ran through the MAC with a perfect 8-0 record, the only loss coming out of conference to Boston College. Wins included 56-8 over Eastern Michigan, 56-28 over Toledo, and 35-3 at Ball State. CMU beat Ohio in the title game for the 2nd time in 4 years, winning 20-10. They ended in a barn burner of a GMAC Bowl against Sun Belt champion Troy, winning 44-41 in 2OT, thanks to 200 yards and 1 kick return TD from Antonio Brown. Central Michigan finished #23, their only ever finish in the top 25.
LeFevour won MAC Offensive POTY for the 2nd time, completing 69.7% of passes for 3438 yards 28 TD 7 INT. He added another 713 yards and 15 TD on the ground, ranking 2nd in the NCAA in total TDs with 43. LeFevour completed an illustrious career, having won 3 MAC titles. LeFevour finished 1st in NCAA history for total TDs (150), and to this day is 3rd behind Case Keenum (178) and Baker Mayfield (153). In 2007, LeFevour became the 2nd player in NCAA history (1st being Vince Young) to pass for 3000 yards and rush for 1000 yards in a season. LeFevour also finished 2nd all time in total yards with 15,853, and is now 4th behind Keenum, Timmy Chang, and Landry Jones. At 6’3 230 lbs with great athleticism, LeFevour was a 6th round pick by the Chicago Bears in the 2010 NFL Draft.
Antonio Brown put together another fantastic season, finishing 4th in the nation in catches with 110 for 1198 yards and 9 TD. He also ran for another 341 yards, and was the MAC Special Teams POTY with 3 returns (1 kick 2 punt) for TDs. The 6’5 WR Bryan Anderson finished as Central Michigan’s all time leading receiver with 3648 yards, going for 784 in 2009, the lowest total of his career but still earned 2nd Team All-MAC. Brown went on to have a Hall of Fame level career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. LB Nick Bellore led the team in tackles with 132, and has gone on to have a 12 year career in the NFL as a FB/LB. Coach Butch Jones left for Cincinnati after the season, and went on to coach at Tennessee.
5th Quarter
Do you remember that 2009 team with LeFevour and AB? Who was the better Central Michigan player all-time, Brown or LeFevour? Do you think Central Michigan’s place on this list is fair? What players/plays/games do you think of when you think of Central Michigan? Why does Michigan State lose so often to CMU? They also did it in 1992.
Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub
