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Coaches Poll, College Football Rankings: Greatest Programs Of All-Time Top 25

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.


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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 2022 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 All-Time Overall College Football Rankings
AP All-Time Overall College Basketball Rankings
Basketball AP All-Time Rankings | Coaches All-Time Rankings 

Coaches Poll: 1950 to 2022 Final All-Time College Football Top 25 Rankings

1 Ohio State 1050 (T1)

2 Alabama 1033 (3)

3 Oklahoma 1028 (T1)

4 Michigan 829 (4)

5 Notre Dame 751 (5)

6 USC 749 (T6)

7 Nebraska 736 (T6)

8 Penn State 734 (8)

9 Texas 715 (9)

10 Florida State 633 (10)

11 Georgia 621 (11)

12 LSU 580 (12)

13 Tennessee 571 (13)

14 Miami 521 (14)

15 Florida 517 (15)

16 Auburn 506 (16)

17 UCLA 480 (17)

18 Michigan State 454 (18)

T19 Arkansas 434 (T19)

T19 Ole Miss 434 (T19)

21 Clemson 408 (22)

22 Wisconsin 400 (21)

23 Washington 346 (24)

24 Iowa 345 (23)

25 Texas A&M 316 (25)

NEXT: Coaches Poll: 1950 to 2022 College Football Rankings 26 to 116

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 2022 Final All-Time College Football Rankings

26 Oregon 281 (26)

27 TCU 278 (29)

28 Georgia Tech 269 (27)

29 Colorado 268 (28)

30 Pitt 255 (T31)

31 Stanford 252 (30)

T32 Arizona State 251 (T31)

T32 Syracuse 251 (T31)

34 Virginia Tech 235 (34)

35 Missouri 228 (35)

36 BYU 227 (36)

37 Baylor 223 (37)

38 Maryland 214 (38)

39 Purdue 212 (39)

40 West Virginia 200 (40)

41 Kansas State 199 (41)

42 Oklahoma State 196 (42)

43 Houston 189 (43)

44 Liberty 187 (44)

45 North Carolina 173 (45)

46 Illinois 169 (46)

47 Boise State 164 (47)

48 Utah 149 (50)

49 Navy 139 (48)

50 Minnesota 138 (49)

T51 Washington State 127 (51)

T51 Oregon State 127 (52)

53 Louisville 113 (53)

54 Texas Tech 110 (54)

55 California 109 (55)

56 South Carolina 108 (T57)

57 SMU 107 (56)

58 Army 105 (T57)

59 Northwestern 104 (59)

60 Kansas 103 (60)

61 NC State 102 (61)

62 Duke 99 (62)

63 Boston College 97 (63)

64 Kentucky 93 (64)

T65 Arizona 91 (65)

T65 Mississippi State 91 (68)

67 Cincinnati 89 (66)

68 Air Force 87 (67)

69 Wyoming 81 (69)

70 Virginia 66 (70)

71 Princeton 63 (71)

72 Indiana 56 (72)

T73 Miami University 55 (T73)

T73 UCF 55 (T73)

75 Tulane 47 (T82)

76 Rice 46 (75)

77 San Diego State 41 (76)

78 Utah State 39 (77)

79 Iowa State 37 (78)

80 Southern Miss 34 (79)

81 Colorado State 33 (80)

82 Marshall 32 (81)

83 Tulsa 30 (T82)

84 Rutgers 29 (84)

T85 Toledo 28 (85)

T85 Fresno State 28 (86)

87 Memphis 24 (87)

88 Wake Forest 21 (88)

89 East Carolina 20 (89)

T90 Hawaii 18 (T90)

T90 Louisiana 18 (T90)

92 Yale 17 (92)

T93 Dartmouth 13 (T93)

T93 Nevada 13 (T93)

T93 San Jose State 13 (T93)

T96 Coastal Carolina 12 (T96)

T96 USF 12 (T96)

T98 New Mexico 10 (T98)

T98 North Texas 10 (T98)

T100 Holy Cross 9 (T100)

T100 Temple 9 (T100)

T100 Vanderbilt 9 (T100)

T100 Appalachian State 8 (T103)

T100 Denver 8 (T103)

T100 Liberty 8 (T103)

T100 Ohio 8 (T103)

T100 Washington & Lee 8 (T103)

T100 Western Michigan 8 (T103)

109 New Mexico State 7 (109)

T110 Cornell 6 (110)

T110 Troy 6 (NR)

T112 Ball State 3 (T111)

T112 Bowling Green 3 (T111)

T114 Central Michigan 2 (T113)

T114 Northern Illinois 2 (T113)

116 Buffalo 1 (115)

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

Story originally appeared on College Football News