All-Time College Football AP Poll

[sufandu]

Here is a CFN analysis of the greatest football programs of the AP era overall and by each decade using only the final AP polls.

AP College Football Rankings: Greatest Programs Of All-Time

Overall, we are ranked #44.

1930s - NR
1940s -NR
1950s - #15
1960s - #37
1970s - NR
1980s - tied at #30
1990s - #20
2000s - tied at #50
2010s - NR

Cheers,
Neil

Without looking at final rankings I would've thought the 60's would've been higher than the 50's.

 

[omniorange]

Without looking at final rankings I would've thought the 60's would've been higher than the 50's.

I was a little surprised by that as well. I at first summed it up to the championship points. But actually in the 60s we had more rankings in the Final Coaches Poll, six of them, than the AP Poll which was only two.

 

[GoSU96]

The way it went down, sure. And they obviously missed on the hire. But it's not a case of "doing nothing" would have worked out better, either. I think letting P go was the right move, they just should have hired someone besides Robinson.

Of course it would have worked out better if they did nothing. That team would have done a lot better than 1-10.

The ridiculously flawed actions and resulting process led to having a pool of candidates where Gerg was the best choice.

How the hell was letting P go, a guy with one losing season in 14 years and 6-6 with a bowl , the right move, and yet you were all in on Shafer into November of last year?

 

[KaiserUEO]

Of course it would have worked out better if they did nothing. That team would have done a lot better than 1-10.

The ridiculously flawed actions and resulting process led to having a pool of candidates where Gerg was the best choice.

How the hell was letting P go, a guy with one losing season in 14 years and 6-6 with a bowl , the right move, and yet you were all in on Shafer into November of last year?

SS had a d3 OC, who previously failed as QB coach for us, and after working in the previous offense for 2 years, still didn't understand it...now running the show.

you weren't all in??

 

[TheCusian]

Of course it would have worked out better if they did nothing. That team would have done a lot better than 1-10. The ridiculously flawed actions and resulting process led to having a pool of candidates where Gerg was the best choice. How the hell was letting P go, a guy with one losing season in 14 years and 6-6 with a bowl , the right move, and yet you were all in on Shafer into November of last year?

This is an age old argument around here. AT THE TIME we were trending down, no one was putting money into our aging facilities, recruiting was starting to atrophy, and P's O was looking ooooollllldddd.

How it went down was regrettable. But without your amazing using of hindsight (a GoSU96 staple), it wasn't as shocking or on its face as bad as a decision as you posit.

I've been ALL IN on every Syracuse Football and Basketball since I was 10. I don't give up on my team.

 

[omniorange]

Just went back again and realized that SU (and other teams) might have been screwed by both the AP analysis and the CFN analysis. AP only ranked teams 1-10 from 1962-1967. Three of our best years were in that time frame - 1963, 1964, and 1967 when we finished just out of the Top 10 at #12 in Coaches Poll. But since the AP only ranked the Top 10 I think both analyses gave us zero points during the entire six year period.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[TheCusian]

SS had a d3 OC, who previously failed as QB coach for us, and after working in the previous offense for 2 years, still didn't understand it...now running the show. you weren't all in??

I'd love to dance, K - but we know how it will go .

And we could start you at QB and I'd find a way to be all in. Optimism is a flaw, but it's mine and I own it.

 

[GoSU96]

This is an age old argument around here. AT THE TIME we were trending down, no one was putting money into our aging facilities, recruiting was starting to atrophy, and P's O was looking ooooollllldddd.

How it went down was regrettable. But without your amazing using of hindsight (a GoSU96 staple), it wasn't as shocking or on its face as bad as a decision as you posit.

I've been ALL IN on every Syracuse Football and Basketball since I was 10. I don't give up on my team.

Hindsight? You have no idea what you are talking about, which is SoP.

I don't need hindsight to see have a clue about what's going to happen.

Remember the reaction to this post?

Don't freakout and this isn't hate speech

 

[TheCusian]

Hindsight? You have no idea what you are talking about, which is SoP.

Yeah, that thing you said after the 6-6 team thing. Where you reeled of what happened after he got fired? That's all hindsight on your part.

If you're analyzing the decision to fire P, you have to look at his record not what happened after. Then you analyze the decision to hire Robinson. The firing (aside from how it went down) was fine. The hiring of Robinson was meh at the time and snowballed into a pile of crap very quickly.

 

[sufandu]

Of course it would have worked out better if they did nothing. That team would have done a lot better than 1-10.

The ridiculously flawed actions and resulting process led to having a pool of candidates where Gerg was the best choice.

How the hell was letting P go, a guy with one losing season in 14 years and 6-6 with a bowl , the right move, and yet you were all in on Shafer into November of last year?

If the two are going to be compared you have to compare the circumstances with which the two took over the program.

When P took over he was handed a young team on the rise and given the keys to a program that had 10 and 11 win seasons within the previous 4 years. He ran with it well for a while but he didn't take full advantage of the talent rich McNabb era, never finishing in the top 15, and the program was clearly in decline post '98, even with the positive blip that was 2001.

Shafer took over a team that had clawed back to basic mediocrity but was certainly not reestablished or respected yet. I don't have a problem with anyone in that situation being given more leeway.

By the end of last season it was clear the change had to be made, and I'm excited about where we're headed, but I won't ever be more critical of the guy that couldn't keep us moving forward than the one who's stubbornness and/or lack of flexibility led to the initial erosion of the program.

 

[TheCusian]

Hindsight? You have no idea what you are talking about, which is SoP. I don't need hindsight to see have a clue about what's going to happen. Remember the reaction to this post? Don't freakout and this isn't hate speech

Yeah, man. Kudos for that for sure.

Your view of past events are a lot less clear.

 

[KaiserUEO]

I'd love to dance, K - but we know how it will go .

And we could start you at QB and I'd find a way to be all in. Optimism is a flaw, but it's mine and I own it.

im ready.

I can still sling it...

 

[Trueblue25]

im ready.

I can still sling it...

There's no way thats a pro sized football.

 

[GoSU96]

Hindsight? You have no idea what you are talking about, which is SoP.

Ask anyone here is I said firing P at the time was a stupid thing to do?

 

[Moontan]

How is recent success weighted? My understanding is that being ranked X in 1960 is the same as being ranked X in 2015.

Except that there are now 2 more weeks per season to be ranked.

 

[Eric15]

Except that there are now 2 more weeks per season to be ranked.

That's a fair point.

 

[sufandu]

Except that there are now 2 more weeks per season to be ranked.

And preseason bias is sure to put teams in the rankings that never deserved to be there. Although, I suppose that has probably always been the case.

 

[KellySyracuse]

and SU makes the list at 7 times. Thanks to Reno Ferri for tweeting the link

The No. 1 Teams

 

[Moontan]

and SU makes the list at 7 times. Thanks to Reno Ferri for tweeting the link

The No. 1 Teams

It's only been 56 years...

Hopefully, I'll see it at least once in my lifetime.

 

[omniorange]

OK, since I was bored and not feeling well enough to go outside, this morning I decided to redo the CFN AP analysis which focused soley on the Final AP Polls from 1936-2015. I found the final Coaches Polls for the 6 year period that the AP only ranked 10 teams (1962-1967) and redid the points analysis for all the teams ranked 11th through 20th in the Coaches Poll but were not in the AP poll, although virtually all of them were listed in the AP receiving votes category (but in alpha order, not by order of number of votes received).

As a result we jump 10 spots in this corrected version of the CFN analysis from 44th to 34th.

Then I decided to look at the new point totals and at what the results would be if 1936-1949 were eliminated and the starting year was 1950 and forward.

Here are the Top 40 from 1950-2015 with total points:

1 Oklahoma 1032

2 Ohio State 895
3 Alabama 866

4 Michigan 731
5 Nebraska 725
6 Southern Cal 716.5

7 Notre Dame 669
8 Texas 665
9 Penn State 632.5

10 Florida State 570
11 Auburn 544
12 Tennessee 534
13 Miami 528
14 Louisiana State 524
15 Florida 515

16 Georgia 482
17 UCLA 466
18 Michigan State 440.5
19 Arkansas 422

20 Ole Miss 339
21 Clemson 323
22 Iowa 319
23 Arizona State 310
24 Wisconsin 304
25 Texas A&M 303
26 Washington 302.5
27 Georgia Tech 270.5
28 Colorado 268
29 Syracuse 249.5
30 Missouri 239.5
31 Oregon 237
32 Stanford 230
33 Pittsburgh 227
33 Texas Christian 227
35 Maryland 226
36 Virginia Tech 219
37 Purdue 208
38 Houston 199
39 West Virginia 194
40 North Carolina 179

Syracuse's Total Points by each decade from 1950-2015

1950s - #15 - 72 points
1960s - #15 - 77.5 points
1980s - tied at #29 - 35 points
1990s - #20 - 53 points
2000s - 12 points

zero points for 1970s and for 2010-2015

Cheers,
Neil

 

[sutomcat]

OK, since I was bored and not feeling well enough to go outside, this morning I decided to redo the CFN AP analysis which focused soley on the Final AP Polls from 1936-2015. I found the final Coaches Polls for the 6 year period that the AP only ranked 10 teams (1962-1967) and redid the points analysis for all the teams ranked 11th through 20th in the Coaches Poll but were not in the AP poll, although virtually all of them were listed in the AP receiving votes category (but in alpha order, not by order of number of votes received). As a result we jump 10 spots in this corrected version of the CFN analysis from 44th to 34th. Then I decided to look at the new point totals and at what the results would be if 1936-1949 were eliminated and the starting year was 1950 and forward. Here are the Top 40 from 1950-2015 with total points: 1 Oklahoma 1032 2 Ohio State 895 3 Alabama 866 4 Michigan 731 5 Nebraska 725 6 Southern Cal 716.5 7 Notre Dame 669 8 Texas 665 9 Penn State 632.5 10 Florida State 570 11 Auburn 544 12 Tennessee 534 13 Miami 528 14 Louisiana State 524 15 Florida 515 16 Georgia 482 17 UCLA 466 18 Michigan State 440.5 19 Arkansas 422 20 Ole Miss 339 21 Clemson 323 22 Iowa 319 23 Arizona State 310 24 Wisconsin 304 25 Texas A&M 303 26 Washington 302.5 27 Georgia Tech 270.5 28 Colorado 268 29 Syracuse 249.5 30 Missouri 239.5 31 Oregon 237 32 Stanford 230 33 Pittsburgh 227 33 Texas Christian 227 35 Maryland 226 36 Virginia Tech 219 37 Purdue 208 38 Houston 199 39 West Virginia 194 40 North Carolina 179 Syracuse's Total Points by each decade from 1950-2015 1950s - #15 - 72 points 1960s - #15 - 77.5 points 1980s - tied at #29 35 points 1990s - #20 - 53 points 2000s - 12 points zero points for 1970s and for 2010-2015 Cheers, Neil

Nice work.

It is a shame there is no representation of the 1920s and 1920s. Syracuse was consistently a top 20 program in those days and often in the top 10.

 

[SWC75]

I did my own study on this subject back in 2012 and have just updated it:

I was watching some old college football clips on U-Tube and I wondered how the great powers of the sport really stack up against each other over the years. I decided to take the Associated Press, (writer’s) Poll final rankings from 1936, when it started, to 2015, (the last full year before this) and “add them up” with a 25 points for first place, 24 for second, etc. system to determine which schools had done the best in the rankings over the years. I stuck with the writers because I wanted one source for the rankings to avoid confusion. They are usually not so different from each other that it would make a noticeable difference if I used the coaches poll instead. And I didn’t want to use the various mathematical systems and other rankings on the net because they represent a more personalized point of view, (for example James Howell, whom I have used for other things, tends, for some reason, to downgrade Midwestern teams in the pre-war period ). The writer’s poll is itself an accumulation of opinions from knowledgeable sources so it will do for this project.

Note: The writer’s poll was a Top 20 from 1936- 1961, a Top 10 from 1962-67, a Top 20 again from 1968-88 and has been a Top 25 since 1989. I nonetheless gave 25 points for 1st place, 24 for second place, etc. for every year. We are missing some teams from the bottom of the list prior to 1989 but a national championship is still a national championship in any era.


The All-Time Top 25:

Alabama 1024
Oklahoma 1015
Michigan 957
Ohio State 951
Notre Dame 940

Nebraska 784
So California 782
Texas 772
Tennessee 683
Penn State 667

Louisiana St. 602
Auburn 554
Florida State 543
Georgia 548
UCLA 509

Miami (Fla) 503
Florida 489
Michigan State 445
Arkansas 439
Texas A&M 365

Clemson 353
Georgia Tech 343
Mississippi 347
Washington 342
Wisconsin 317


Alphabetically:

Air Force 75
Alabama 1024
Arkansas 439
Arizona 84
Arizona State 244
Army 239
Auburn 554
Baylor 177
Boise State 146
Boston College 143
Boston U 10
Bowling Green 3
Brigham Young 193
California 198
Carnegie Tech 20
Central Florida 21
Central Michigan 3
Cincinnati 37
Clemson 353
Colorado 258
Colorado Col 8
Colorado St 31
Columbia 12
Cornell 81
Dartmouth 60
Delaware 7
Duke 206
Duquesne 46
E Carolina 23
Florida 489
Florida State 543
Fordham 88
Fresno State 6
Georgetown 13
Geo Washington 9
Georgia 548
Georgia Tech 343
Hardin-Simmons 9
Hawaii 13
Holy Cross 53
Houston 183
Illinois 177
Indiana 63
Iowa 289
Iowa State 8
Kansas 86
Kansas State 176
Kentucky 96
Lafayette 7
Louisiana St. 602
Louisville 104
Marquette 6
Marshall 21
Maryland 238
Memphis 1
Miami (Fla) 503
Miami (Ohio) 68
Michigan 957
Michigan State 445
Minnesota 226
Mississippi 347
Miss State 115
Missouri 251
Navy 207
Nebraska 784
New Mexico St 9
No Carolina 210
NC State 105
No Illinois 4
Northwestern 138
Notre Dame 940
Ohio State 951
Ohio University 6
Oklahoma 1015
Oklahoma St 147
Oregon 277
Oregon State 98
Pacific 23
Penn State 667
Pennsylvania 95
Pittsburgh 293
Princeton 55
Purdue 177
Rice 107
Rutgers 40
St. Mary’s 19
San Diego State 11
San Francisco 12
San Jose State 5
Santa Clara 86
So California 782
So Carolina 118
So Methodist 168
So Mississippi 25
Stanford 265
Syracuse 191
Temple 9
Tennessee 683
Texas 772
Texas A&M 365
Texas Christian 273
Texas Tech 104
Toledo 31
Tulane 81
Tulsa 79
UCLA 509
Utah 89
Utah State 26
Vanderbilt 19
Villanova 41
Virginia 66
Virginia Military 6
Virginia Tech 213
Wake Forest 22
Washington 342
Wash & Lee 7
Wash State 123
West Virginia 194
W Kentucky 2
William & Mary 33
Wisconsin 317
Wyoming 48
Yale 54

Believe it or not….I have Syracuse ranked #44, just behind West Virginia (194) and BYU (193) and just ahead of Houston (183).

 

[creatorsgam]

im ready.

I can still sling it...

I miss seeing Hefty Lefty on the G-Men depth chart.

 

[omniorange]

SWC75, it sounds like you and CFN did the same type of analysis, but came up with different point totals. Here is the link to it I previously posted which was a different analysis than the one in beginning of the thread:

AP College Football Rankings: Greatest Programs Of All-Time

I adjusted mine due to the fact that for 6 years, for no real reason, the AP went to ranking only 10 teams. So I re-did what CFN did giving points for all the teams who finished 11th through 20th in the Coaches Poll for that 6 year period.

Then I wanted to see what would happen if we started at 1950 instead of 1936 since programs like Penn, Fordham, Santa Clara, etc. completely disappear once we hit the 50s.

Those results are what I put in my last post in this thread.

I see that your totals are different from what CFN has. Outside of that six year period, I assumed the CFN total points were accurate since I didn't have that much time on hand.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[SWC75]

SWC75, it sounds like you and CFN did the same type of analysis, but came up with different point totals. Here is the link to it I previously posted which was a different analysis than the one in beginning of the thread:

AP College Football Rankings: Greatest Programs Of All-Time

I adjusted mine due to the fact that for 6 years, for no real reason, the AP went to ranking only 10 teams. So I re-did what CFN did giving points for all the teams who finished 11th through 20th in the Coaches Poll for that 6 year period.

Then I wanted to see what would happen if we started at 1950 instead of 1936 since programs like Penn, Fordham, Santa Clara, etc. completely disappear once we hit the 50s.

Those results are what I put in my last post in this thread.

I see that your totals are different from what CFN has. Outside of that six year period, I assumed the CFN total points were accurate since I didn't have that much time on hand.

Cheers,
Neil

My rankings need to be multiplied by the percentage of my infallibility. I ain't doing it again.

I wonder what their percentage of infallibility is?