SN 140: The top college football teams of each decade dating back to the 1800s

College football has been evolving in hyperspeed the last five years and shows no signs of slowing down. And yet, the more things change ... 

As part of Sporting News' year-long celebration of 140 years of publishing, we took a look back at a sport that loves its history and traditions perhaps more than any other in the U.S. Last week, SN named seven All-Decade All-America teams, starting in the 1960s. This week, we are going all the way back, to when we published our first newspaper, when touchdowns were four points and field goals were worth five. We are naming our top program of each decade -- with some being obvious and some being absolutely not obvious.

But it is interesting to note, teams that were at the top of the sport in the '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s will be contending for College Football Playoff spots in 2026. If you want to learn how the modern-day bluebloods of the sport became blueboods, read about their dominance from decades ago.

We hope you enjoy your trip back in time as we look ahead to 140 more years of publishing (and college football!).

SN 140 ALL-AMERICA TEAMS BY DECADE: 2020s | 2010s | 2000s | 1990s | 1980s | 1970s | 1960s

SN 140: Greatest college football teams of all time

Sporting News College Football Teams of the Decade

Pre-1900s - Yale

National titles: 1874, 1876, 1877, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1891, 1892, 1894

Record: 225-13-13

Why they are here: By the time The Sporting News published its first newspaper in 1886, Yale had put together 10 unbeaten seasons and were retroactively awarded eight national championships by the National Championship Foundation. The following 15 seasons brought more glory, as Walter Camp became the team’s first official coach in 1888 and proceeded to go 68-2 in his first five seasons. (Princeton and Harvard bested the Yaleies). Captains served as coach before then, and Camp was the captain for three of his playing seasons. He was also instrumental in several rule changes that slowly made the violent, brutal nature of the first iterations of the game slightly less violent and brutal.

Honorable mention: Princeton and Harvard gave Yale the most competition, and Penn emerged late in the 1890s, but had stopped playing Yale at that point. The only non-Ivy League school to claim a national championship in the 1800s was 1896 Lafayette, which went 11-0-1 with the tie coming against Princeton.

1900s - Michigan

National titles: 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904

Overall record: 82-8-3

Why they are here: Fielding Yost took the reins of the Michigan program in 1901 and proceeded to steamroll everything in its path in his first five years. Michigan went 11-0 in his first year and beat Stanford 49-0 in the Rose Bowl, finishing the season with 550 points scored and 0 allowed. In ‘02, they allowed six points during another perfect season. A 6-6 tie against Minnesota was the only blemish in 1903 and 1904 produced another perfect season that included a 130-0 win over West Virginia. The Wolverines were 55-1-1 in Yost’s first five seasons. They outscored Ohio State 285-18 for the decade, finishing 9-0-1 against their rivals.

Honorable mention: Yale notched 100 wins, with most coming against major competition as college football was more established in the Northeast. The Bulldogs were awarded the 1900, 1907 and 1909 national titles, plus had undefeated seasons in 1902, 1905 and 1906. Princeton, Penn and Harvard were also Northeast powers, while Michigan’s competition in the Midwest came from Chicago under Amos Alonzo Stagg and Minnesota.

1910s - Georgia Tech

National titles: 1917

Overall record: 66-16-4

Why they are here: John Heisman (yes, the Trophy guy) had quite a run in Atlanta, going 24-0-2 from 1915-17 against what was considered a difficult schedule at the time. Included in that stretch was the Yellow Jackets’ infamous 222-0 win over Cumberland. The 1917 national championship team gave up just 17 points in nine games and Tech had a winning record all 10 years of the decade.

Honorable mention: Minnesota remained a Western Conference power with a 52-13-4 record. Pitt was retroactively awarded three national titles in 1910, 1916 and 1918 (with a war-shortened 4-1 record), the latter two under coach Pop Warner. Pitt matched Georgia Tech by going undefeated from 1915-17. Vanderbilt and Auburn were consistently elite, and Harvard owned New England football at the time with a gaudy 65-7-5 record.

1920s - Notre Dame

National titles: 1924, 1929

Overall record: 83-11-3

Why they are here: Knute Rockne took over in 1918, went undefeated in 1919 and rolled through the ‘20s suffering either no losses or one loss in eight of the 10 seasons. Legend has it he was an early adopter of the forward pass, and his Irish traveled coast-to-coast and created a national following. By 1928, ND went east to play Penn State, south to play Georgia Tech and west to play USC. That type of travel was unique to the Irish at the time.

Honorable mention: Cal picked up two national titles and had five undefeated seasons while winning at an .805 percentage for the decade. Vanderbilt (68-17-7) and Alabama (74-21-6) were early powers in the new Southern Conference. Cornell went 24-0 from 1921-23 under Gilmour Dobie, though the 1923 national title went to Champions of the West(ern Conference) – Michigan.

1930s - Minnesota

National titles: 1934, 1935, 1936

Overall record: 57-19-6

Minnesota won the first AP national championship in 1936 after a pair of undefeated seasons in 1934 and 1935 that were retroactively awarded national titles by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the NCF. Coach Bernie Bierman had a record of 93-35-6 from 1932-50.

Honorable mention: Notre Dame was 66-20-5 (.753) with just nine winning seasons in a decade where the program had to overcome the loss of coach Knute Rockne in a plane crash after his undefeated 1930 season. ND wasn’t able to quite match the gold standard Rockne established but remained elite. USC won 72 games and was 30-2-1 with two Rose Bowl wins from 1931-33. Alabama was 79-11 but somehow did not win a national championship.

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1940s - Notre Dame

National titles: 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949

Overall record: 82-9-6

Why they are here: When World War II ended, Notre Dame fielded a juggernaut that did not lose a game for four years. Frank Leahy’s squad went 36-0-2 in the first four seasons after the war, which added to a 1943 national title led by Heisman winner Angelo Bertelli. The Irish claimed two other Heismans in the decade as well and was the sport’s dominant program.

Honorable mention: Army went a perfect 16-0 with back-to-back national titles in 1944-45 and went 9-0-1 in 1946 with a famous 0-0 tie against Notre Dame. Army won 67 games, two Heismans and was ranked in seven of the 10 seasons. Minnesota started the decade with a pair of undefeated, national championship seasons led by 1941 Heisman winner Bruce Smith.

1950s - Oklahoma

National titles: 1950, 1955, 1956

Overall record: 93-10-2

Why they are here: The team that put together a mid-decade 47-game winning streak was a pretty clear winner. That streak remains unmatched at the FBS level. The Sooners won three consensus national titles, which was not an easy thing to do with four outlets declaring national champions (1954, 1957 and 1958 were all split). OU was ranked all 10 years and only twice lost more than one game. Bud Wilkinson’s squad ruled the decade.

Honorable mention: Ohio State won one AP national title in 1954 and a UPI national title in 1957 after winning Rose Bowls under Woody Hayes. Bobby Dodd was 79-26-6 at Georgia Tech playing in the SEC, including 6-0 in bowl games. Ole Miss won 80 games and finished No. 2 in 1959, and Notre Dame ended OU’s winning streak and had three Top 5 finishes.

1960s - Alabama

National titles: 1961, 1964, 1965 (split)

Overall record: 90-16-4 (55-12-2 SEC)

Why they are here: Bear Bryant quickly restored power in Tuscaloosa after Jennings Whitworth went 4-24-2 from 1955-57. By the time the ‘60s rolled around, the Tide was ready to roll through the decade. The 1965 ‘split’ title was only split because UPI voted before bowl games and gave Michigan State the title before the Spartans lost the Rose Bowl. In 1966, 11-0 Alabama finished behind Notre Dame and Michigan State, who went undefeated but tied each other. Bama finished in the top 5 five times in the ‘60s.

Honorable mention: Texas won consensus titles in 1963 and 1969 and piled up 86 wins. One ding to the resume was four seasons where the Longhorns finished unranked. USC matches Texas with two national titles and two unranked seasons, and adds Heismans from O.J. Simpson and Mike Garrett. Woody Hayes had Ohio State rolling as well with one national title and four top five finishes, but there were five seasons the Buckeyes finished unranked. 

1970s - Oklahoma

National titles: 1974 (split), 1975

Overall record: 102-13-3

Why they are here: Oklahoma owned the best winning percentage among major programs, it won two AP national championships, and would have had two UPI national championships if Barry Switzer’s undefeated 1974 team wasn’t on probation (UPI did not vote for teams on probation). The Sooners had an average final ranking of 4.7 in the AP poll and were ranked all 10 seasons, plus produced Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims. OU went 7-3 vs. Nebraska, which averaged 9.8 wins per year.

Honorable mention: USC was right there, with 1 AP and 3 UPI national titles (including the above-mentioned ‘74). It was ranked all 10 years, won 93 games and owned a very good ND program. Alabama won 90 percent of its SEC games and 103 games overall, and was only hurt by a 6-5-1 record in 1970. Nebraska won two AP national titles and finished ranked all 10 years, and Notre Dame averaged 9.2 wins per season for the decade and also won two AP national titles. This decade was the toughest debate.

1980s - Miami

National titles: 1983, 1987, 1989

Overall record: 99-20

Why they are here: Miami’s three national titles came under three different head coaches, with Howard Schnellenberger shocking Nebraska in 1983, Jimmy Johnson steamrolling to an undefeated season in 1987 and Dennis Erickson capping the decade with a third championship. The Hurricanes also had two No. 2 finishes in the AP poll and won their final 32 games at the Orange Bowl (bowl games included) in the 1980s.

Honorable mention: Nebraska won 103 games and finished in the AP Top 11 every year. A 4-6 record in bowl games and no national championships are the only negatives on the resume. The 1983 team lost 31-30 to Miami in the Orange Bowl after winning their first 12 games by an average of 36 points. Oklahoma had four Top 6 seasons, won four Big 8 titles over Nebraska, won 91 games and the ‘85 national championship. Penn State won 89 games and two national titles, but had four unranked seasons.

Getty Images/Damian Strohmeyer

1990s - Florida State

National titles: 1993, 1999

Overall record: 109-13 (62-2 ACC)

Why they are here: The most amazing FSU stat for the ‘90s? The Seminoles finished in the AP Top 4 all 10 seasons. Florida State went an incredible 109-13 and captured national titles in 1993 and 1999. It was a tight battle with Nebraska for Program of the Decade, but the Noles finished ahead of the Huskers in the AP poll seven times. FSU also won both head-to-head matchups, beating them in the Fiesta Bowl after the 1992 season and the Orange Bowl in the 1993 season that gave Bobby Bowden his first national title. The 1999 squad was the first wire-to-wire No. 1 team of the AP era.

Honorable mention: In Tom Osborne’s final five seasons from 1993-97, Nebraska lost just three games. The Huskers also closed the decade with a 12-1 season in 1999. The Huskers finished in the top 6 six times and the 1995 team is considered one of the sport’s best of all time. FSU's two head-to-head wins give it the slightest of edges over Nebraska here.

2000s - USC

National titles: 2004, 2005 (split)

Overall record: 102-26 (64-20 Pac-10)

Why they are here: This one was tight. USC opened the decade with a couple of duds, but Pete Carroll got things rolling to the point that his 2005 team was being discussed as the best of all time … before it lost in the final seconds to Texas and Vince Young in one of the great games of all time. Carson Palmer, Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart all won Heismans, and USC was 37-2 from 2003-05. The final eight years of the decade, USC went 13-0 vs. the Big Ten/SEC and 8-0 against Notre Dame.

Honorable mention: Florida and LSU both had claims as both won more than one national title. The Gators had two championships in three years, with Tim Tebow seeing spot duty in 2006 and then becoming larger than life in 2008. Florida won an even 100 games for the decade. LSU went 99-31, shared the 2003 title with USC under Nick Saban and won the 2007 title under Les Miles. Georgia won 98 games and had three Top 10 finishes.

2010s - Alabama

National titles: 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017

Overall record: 124-15 (69-11 in the SEC)

Why they are here: Alabama was ranked No. 1 in the AP poll at some point during the season every season of the decade, and was ranked no lower than No. 3 in the AP preseason poll each season. It was Nick Saban’s world, and everyone was living in it. They won two titles with AJ McCarron, who threw 179 career NFL passes. They won another with Jake Coker, who threw none. The fourth title came with Jalen Hurts, but he was benched in the CFP championship. Eighty-three players were drafted in the decade, including 28 in the first round. When Alabama lost in the 2010s, it was breaking news.

Honorable mention: Clemson only lost two regular season games in the final five seasons of the decade, collecting two national championships along the way. It beat Alabama twice in the national championship game, the second by a stunning 44-16 margin. The Tigers were eye-to-eye with the Saban Machine in the second half of the decade. 

2020s - Georgia

National titles: 2021, 2022

Overall record: 73-9 (44-5 in the SEC)

Why they are here: The Bulldogs are the only team to win multiple national titles this decade and they finished in the top seven of the final AP poll every year. Georgia made the last five SEC Championship Games, winning three and they became the first back-to-back national title winners since Alabama in 2011-12. Georgia’s 2022 title team averaged 46.6 points per game and gave up 18.8 in its five games against ranked opponents, including a 65-7 demolition of TCU in the national title game.

Honorable mentions: Ohio State reached two national title games, winning one and is 66-11. Alabama also reached two national title games, winning one, and had four top-five AP finishes in six years.