Ranking College Football's 10 Best Programs All-Time

The more than 150 year history of college football has produced its share of genius and accomplishment, with a few schools sticking out from the pack right away.

And while it's hard to stay on top of your game for that long, some schools have almost gone the distance, with most starting dynasties early in the last century.

How can you calculate which are the most successful programs?

Winsipedia set out to answer that question, creating an "Unweighted Average Ranking" of every school, taking the following accomplishments into account.

• Winning percentage
• National championships
• Conference championships
• Bowl games
• Total wins
• Bowl record
• All-Americans
• Heisman Trophy winners
• NFL Draft picks
• First-round draft picks
• Weeks at No. 1 in AP poll
• Total AP Top 25 appearances

What college football programs are the most successful all-time? Let's find out by taking the average of the 10 best when considering those categories.

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10. LSU

LSU ranks 14th all-time with a .655 total win percentage, is 6th nationally with three Heisman Trophy winners, 8th with 381 total NFL Draft selections, and 7th in first-round NFL Draft picks all-time.

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9. Nebraska

Nebraska ranks second all-time with 46 conference championships, is 10th among all college football teams with a .677 total win percentage, 6th with three Heisman Trophy winners, and is 8th all-time with 732 total weeks in the AP top 25 rankings.

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8. Georgia

The last few seasons have helped build Georgia's all-time reputation. Already one of college football's more accomplished programs, the Bulldogs are 9th with 379 NFL Draft selections, rank 9th all-time with 892 total wins, and are top-dozen among schools with a .667 total win percentage.

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7. Texas

Texas ranks 5th all-time among college football programs with 961 total wins and 7th with a .704 total win percentage, while posting 7th best numbers in both consensus All-Americans (63) and weeks in the AP top 25 rankings (789).

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6. Michigan

No college football program has won more games than Michigan in the more than 150 years of the sport, as the Wolverines were the first to surpass 1,000 total wins in 2023, its national championship run. UM is 3rd with 88 All-Americans, 2nd with 927 weeks in the AP poll, 5th with 414 NFL Draft picks, 3rd in win percentage (.733) and 2nd in claimed titles (12).

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5. Notre Dame

The Golden Domers rank 1st among all college football teams with 109 All-Americans, second with 7 Heisman Trophy winners, and first with 532 all-time NFL Draft selections.

They're also 4th with 889 weeks in the AP top 25 poll, 4th with a .731 win percentage, 4th with 962 all-time victories, and 3rd with 11 claimed national championships.

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4. Oklahoma

OU is also 2nd all-time with 7 Heisman Trophy winners in addition to a record 50 conference championships, while posting the 3rd most weeks in the AP poll (905) and the 4th most NFL Draft selections (417), and is 6th in win percentage, all-time wins (950), and All-Americans (82).

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3. Ohio State

Ohio State leads all college football teams in two key categories: total win percentage (.735) and weeks in the AP poll (998). And the Buckeyes are 2nd with 7 Heisman winners, 978 all-time wins, 93 consensus All-Americans, 3rd with 489 NFL Draft picks, and 5th with 9 claimed national titles.

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2. USC

USC ranks 6th all-time with 819 weeks in the AP top 25 rankings, is 2nd among all schools with 531 NFL Draft selections, ranks 8th nationally with a .694 win percentage, and is 3rd with 11 claimed national titles. And it ranks No. 1 with 8 all-time Heisman Trophy winners.

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1. Alabama

The kings of college football thanks to a pair of historic dynasties led by Bear Bryant and then Nick Saban, the Crimson Tide are 1st all-time with 18 national championships, 2nd with a .733 win percentage, 3rd with 974 total wins, 4th with 86 consensus All-Americans, 6th with 411 NFL Draft picks, and 4th with 889 weeks in the AP poll.

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