All-time Winningest College Football Programs. Is Your School On the List? UPDATED.

February 19, 2008 by jeddler

I live in Texas, and they love them some football down here. But you know what? I grew up in Michigan, and we sure-as-shit love some football too! We’re the Big Ten, we don’t mess about when it comes to the gridiron. So I ask you, which team has the best all-time winning record? Basically, you could argue that the winningest program is the best college program of all time – the number one winner when it comes to football?

I asked some folks I work with, and the answers were pretty consistent:

· Texas

· Oklahoma

· USC

· Florida State

· Alabama

· UCLA

· Florida

· Miami (Florida, not Ohio)

These are all great football schools, no doubt. Very funny to me, not a single Big Ten school listed. Should I be upset? No, I’m sure folks in the Midwest would have all 11 Big Ten schools on the list. (Well, not Northwestern).

So, not to leaving you hanging, here is the definitive list. Going back 140 years (through 2008), and using the NCAA as the source, here are the top 10 schools and the percentage of winning games:

1. Michigan 74.0%

2. Notre Dame 73.6%

3. Texas 72.0%

4. Oklahoma 71.4%

5. Ohio State 71.4%

6. Alabama 70.9%

7. Southern Cal 70.6%

8. Nebraska 70.3%

9. Tennessee 69.2%

10. Penn State 68.9%

Four of the top 10 are Big Ten schools. I like that.

The University of Michigan is number one. I hate that.

I’m a Michigan State University grad, and always hated Michigan football growing up. For the record, my MSU Spartans came in 31 at 59.0%.

If you want to see the big list, click here.

Posted in Best Of, Lists of Fury | Tagged ACC, Alabama, Bama, BIG 10, Big 12, big ten, Big Twelve, Buckeyes, college football, Crimson Tide, Fighting Irish, Longhorns, MICHIGAN, most winningest teams, NCAA FOOTBALL, ND, Nebraska, Nittany Lions, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio State University, Oklahoma, OSU, Pac 10, Pac Ten, Penn State, PSU, SEC, Southern Cal, Tennessee, texas, Trojans, U of A, U of M, U of O, Univerisity of Oklahoma, University of Alabama, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, University of Nebraska, University of Southern California, University of Tennessee, University of Texas, USC, UT, Vols, WOLVERINES | 19 Comments

19 Responses

on February 19, 2008 at 3:43 pm | Reply brad

Go Blue!
on February 20, 2008 at 9:27 am | Reply jeddler

Barf.
on February 20, 2008 at 9:56 am | Reply CuriousC

Thank God (and Snyder, of course) KANSAS STATE actually made the list!
on February 20, 2008 at 11:01 pm | Reply JohnP

My two teams, Virginia and Maryland came in at 56 and 57 – not too shabby for old ACC types…..
on September 20, 2008 at 8:40 pm | Reply Steve

I think only 3 are Big Ten. Unless ND suddenly joined and I wasn’t aware.
on September 22, 2008 at 11:32 am | Reply jeddler

Wow, you are right. Only three of the top ten are Big10 schools. I wan’t counting Notre Dame, but I think I might have thrown Nebraska in to the confrerence by accident. My bad. Thanks for calling it to my attention.
on October 1, 2008 at 8:27 pm | Reply Top Ten College Football Teams Of All Time « Dreadnaught

[...] Winning Percentage: 70.2% [...]
on October 2, 2008 at 10:45 am | Reply jeddler

When I did this post, the list was through the 2006 season. The list is not updated through the 2007 season. I’ll go ahead and updat the post to be current. Thanks.
on October 12, 2008 at 11:07 pm | Reply Austin

I am an Auburn fan and I gotta say Alabama is by far the best. That is just my opinion though
on October 14, 2008 at 4:03 pm | Reply jeddler

Bama is tough this year. I like Nick Saban.

And wow, as of today (12/14/08), look at the how many “Top 10 All-Time” schools are currently ranked:

#3 All-time Texas is currently ranked #1
#4 All-time Ohio Stae is currently ranked #12
#5 All-time Oklahoma is currently ranked #4
#6 All-time Alabama is currently ranked #2
#7 All-time USC is currently ranked #6
#10 All-time Penn State is currently ranked #3

Michigan and Notre Dame pretty much suck this season. The Gods are smiling on me lately with UofM losing to Toledo. And last year they lost to Appalachian State. They are breaking all kiinds of recoreds nowadays. I love it.

And UNC beat Notre Dame, which was a joy to behold. Fire Charlie! Say it loud, say it proud.
on December 5, 2008 at 11:01 pm | Reply Jake

It should be winning percentage national titles confrence titles and hiesman winners
on December 26, 2008 at 2:22 pm | Reply Dustin

What a horribly uninformed list.

1. Notre Dame
2. Alabama
3. USC
4. Oklahoma
5. Michigan
6. Ohio State
7. Nebraska
8. Texas

Those are the big 8 of college football.

Your list is horrible. UCLA? They have 1 national championship. Those Florida schools? They’ve barely been on the scene. Pathetic.
on December 27, 2008 at 3:31 pm | Reply jeddler

Hey Dustin, it’s not my list, it’s the NCAA’s list. Follow the link, it’s simply a list of all NCAA teams sorted by win percentage. How can that be “my list”, how can it be “horrible”, and most of all, how can it be “uninformed”? Are you an idiot, or am I just horribly uniformed? Nope, you’re an idiot.
on January 15, 2009 at 11:31 pm | Reply Does Kentucky just have our number regardless of the team we put out? - Page 7 - VolNation

[...] After some searching, I finally found one that had UT at #9….. All-time Best College Football Programs. Is Your School On the List? The Life Tussle [...]
on January 17, 2009 at 10:59 pm | Reply Alex

AWFUL list,
1. USC
2. NOTRE DAME
3. ALABAMA
4. MICHIGAN
5. OKLAHOMA
6. OHIO STATE
7. TEXAS
8. MIAMI
9. NEBRASKA
10. PENN STATE
on January 18, 2009 at 12:24 pm | Reply gregor

What do you mean the list is awful? The first list was a bunch of coworkers guesses/thoughts and the second is the fucking STATISTICS which cannot be a shitty list because they are the fucking STATISTICS. Not for this year but – the winningest teams over a period of years. Getit dumbass?
on January 19, 2009 at 12:43 pm | Reply jeddler

First off, Gregor, nice defense. Thanks.

Secondly, to avoid upsetting folks, I have revised the post to to be more focused on winning records, and not the apparently inflamatory word “Best”.

Lastly, I was going to update the stats for the 2008/2009 season, but the NCAA hasn’t updated the page yet. I’ll check back soon and make the minor adjustments.

Cheers.
on January 30, 2009 at 1:25 pm | Reply Rick

Hi,

Tex-ass has passed the Drunkin Irish.

Go Blue!

Michigan Rick
on February 2, 2009 at 5:53 pm | Reply jeddler

I just updated the percentages with the 2008 numbers. Yes, Texas has surpassed Notre Dame in terms of the number of wins, but not the win percentage – so the Irish stay #2. Only position change is Ohio State and Oklahoma did a flip-flop at #4 and #5. Michigan State University did rocket up from #32 to #31 though!!!