According to the Coaches Poll top 25 rankings, how do all of the teams stack up all-time? Here’s how they rank according to the final polls.
Which college football programs are the greatest of all-time – or at least since 1950 – according to the UPI and USA TODAY Coaches final polls?
The AP Poll started in 1936, and the Coaches Poll came on 14 years later with UPI (United Press International) handling the job up until 1991 when USA TODAY took over.
Over the years, the Coaches Poll held just as much weight as the AP’s version, creating split national champions in some seasons with its own set of rules and guidelines.
There’s one key, funky difference between the two polling systems over the years. The Coaches Poll doesn’t rank teams on probation.
That started in 1974 after the 1973 Oklahoma Sooners finished the season No. 2 despite being penalized for past transgressions. So in 1974 when OU went 11-0 and finished the season as the AP’s national champion, USC won the UPI Coaches Poll national title – the Sooners weren’t even ranked.
But Oklahoma wasn’t alone. Ohio State – you’ll see in a moment how much probation matters – didn’t see its 2012 12-0 season get ranked.
Alabama – 2002 and 1995 – wasn’t ranked despite finishing in the top 20 of the respective AP polls for those seasons. Others like Auburn (1979, 1993), Clemson (1982, 1983), and Miami (1981, 1995) likely would’ve been higher, too, if their great seasons were ranked.
We started from scratch from when we did this a few years ago and reran all the numbers. Like we did with the AP rankings, CFN devised a scoring system giving every UPI/USA TODAY national champion 25 points, the No. 2 team 24, No. 3 23, and so on down to the bottom of the top 20 in the early years, and then it became the top 25 after USA TODAY took over.
Coaches Poll, College Football Rankings: Greatest Programs Of All-Time
Based on the final Coaches Poll top 25 rankings from 1950 through to Georgia’s national championship after the 2021 season. Who earned the most all-time recognition from the voters?
USA TODAY Coaches Poll, All-Time Rankings
1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s
AP Greatest Programs of All-Time
Coaches Poll: 1950 to 2021 Final All-Time College Football Top 25 Rankings
T1 Ohio State 1028
T1 Oklahoma 1028
3 Alabama 1011
4 Michigan 806
5 Notre Dame 743
T6 Nebraska 736
T6 USC 736
8 Penn State 715
9 Texas 714
10 Florida State 617
11 Georgia 596
12 LSU 569
13 Tennessee 551
14 Miami 521
15 Florida 517
16 Auburn 506
17 UCLA 475
18 Michigan State 454
T19 Arkansas 434
T19 Ole Miss 434
21 Wisconsin 400
22 Clemson 394
23 Iowa 345
24 Washington 328
25 Texas A&M 316
NEXT: Coaches Poll: 1950 to 2021 College Football Rankings 26 to 114
USA TODAY Coaches Poll, All-Time Rankings
Greatest Programs of All-Time | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s
1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s | AP Greatest Teams of All-Time
Coaches Poll: 1950 to 2021 Final All-Time College Football Rankings
26 Oregon 271
27 Georgia Tech 269
28 Colorado 268
29 TCU 254
30 Stanford 252
T31 Arizona State 251
T31 Pitt 251
T31 Syracuse 251
34 Virginia Tech 235
35 Missouri 228
36 BYU 227
37 Baylor 223
38 Maryland 214
39 Purdue 212
40 West Virginia 200
41 Oklahoma State 196
42 Houston 189
43 Liberty 187
44 North Carolina 173
45 Illinois 169
46 Boise State 164
47 Navy 139
48 Minnesota 138
49 Utah 134
50 Washington State 127
USA TODAY Coaches Poll, All-Time Rankings
Greatest Programs of All-Time | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s
1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s | AP Greatest Teams of All-Time
51 Oregon State 118
52 Louisville 113
53 Texas Tech 110
54 California 109
55 SMU 107
T56 Army 105
T56 South Carolina 105
58 Northwestern 104
59 Kansas 103
60 NC State 102
61 Duke 99
62 Boston College 97
63 Kentucky 93
64 Arizona 91
65 Cincinnati 89
66 Air Force 87
67 Mississippi State 84
68 Wyoming 81
69 Virginia 66
70 Princeton 63
71 Indiana 56
T72 Miami University 55
T72 UCF 55
74 Rice 46
75 San Diego State 41
76 Utah State 39
77 Iowa State 37
78 Southern Miss 34
79 Colorado State 33
80 Marshall 32
T81 Tulane 30
T81 Tulsa 30
83 Rutgers 29
84 Toledo 28
85 Fresno State 26
86 Memphis 24
87 Wake Forest 21
88 East Carolina 20
T89 Hawaii 18
T89 Louisiana 18
91 Yale 17
T92 Dartmouth 13
T92 Nevada 13
T92 San Jose State 13
T95 Coastal Carolina 12
T95 USF 12
T97 New Mexico 10
T97 North Texas 10
T99 Holy Cross 9
T99 Temple 9
T99 Vanderbilt 9
T102 Appalachian State 8
T102 Denver 8
T102 Liberty 8
T102 Ohio 8
T102 Washington & Lee 8
T102 Western Michigan 8
108 New Mexico State 7
109 Cornell 6
T110 Ball State 3
T110 Bowling Green 3
T112 Central Michigan 2
T112 Northern Illinois 2
114 Buffalo 1
USA TODAY Coaches Poll, All-Time Rankings
Greatest Programs of All-Time | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s
1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s | AP Greatest Teams of All-Time