Which college football program can legitimately claim to be the best?
Think about it for a moment, and all the ways one could use in attempting to answer that question. Would it just be national championships? How about coaching prowess? Players in the NFL? Hall of Fame inductees? Major Awards? All-Americans? The list goes on and on. Perhaps that’s the best thing about the sport, there’s always room for debate because wins and losses never tell the whole story.
One of best indicators of success are the polls, which deservingly drawing criticism for having voting before a single game is played and then can be slow to adjust, But there’s not too much complaining about the final poll held after every game has been completed.
Years ago, former Southeastern Conference assistant director of media relations Charles Woodruff came up with the idea creating a compiled ranking of every season-ending AP poll, based on the same methodology as the weekly rankings. Just like how each ballot was counted, with each week in the media-based poll based on points with the first-place team getting 25, the second team 24, and so on down, the all-time poll does likewise with each year’s final results.
The SEC used to include the rankings in the back of the annual media guide back when it was trying to make the case that the conference was the best in the sport. Now there’s pretty much no doubt, with only the Big Ten able to make a challenge. But I’ve continued to update the rankings each year going back to one my first books “Who’s #1?: 100-Plus Years of Controversial National Champions in College Football.”
With all that in mind, consider the following aspects:
• There’s a new No. 1 this year as Ohio State jumped past Alabama with its latest national championship. However, the programs are so close that had the Crimson Tide won its bowl game it would still be in the top spot.
• When Nick Saban took over Alabama in 2007, the Crimson Tide was fifth on the all-time list. Michigan was actually at No. 1. When he stepped down at the end of the 2023 season, it was at No. 1, a status it subsequently lost after its first season without the coach.
• A great way to measure and compare conferences isn’t by which teams are at the top, but at the middle. The “average” SEC program, eight out of 16, is Auburn at No. 15. , with Arkansas ninth at No. 21, just ahead of Texas A&M and Ole Miss. There are 11 SEC teams in the top 25. Meanwhile, the ninth team in the 18-program Big Ten, is Iowa at No. 26.
The following only reflects final Associated Press polls, and are updated through the 2024 season. SEC programs are bolded.
The Top 25
Rank, Team Points Top 20 Top 10 Top 5 1st 2nd
1] Ohio State 1,034 63 44 30 6 8
2] Alabama 1,030 62 49 31 13 5
3] Oklahoma 981.5 60 45 33 6 4
4] Notre Dame 901.5 60 40 26 8 6
5] Michigan 892 62 41 18 3 2
6] Texas 699 46 29 12 3 2
7] USC 691 53 28 19 5 5
8] Nebraska 638 43 30 13 4 2
9] Penn State 637 46 29 15 2 3
10] Georgia 633 40 28 15 3 3
11] Tennessee 608 43 25 13 2 4
12] LSU 597 44 23 10 3 3
13] Florida State 578 32 20 17 3 2
14] Florida 501 31 19 11 3 1
15] Auburn 479 36 19 9 2 2
16] Miami (Fla.) 478 31 15 10 5 4
17] Clemson 463 34 14 8 3 3
18] Michigan State 406.5 28 18 9 1 4
19] UCLA 383 32 17 9 0 1
20] Washington 348 25 13 7 0 3
21] Arkansas 333 28 14 4 0 1
22] Texas A&M 331.5 27 13 4 1 0
23] Ole Miss 329.5 26 13 4 0 2
24] Wisconsin 328 22 14 3 0 1
25] Oregon 312.5 18 12 7 0 3
The Next 25, No. 26-50
Rank, Team Points Top 20 Top 10 Top 5 1st 2nd
26] Iowa 303 24 14 3 0 1
27] TCU 295 18 12 4 1 2
28] Georgia Tech 262.5 22 11 5 0 2
29] Stanford 257 20 10 4 0 1
30] Pittsburgh 235 19 10 6 2 1
31] Colorado 228 20 8 5 1 0
32] Missouri 212.5 18 9 3 0 0
33] Virginia Tech 212 15 7 1 0 1
34] Arizona State 205.5.5 17 8 3 0 1
35] Kansas State 196 13 6 0 0 0
36] Minnesota 191 17 10 5 4 0
37] Oklahoma State 190 17 4 2 0 0
38] Army 186 15 8 6 2 2
39] Brigham Young 178 15 3 2 1 0
40] North Carolina 174 18 8 1 0 0
(tie) Boise State 174 11 5 2 0 0
42] Baylor 173.5 17 3 1 0 0
43] Maryland 167.5 17 5 3 1 0
(tie) Syracuse 167.5 14 5 2 1 0
45] Navy 165.5 14 8 7 0 1
46] California 163 12 6 4 0 1
(tie) West Virginia 163 16 6 2 0 0
48] Houston 159.5 16 7 2 0 0
49] Utah 152 11 4 2 0 1
50] Illinois 147 12 6 3 0 0
No. 51-75
Rank, Team Points Top 20 Top 10 Top 5 1st 2nd
51] Northwestern 141 11 6 0 0 0
52] Purdue 135.5 15 5 1 0 0
53] Duke 133 16 5 2 0 1
54] SMU 131 12 6 3 0 1
55] Boston College 119.5 10 4 2 0 0
56] Washington State114 10 5 0 0 0
57] South Carolina 113 9 3 1 0 0
58] Louisville 108 8 2 0 0 0
59] Oregon State 104 8 3 1 0 0
60] Mississippi State 92.5 12 1 0 0 0
61] Texas Tech 84 8 0 0 0 0
(tie) Cincinnati 84 5 3 1 0 0
(tie) N.C. State 84 11 0 0 0 0
64] Kansas 79 6 3 0 0 0
65] Kentucky 78 10 2 0 0 0
66] Arizona 73 8 2 1 0 0
67] Indiana 71 7 3 2 0 0
68] Tulane 67.5 8 3 1 0 0
69] Rice 66 8 4 1 0 0
70] Pennsylvania 60 7 3 0 0 0
71] Air Force 59 5 2 0 0 0
72] Central Florida 58 3 2 0 0 0
(tie) Fordham 58 6 2 1 0 0
74] Virginia 56 6 0 0 0 0
75] Santa Clara 55 6 2 0 0 0
No. 76-100
Rank, Team Points Top 20 Top 10 Top 5 1st 2nd
76] Tulsa 49 6 1 1 0 0
77] Miami (Ohio) 48 5 2 0 0 0
78] Cornell 43 5 1 1 0 0
79] Dartmouth 35 5 1 0 0 0
(tie) Princeton 35 4 2 0 0 0
81] Iowa Pre-Flight 34 2 2 1 0 1
(tie) Yale 34 4 0 0 0 0
83] Wyoming 33 3 1 0 0 0
84] Duquesne 31 3 2 0 0 0
(tie) Colorado State 31 3 0 0 0 0
(tie) Iowa State 31 3 1 0 0 0
87] Utah State 27 1 1 0 0 0
88] Holy Cross 26.5 5 1 0 0 0
89] Villanova 26 3 1 0 0 0
90] Rutgers 25 4 0 0 0 0
(tie) Southern Miss 25 3 0 0 0 0
[92] Louisiana 23 3 0 0 0 0
(tie) Wake Forest 23 4 0 0 0 0
94] March Field 22 2 2 0 0 0
(tie) Marshall 21 1 1 0 0 0
96] Bainbridge NTS 20 2 1 1 0 0
97] Great Lakes 19 2 1 0 0 0
98] Randolph Field 18 1 1 1 0 0
(tie) William & Mary 18 3 0 0 0 0
(tie) East Carolina 18 2 1 0 0 0
(tie) Toledo 18 2 0 0 0 0
The Rest: 102-144
Rank, Team Points Top 20 Top 10 Top 5 1st 2nd
102] Fresno State 16 1 0 0 0 0
103] Carnegie Tech 15 1 1 0 0 0
(tie) Nevada 15 1 0 0 0 0
105] Vanderbilt 14 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) St. Mary’s (Calif.) 14 1 1 0 0 0
107] Del Monte P-F 13 1 1 0 0 0
(tie) Pacific 13 2 1 0 0 0
(tie) Hawaii 13 2 0 0 0 0
(tie) Memphis 13 1 0 0 0 0
111] South Florida 12 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) Coastal Carolina 12 1 0 0 0 0
113] Western Michigan 11 1 0 0 0 0
114] Liberty 10 1 0 0 0 0
115] Georgetown 8 1 0 0 0 0
116] Norman P-F 7.5 1 0 0 0 0
117] Appalachian St 7 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) San Francisco 7 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) San Jose State 7 0 0 0 0 0
(tie) Troy 7 1 0 0 0 0
121] San Diego State 7 1 0 0 0 0
122] Boston U. 5 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) El Toro Maines 5 1 0 0 0 0
124] G. Washington 4 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) Hardin-Simmons 4 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) New Mexico State 4 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) Temple 4 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) Northern Illinois 4 0 0 0 0 0
(tie) Western Kentucky 4 0 0 0 0 0
130] Fort Pierce 3 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) Colorado College 3 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) Washington & Lee 3 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) Bowling Green 3 0 0 0 0 0
(tie) Central Michigan 3 0 0 0 0 0
(tie) Ball State 3 0 0 0 0 0
(tie) UNLV 3 0 0 0 0 0
137] Columbia 2 2 0 0 0 0
(tie) Delaware 2 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) St. Mary’s P-F 2 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) Marquette 1 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) Ohio University 1 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) Second Air Force 1 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) Virginia Military 1 1 0 0 0 0
(tie) Buffalo 1 0 0 0 0 0
Specifics: The All-Time Associated Press Poll was originally compiled and organized by Charles Woodroof, former SEC Assistant Director of Media Relations. The AP (Writers and Broadcasters) Poll began in 1936. From 1936 to 1961 the wire service ranked 20 teams. From 1962 to 1967 only 10 teams were recognized. From 1968 to 1988 AP again resumed its Top 20 before expanding to 25 teams in 1989. Points were awarded based on a team’s finish in the final AP poll each year. Points were awarded on a 20-19-18- 17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis from 1936 to 1988, and a 25-24-23-22-21-20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5- 4-3-2-1 basis 1989 to the present.
Inside the SEC appears every week.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
