Continued - Ranking Every Power Five College Football Program Since 1980, highlighting the Weak
Jake Wimberly
We love to rank college football teams and we love to compare teams in different eras; compare programs as they pertain to decades and more. Who is the best? Is it Alabama of today, or Nebraska of 1995? Who had the better run in college football? Bobby Bowden’s Florida State teams or Pete Carrol’s USC teams?
Today we continue our journey to look at the 66 Power Five Programs and where their “Respective Program” ranks and stacks up against the rest.
We will look over the last forty years (from 1980 to 2020), and based on multiple criteria we will place every team in different tiers.
The tiers are as follows: Super Elite, First Rate, Top Flight, Passable, Strange, Tolerable, Mediocre, Not good enough, Damaged, Weak, Unsettling and Disturbing.
The criteria we will use is multiple, to give each team a final score in our simple program formula. Number of 6 win seasons, 10 win seasons, Conference Titles, Bowl appearances, Bowl wins, National Championship Appearances, National Championships and Losing Seasons.
We will drop individual articles on each tier, marching our way to the top programs of the last forty years.
We have already covered the disturbing tier and you can read about those teams here.
You can also read about the unsettling tier by clicking here.
Today we continue with the “Weak” of college football.
NOTE: The scores in each column you see do not necessarily represent actual number of winning seasons, titles, etc. these numbers are calculated off a data set for definition purposes only - to come up with a final score.
54: The California Golden Bears - We finally get above the negative and into the positive on team totals for program metrics in our evaluation. We start with the Cal Golden Bears at number 54. In the late 1950’s, Cal played in three straight Rose Bowl games, but we are a long way from 1950 in 2021. The Bears have sent some really good players on to the National Football League, posted three 10 win seasons and played in 15 bowl games. But, not a conference title to show for it and have had 23 losing seasons in the last 40.
53: The Fighting Illini of Illinois- Illinois is currently on a decade long streak of losing seasons and after a coaching change, we will see if former Arkansas and Wisconsin football coach Brett Bielema can right the ship of another BIG 10 program. The Illini have had success the last 40 years, winning a share or all of six BIG 10 titles, posting three ten win seasons and collecting five bowl wins. The big problem for Illinois is one, the BIG 10 is continuing to get better and better while they haven’t and two, you have to wonder to what extent the commitment to football is for this historic university.
52: The University of Maryland- The Terps of Maryland went undefeated in 1951 and won the 1953 National Title while a member of the Southern League. Since then, they have moved from the ACC to the BIG 10 and during the last 40 years collected eight conference titles, and three, 10 win seasons - all in the ACC. Since joining the BIG 10 in 2014, the Terps have posted only one winning season and that was in year one. They do have 23 losing seasons the last forty years and if they are gonna get off the mat in the BIG 10 they will have to recruit better and play smarter.
51: Mississippi State-It’s never easy in the rugged SEC and for Mississippi State, it’s always been an scratch and claw mentality in the best conference in the country. The Bulldogs have been living their best football life the last 10 plus years, reaching 11 straight bowl games, getting to number one in the country back in 2014, and are now under a serious rebuild under second year head coach Mike Leach. The Bulldogs had a disastrous run in the 1980’s and then again late in the Jackie Sherrill era and Sylvester Croom era. If it were not for those years, the Bulldogs would be in the tier above this one and can get there with continued consistency.
50: Syracuse- Twenty three losing seasons, four conference titles in the Big East, four ten win seasons the last forty years and the likes of Donovan McNabb, Art Monk, Larry Csonka and Jim Brown. Syracuse has a list of great college football history, but also is marred by years of despair and wondering the college football wilderness. Just the last three years, the Cuse have seen a 10 win season and a one win season this past year. The Cuse are in this tier for a simple reason - a lack of consistency.
49: Missouri-From the Big six to seven, to eight to 12, all the way to the SEC, Missouri has traveled an interesting path in football. They have the most ten win seasons of this group with TEN; four conference titles in the Big 12, and have played for a couple of SEC Titles. Missouri has seen great coaches and players run through their program, but also 22 losing seasons over the last 40. Missouri does more with less and can do that better than anybody. For a school with a lack of recruiting when you talk about top tier talent, the Tigers have done well with what they have.
48: Minnesota-PJ Fleck is working to make Minnesota football a main stay in the BIG 10 and that’s gonna take time and lots of work - but he has shown you can win at Minnesota. A 6-6 team or worse the last forty years, Minnesota for the most part has been an afterthought in college football. The Gophers have played in 18 bowl games and had two ten win seasons the last forty years, but to get to the next tier and beyond, Fleck will have major work to do to accomplish that feat.
Tier below this one:
Unsettling
55 Northwestern
56 Kentucky
57 Purdue
58 Washington State
59 Wake Forest
Disturbing
60 Oregon State
61 Iowa State
62 Kansas
63 Indiana
64 Rutgers
65 Duke
66 Vanderbilt
NEXT UP: The Damaged
Editors note: All photos courtesy of 247sports.com
