Top 10 College Football Teams of All-Time

Team
Season
Record
Notable Player
Season Result
Nebraska Cornhuskers
1971
13-0
Jeff Kinney (1136 Rush Yds 17 TD)
National Championship
Miami Hurricanes
2001
12-0
Clinton Portis (1200 Rush Yds 10 TDs)
National Championship
USC Trojans
2004
13-0
Matt Leinart (3322 Pass Yds 33 TDs)
National Championship
Nebraska Cornhuskers
1995
12-0
Ahman Green (1086 Rush Yds 13 TDs)
National Championship
USC Trojans
1972
12-0
Anthony Davis (1191 Rush Yds 17 TDs)
National Championship
Texas Longhorns
2005
13-0
Vince Young (3036 Pass Yds 26 TDs)
National Championship
Clemson Tigers
2018
15-0
Trevor Lawrence (3280 Pass Yds 30 TDs)
National Championship
Alabama Crimson Tide
2009
14-0
Mark Ingram (1658 Rush Yds 17 TDs)
National Championship
Alabama Crimson Tide
1979
12-0
Steadman Shealy (791 Rush Yds 11 TDs)
National Championship
Oklahoma Sooners
1956
10-0
Tommy McDonald (853 Yds 12 TDs)
National Championship

1. 1971 Nebraska Cornhuskers

 
nebraska cornhuskersThe Nebraska Cornhuskers had one of the best football programs in the nation back in the day. They have fallen a bit in recent times but this is a time for us to look back to their glory days. Their 1971 team is the best team we have ever seen in college football. Nebraska went 13-0 in this season and was the 3rd best scoring offense team and they only allowed 8 points per game on the defensive side. Any time you average 31 points more on offense than defense you are going to be tough to beat. They also had multiple consensus All-American players who went on to see time in the NFL.
 

2. 2001 Miami Hurricanes

 
miami hurricanesThe 2001 Miami Hurricanes may have had the most next-level talent than any team in the history of college football. The team as a whole went 12-0 and defeated Nebraska 37-14 to become the national champions. This roster had 17 first-round picks, not all in the same year, and a total of 38 players drafted into the NFL. 19 of their 22 starters had jobs in the NFL after they left the university. Some notable names from this roster include Willis McGahee, Clinton Portis, Frank Gore, Andre Johnson, Ed Reed, Jonathan Vilma, and many more pro bowl level players. No team can top this roster in the history of the game.
 

3. 2004 USC Trojans

 
usc trojansPete Carroll is one of the best coaches in the history of college football and his 2004 team was the best he had. They were ranked #1 throughout the whole season and went on to beat #2 Oklahoma 55-19 for the BCS National Championship. They were led by Matt Leinart who won the Heisman, Walter Camp, and Manning award. That wasn’t all though, they had a crazy good backfield with Lendale White (1103 Yards) and Reggie Bush (908 Yards), this let Leinart pretty much do as he pleased throwing the ball. The 2004 USC Trojans were dominant and had 20 players reach the NFL.
 

4. 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers

 
nebraska cornhuskersAnother classic Nebraska team to make our list is their 1995 team coached by Tom Osborne. They dominated on both sides of the field scoring an incredible 53.2 PPG and only allowed 14.5 PPG, which ranked 4th in all of college football. There were a lot of off the field issues with this team involving Lawrence Phillips, Scott Frost, and a Nebraska women’s basketball player but strictly looking at the on the field stuff this team was one of the best in school history. Nebraska went on to dominate the Florida Gators in the national championship-winning easily 62-24. Despite only having 1 first-team All-American, this is one of the greatest teams of all-time.
 

5. 1972 USC Trojans

 
usc trojansThe University of Southern California has had plenty of good football teams over the years and their 1972 team was one of the best. They were led by head coach John McKay, who won 3 titles in 11 years with the team. They started off the year ranked number 8 but after beating number 4 Arkansas they jumped to number 1 and never gave up that ranking. They had 10 future NFL players on the roster including Anthony Davis who led the team in rushing with almost 1,200 yards. Whenever you can go 12-0 while defeating 6 ranked teams and win in the dominant fashion they did, you will go down as one of the best teams to play the game.
 

6. 2005 Texas Longhorns

 
texas longhornsThe 2005 Texas Longhorns had one of the most exciting teams in recent memory and were led by head coach Mack Brown and All-American QB Vince Young. Texas had 23 players from this team make it to the next level and their quality showed throughout the college season. They went 13-0 and led the country in scoring with 50.2 PPG. They also didn’t allow very much, 16.4 OPPG, which is what made them so deadly. This season was capped off with a 41-38 win over USC in the Rose Bowl that is known by some people as one of the best games in the history of college football. Vince Young ran for a touchdown with 19 seconds left to complete to a comeback victory and solidified their spot in our list.
 

7. 2018 Clemson Tigers

 
clemson tigersThe most recent team on our list is the 2018 Clemson Tigers that were coached by Dabo Swinney. Swinney has turned himself into one of the best coaches in college football and they constantly are competing for national titles. He led this 2018 team a 15-0 record where they had the best scoring defense in college football and were top 5 in the offense. Freshman QB Trevor Lawrence threw for 3280 yards and 30 TDs but they were led by a defensive line that had 3 players drafted in the NFL draft. Time will tell if these players go on to have successful NFL careers but this was one of the most loaded teams in recent memory.
 

8. 2009 Alabama Crimson Tide

 
alabama crimson tideAlabama has had plenty of good teams under Nick Saban but their 2009 team was probably the best. They were led by QB Greg McElroy but most of their offensive success came from their tandem of RBs Mark Ingram (1658 YDS 17 TDs) and Trent Richardson (751 YDS 8 TDs). Both of these guys went on to play in the NFL and were borderline unstoppable at the college level. Like always they had some big named players on the defensive side such as Rolando McClain, Mark Barron, Kareem Jackson, Dont’a Hightower, and others who all went to the next level. The Crimson Tide went on to have a 14-0 record with the 2nd best scoring defense in the country and won the BCS National Title 37-21 over the Texas Longhorns.
 

9. 1979 Alabama Crimson Tide

 
alabama crimson tideHall of fame coach Bear Bryant won 6 national championships but this was probably his best team. In typical Bear Bryant fashion Alabama rarely through the ball in their wishbone offense but nobody was able to stop it. They went 12-0 on the season and they had a good offense but it was tough for anybody to beat them because their defense was only allowing 5.6 PPG. They finished off their season by beating the Arkansas Razorbacks by a score of 24-9. With only 1 NFL player they were able to dominate teams, which was an impressive feat. They had a unique style and that style worked wonders and made the 1979 Alabama Crimson Tide one of the best teams in the history of college football.
 

10. 1956 Oklahoma Sooners

 
oklahomaThe oldest team on our list is the 1956 Oklahoma Sooners who were the most dominant team in the 1956 season. There scoring numbers were eye-popping, they allowed only 5.1 PPG and their own offense was scoring 46.6 PPG. Oklahoma was dominant in this era, at one point winning 40 games in a row, and nobody could really give them a competitive game. This led the Sooners to go 10-0 under head coach Bud Wilkinson and finished #1 in the final AP poll and had multiple players in the top 5 of the Heisman Trophy voting.
 

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