Combine that with the size of the FBS itself -- throughout its history, college football's top-division roster has typically featured well over 100 teams -- and you're going to end up with one heck of a list of amazing teams that never won the national title. Alabama and Texas claim titles, but Alabama lost twice, and Texas lost once and tied another team. The unbeaten Nittany Lions won the Orange Bowl and had the countrys best defense, but the country had already decided the winner of Arkansas-Texas would be the national champ. Lou Holtz had done so in 2000 and 2001, but that was the best the program had ever seen. The Aggies finally won a bowl game in 2017, their first since their undefeated run in 1960. 1 team until it was too late. It was the most Les Miles team of the Les Miles era. In 1999 they had the sensation known as Michael Vick at quarterback, and he took the Hokies all the way to the title game before they ran into the buzzsaw known as Florida State, 46-29. Then they blew an abundance of scoring chances, attempted the worst fake field goal of all time, threw a pick-six and got their doors blown off 44-16. Indiana is still waiting to get their shot in the spotlight, but Kevin Wilson is expected to at least put them in bowl contention. Likewise, even after the formation of the NCAA, there was no differentiation into divisions until 1956, when play was separated in the upper "University" division and lower "Collegiate" division. Teams ordered by the number of undefeated seasons in the top division. It was a blast that culminated with Alabama becoming the undefeated national champion and earning its place among the best teams of all time. SMU! Hell, RUTGERS even. Is that debatable? Auburn went 11-0 under Terry Bowden in 1993 and was the only major college team to finish unbeaten. twice (!!) Ranking the best college football teams to never win it all, from BCS The Trojans were a bit looser than normal on defense, but with quarterback Matt Leinart, running backs Reggie Bush and LenDale White and receivers Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith, the offense averaged 50 points per game during the regular season. That's unfortunate for a Navy team that was excellent in its own right. Carroll's last title came in 2004, but don't mistake that for a downward slide. Did you know Purdue could claim a title in 1931? Ryan Leaf was a star that season, but WSU came up a play short (596 Switch) to the Wolverines, and also lost to ASU earlier in season. Earlier, in 2019, LSU became the third college football team ever to finish the season at 15-0, and the second in consecutive years. Taylor Mays, Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing led a nearly perfect defense: USC allowed more than 10 points just three times. They beat John Vaught's still-formidable Ole Miss by 10 in Jackson, survived a brutal trip to Tennessee and manhandled three other opponents that finished with winning records by a combined 81-0. The Buffaloes had beaten Nebraska 62-36 earlier in the season. Pittsburgh Steelers. The 10-game SEC schedule of 2020 emerged out of necessity. It's 11 at the moment (7 ACC), and Tom OBrien is hoping he can bring another conference crown back to Raleigh before it is too late. USC's 2007 and 2008 teams ended up first in SP+, but each team suffered a devastating upset loss -- a 24-23 stunner against Stanford in 2007 and a classic Thursday night loss to Oregon State in Corvallis early in 2008. The Green Wave averaged an outrageous 45 points a game en route to a 12-0 record and #7 ranking. This should have been Switzer's second dynasty, but one team -- led by a former Oklahoma State head coach (Jimmy Johnson), no less -- derailed it. It was the Backyard Brawl, and Pittsburgh ruined their chances by completely bottling up Pat White. Here are the colleges with most NFL draft picks in a single year, dating back to 1994. List of undefeated NCAA Division I football teams - Wikipedia Then they went back to the bottom. Books have been written about why voters chose a blemished Notre Dame team -- one that famously tied fellow unbeaten Michigan State 10-10 -- over an unbeaten Alabama. Five undefeated teams comprise the final 10 spots in the AP Top 25, and several more (Maryland, San Diego State, Boston College, SMU and UTSA) are . Only two opponents stayed within 24 points, none within single digits. What could have been: We think Oregon would have fared better against the Hurricanes than Nebraska and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Eric Crouch. Woody Hayes' squad drew 10-10 with Bo Schembechler's Michigan, and because both teams finished with the same conference record, Big Ten ADs voted on whom to send to the Rose Bowl. College football champions: Every undefeated team to win the national championship since 1936. That's a shame because Michigan was Notre Dame's equal in 1947. College Football World Not Happy With National Championship Date Rutgers claims to have invented college football, and it has spent most of the last 100 years sucking at it. Here are the colleges with most NFL draft picks in a single year, dating back to 1994. I combed through the annual standings, looking for teams that finished completely undefeated (no losses or ties or forfeit wins) but do not formally claim a title from that year. But it has gone undefeated (!) College Football Undefeated Teams NOT Playing in the National Points for/against: 32.6 (T-35th), 15.9 (4th) After Michigan's Rose Bowl romp, a Detroit AP voter arranged an unofficial postseason poll, and Michigan won it. They clobbered BYU in the Liberty Bowl. They are well-known as QB U (Cradle of Quarterbacks) since they have produced so many NFL signal-callers. Before Cooke's arrival, the team had played in one Super Bowl, in 1973, losing to the undefeated Miami Dolphins. If the AP voted one way, the coaches' poll often went the other. The 2022-23 Georgia Bulldogs became the63rd undefeated college football national champion since 1936 in their dominating 65-7 win against TCU to go 15-0 during the 2022 college football season. Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze contract released: What is his pay? That year's champion: Tennessee (This also doesnt even count teams who were named champs by NCAA-recognized selectors and choose not to claim them.). Were sticking with the Longhorns, and like everybody else, were wondering how much closer that 37-21 Rose Bowl loss to the Tide would be if Colt McCoy had played the whole game. A few famous programs have never even contended for a title. College Football's 10 Best Teams That Didn't Win a National Title The 1945 season, which began as World War II was coming to a close, was dominated by an Army team that has a strong claim to Greatest Team Ever status. The Ville was a place that many successful and or famous coaches have been to. College Football: 25 best teams to not win a national championship After pairing an all-time offense with a good defense in 1971, Chuck Fairbanks' 1972 Sooners flipped that around: Their offense remained at a top-10 level, but the defense, led by All-American linemen Lucious Selmon and Derland Moore, allowed just 6.2 points per game. Heres a list of every undefeatednational champion since 1936. Thats better than Cornell and Oklahoma, who claim titles that season. Why do teams sometimes leave national titles unclaimed? : r/CFB - Reddit - The Vols were ranked No. This section covers teams that competed in the second tier of Division I since it was split in 1978: Note that Division I FCS features a single-elimination championship tournament, reducing the likelihood of multiple teams finishing the season with undefeated records. The Tigers also beat No. But in 1938, it finished 8-0, beat Maryland and West Virginia, and finished in the top 10 in scoring offense and scoring defense. In 2006, these subdivisions were renamed Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), respectively.[1]. 2023 college football games to watch, CFP picks and bold predictions However, they have never won a national title, despite having an undefeated season in 1970 (10-0).