As per 247 Sports, what's the best college football program of all time?
Alabama?
Texas?
Michigan? There's more than one way to answer the question. Here's how we've done it here: We've ranked the college football schools with the 50 best winning percentages of all time.
Our countdown list is based on the NCAA's latest FBS record book. Stats are current through the end of the 2020 season. Ties, if any, were broken by a school's total number of games played.
Win-loss-and-tie totals noted here reflect adjustments made by the NCAA, if any. (Translation: If the NCAA ordered a program to vacate a win because of a rules violation, then the win is
not counted in the NCAA's record book.)
So, which school is No. 1 of all time? Read on to find out. Our look at the top schools begins with No. 20.
20. Auburn
Winning percentage: .630 (782 wins, 450 losses, 47 ties)
Games played: 1,279
Bo Jackson and head coach Pat Dye teamed to post a .771 winning percentage (off a 37-11 record) during a storied run at Auburn from 1982-1985.
19. Florida
Winning percentage: .632 (741 wins, 424 losses, 40 ties)
Games played: 1,205
In the 1990s and 2000s, Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer combined to win 187 games -- and three national titles -- for Florida during their respective runs as head coach. QB Tim Tebow lent a hand, too.
18. Miami
Winning percentage: .633 (644 wins, 370 losses, 19 ties)
Games played: 1,033
As one of the one schools on this list with fewer than 100 seasons played to date, Miami benefits from being judged on its winning percentage. While it's a Top 20 school on this list, it ranks 44th in total wins.
17. Georgia Southern
Winning percentage: .635 (403 wins, 230 losses, 10 ties)
Games played: 643 (total adjusted by the NCAA)
The Georgia Southern program dates all the way back to 1924. But a long pause in intercollegiate play (incited by the outbreak of World War II, and lasting until 1982) effectively makes it one of the younger football schools in our Top 50.
16. Coastal Carolina
Winning percentage: .639 (138 wins, 78 losses, 0 ties)
Games played: 216
Established in 2003, Coastal Carolina is the newest football program on this list. The Sun Belt Conference's Chanticleers have been led by head coach Jamey Chadwell since 2019.
15. Appalachian State
Winning percentage: .649 (639 wins, 339 losses, 29 ties)
Games played: 1,007
Appalachian State has been a member school of the Sun Belt Conference since 2014.
14. LSU
Winning percentage: .655 (817 wins, 420 losses, 47 ties)
Games played: 1,284
LSU has recorded three perfect seasons (no losses, no ties) in its century-plus history on the gridiron: in 1908; in 1958; and, in the Joe Burrow-led 2019.
13. Georgia
Winning percentage: .656 (839 wins, 427 losses, 54 ties)
Games played: 1,320
Georgia has been seeking out wins since 1892. The 2021 edition of the Bulldogs won the school's third national title.
12. Florida State
Winning percentage: .668 (553 wins, 270 losses, 17 ties)
Games played: 840 (total adjusted by the NCAA)
Florida State doesn't crack the Top 50 in total wins, but in this rundown, it's the top Florida school. The relatively young program claimed the 2013 national title thanks to the talent of Jameis Winston.
11. Tennessee
Winning percentage: .671 (849 wins, 402 losses, 53 ties)
Games played: 1,304
From 2005-2019, Tennessee enjoyed just seven winning seasons. But the program's history is as strong as Peyton Manning's arm was when he helped lead the school to 32 wins from 1995-1997.
10. Penn State
Winning percentage: .688 (902 wins, 398 losses, 41 ties)
Games played: 1,341
In 2015, the NCAA restored 112 Penn State wins that had been stripped in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child-abuse scandal. The move made Joe Paterno the college game's winningest coach again -- and returned Penn State to the ranks of the game's winningest schools.
9. Nebraska
Winning percentage: .688 (905 wins, 400 losses, 40 ties)
Games played: 1,345
Under head coach Tom Osborne from 1973-1997, Nebraska won 255 games (and lost only 49 times).
8. USC
Winning percentage: .699 (852 wins, 352 losses, 54 ties)
Games played: 1,258 (total adjusted by the NCAA)
USC is the only Pac-12 school in the Top 10 -- or, the Top 20. During the program's Pete Carroll era, from 2001-2009, the Trojans played better than .800 football.
7. Texas
Winning percentage: .704 (923 wins, 378 losses, 33 ties)
Games played: 1,334
Vince Young looms large in Texas lore: The quarterback led his Mack Brown-coached teams to a 34-4 run from 2003-2005 -- an .895 winning percentage.
6. Oklahoma
Winning percentage: .726 (917 wins, 329 losses, 53 ties)
Games played: 1,350
Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Rickey Dixon, Billy Sims and Brian Bosworth are among the talents to emerge from the Big 12 school.
5. Michigan
Winning percentage: .727 (964 wins, 350 losses, 36 ties)
Total games played: 1,350
The No. 1 college team in total wins through the 2020 season, Michigan comes up shy of the winning-percentage title. Bo Schembechler, whose charges included future head coach Jim Harbaugh, did what he could for the school's cause: He racked up 194 wins from 1969-1989.
4. Boise State
Winning percentage: .729 (465 wins, 172 losses, 2 ties)
Games played: 639
With 53 years in the NCAA record books through the 2020 season, Boise State is the second-youngest program on this list. It's the highest-ranked Mountain West school.
3. Notre Dame
Winning percentage: .729 (918 wins, 328 losses, 42 ties)
Games played: 1,288 (total adjusted by the NCAA)
If not for more than 20 wins removed from the NCAA record books for rules violations, Notre Dame's winning percentage would be even higher than it is here. Coaches Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz all contributed with undefeated seasons.
2. Alabama
Winning percentage: .729 (929 wins, 331 losses, 43 ties)
Games played: 1,303 (total adjusted by the NCAA)
Alabama is the top SEC school on our list. With the help of greats like Joe Namath, Paul "Bear" Bryant led the Crimson Tide to 232 wins (and only 46 losses) from 1958-1982. Bryant's .824 winning percentage is only topped in Crimson Tide history by one other great: Nick Saban.
1. Ohio State
Winning percentage: .730 (931 wins, 327 losses, 53 ties)
Games played: 1,311 (total adjusted by the NCAA)
The Big Ten's Ohio State holds off the competition to boast college football's all-time best winning percentage -- and that's with all 12 wins from the Buckeyes' 2010 campaign being eliminated from the official record book due to an NCAA ruling.
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