Ranks the best season's of all-time. In each of the last 3, USC not even rated as the best.
Greatest Teams: Ranking based on seasons
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CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted: 11 hours ago
Who is the best team of all time. Our friends at CollegeFootballNews.com acutally put some of that college math to use and came up with a formula that ranks the best teams in college football history.
Below are 70 teams, including all the national champions since Texas won in 1969, and a few notable others considered by most to be among the greatest of all-time, give or take a Yale or Michigan squad here and there, and what kind of seasons they had based on the CFN Formula. (This isn't a ranking of the top 70 seasons among every team that ever played, but ranked on the teams considered among the best.)
Which teams had the best seasons on the field? Forget about biases and human opinion, what if you just went by wins and the importance of each one? After several tweaks, adaptations and attempts, here's the CFN Formula to find out which of the greatest teams of all-time had the best seasons ever.
Two things to keep in mind:
1. This takes into account the entire season punishing ugly losses and pumping up good wins. A win at the beginning of the year counts the same as a win at the end in a bowl game, so there might be some head-to-head discrepancies; they're unavoidable in any ranking system. Remember, this is looking at an entire season and not just which team beat another team.
2. This is NOT a ranking of which teams were the best or most talented. This is a formula to find out which teams had the best seasons. Anything else is simply opinion.
1. Texas, 2005
Big 12 (13-0)
Final Score: 29.54
Quality Wins: 9. UL Lafayette, at Ohio State, at Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas Tech, Kansas, Colorado, USC
Elite Win Score: 2.5. at Ohio State, USC
Bad Loss Score: 0 ... Bad Wins: 1.Rice
Elite Loss: 0 .... Point Differential Score: 4.29 ... Winning Percentage: 1.00
2. Nebraska, 1995
Big 8 (12-0)
Final Score: 27.64
Quality Wins: 6. at Michigan State, Arizona State, Kansas State, at Colorado, at Kansas, Florida
Elite Win Score: 5. Kansas State, at Colorado, at Kansas, Florida
Bad Loss Score: 0 ... Bad Wins: 4. Pacific, Washington State, Missouri, Iowa State
Elite Loss: 0 .... Point Differential Score: 4.64 ... Winning Percentage: 1.00
Notes of interest: The All-Time Rankings
1. USC 2005
Yup, had the Trojans won the 2006 Rose Bowl, they would've finished with the number one season of all-time.
2. The big debates
2004: Auburn 24.45 - USC 23.77
2003: LSU 25.14 - USC 22.62
1997: Nebraska 25.18 - Michigan 23.33
1994: Nebraska 25.22 - Penn State 21.37
1991: Miami 26.36 - Washington 25.55
1990: Colorado 22.83 - Georgia Tech 22.39
1974: Oklahoma 22:56 - USC 19:09
3. BYU didn't beat anyone in 1984, but ...
Neither did Washington. The Cougars scored 19.73, while the Huskies finished 19.24.
4. The worst national champion season of the last 40 years was ...
Georgia, 1980. Herschel Walker's Dawgs had only four Quality Wins and five Bad Wins.
5. 1993 Auburn ...
Doesn't even deserve to be in the discussion with only two Quality Wins scoring a 15.86.
6. 1983
The wackiest year ever for the formula. Miami beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, but the Huskers scored a 24.04 to Miami's 19.69. The Formula's national champion? Auburn at 25.42. Not on the list of 70, but also interesting to note, was Texas scoring 20.92.
7. USC 1978
Ten quality wins. The most ever.
The Formula's Components:
1. Wins. - If you win, everything else falls into place. Each win counts as 1.
2. Quality Wins - The number of wins over teams that finished with a winning record. Each win counts as 1.
3. Elite Wins - The number of wins over teams that finished with two losses or fewer. Each win counts as 1 with a road win over an Elite team getting an extra 0.5. Also counting as 1 is a road win over a team that finished with three losses or fewer (but the extra 0.5 isn't added). A new wrinkle was added this year. A win over a team that finishes with three losses in a bowl game counts as one.
4. Bad Loss - The number of losses to teams that finished with three wins or fewer or a loss to a DI-AA team. Each loss counts as minus-1. Take away an additional 0.5 for a Bad Loss at home.
5. Bad Win - The number of wins to teams that finished with three wins or fewer, or a win over a D-IAA team. Each win counts as minus 0.25.
6. Elite Loss - The number of losses to teams that finished with two losses or fewer. Each loss counts as 0.25.
7. Point Differential - Points for minus points against divided by 100.
8. Winning Percentage - To take losses into account, winning percentage is in the mix. Total wins is the tie-breaker followed by winning percentage.
Greatest Teams: Ranking based on seasons
Story Tools:
Print Email Blog This
CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted: 11 hours ago
Who is the best team of all time. Our friends at CollegeFootballNews.com acutally put some of that college math to use and came up with a formula that ranks the best teams in college football history.
Below are 70 teams, including all the national champions since Texas won in 1969, and a few notable others considered by most to be among the greatest of all-time, give or take a Yale or Michigan squad here and there, and what kind of seasons they had based on the CFN Formula. (This isn't a ranking of the top 70 seasons among every team that ever played, but ranked on the teams considered among the best.)
Which teams had the best seasons on the field? Forget about biases and human opinion, what if you just went by wins and the importance of each one? After several tweaks, adaptations and attempts, here's the CFN Formula to find out which of the greatest teams of all-time had the best seasons ever.
Two things to keep in mind:
1. This takes into account the entire season punishing ugly losses and pumping up good wins. A win at the beginning of the year counts the same as a win at the end in a bowl game, so there might be some head-to-head discrepancies; they're unavoidable in any ranking system. Remember, this is looking at an entire season and not just which team beat another team.
2. This is NOT a ranking of which teams were the best or most talented. This is a formula to find out which teams had the best seasons. Anything else is simply opinion.
1. Texas, 2005
Big 12 (13-0)
Final Score: 29.54
Quality Wins: 9. UL Lafayette, at Ohio State, at Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas Tech, Kansas, Colorado, USC
Elite Win Score: 2.5. at Ohio State, USC
Bad Loss Score: 0 ... Bad Wins: 1.Rice
Elite Loss: 0 .... Point Differential Score: 4.29 ... Winning Percentage: 1.00
2. Nebraska, 1995
Big 8 (12-0)
Final Score: 27.64
Quality Wins: 6. at Michigan State, Arizona State, Kansas State, at Colorado, at Kansas, Florida
Elite Win Score: 5. Kansas State, at Colorado, at Kansas, Florida
Bad Loss Score: 0 ... Bad Wins: 4. Pacific, Washington State, Missouri, Iowa State
Elite Loss: 0 .... Point Differential Score: 4.64 ... Winning Percentage: 1.00
Notes of interest: The All-Time Rankings
1. USC 2005
Yup, had the Trojans won the 2006 Rose Bowl, they would've finished with the number one season of all-time.
2. The big debates
2004: Auburn 24.45 - USC 23.77
2003: LSU 25.14 - USC 22.62
1997: Nebraska 25.18 - Michigan 23.33
1994: Nebraska 25.22 - Penn State 21.37
1991: Miami 26.36 - Washington 25.55
1990: Colorado 22.83 - Georgia Tech 22.39
1974: Oklahoma 22:56 - USC 19:09
3. BYU didn't beat anyone in 1984, but ...
Neither did Washington. The Cougars scored 19.73, while the Huskies finished 19.24.
4. The worst national champion season of the last 40 years was ...
Georgia, 1980. Herschel Walker's Dawgs had only four Quality Wins and five Bad Wins.
5. 1993 Auburn ...
Doesn't even deserve to be in the discussion with only two Quality Wins scoring a 15.86.
6. 1983
The wackiest year ever for the formula. Miami beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, but the Huskers scored a 24.04 to Miami's 19.69. The Formula's national champion? Auburn at 25.42. Not on the list of 70, but also interesting to note, was Texas scoring 20.92.
7. USC 1978
Ten quality wins. The most ever.
The Formula's Components:
1. Wins. - If you win, everything else falls into place. Each win counts as 1.
2. Quality Wins - The number of wins over teams that finished with a winning record. Each win counts as 1.
3. Elite Wins - The number of wins over teams that finished with two losses or fewer. Each win counts as 1 with a road win over an Elite team getting an extra 0.5. Also counting as 1 is a road win over a team that finished with three losses or fewer (but the extra 0.5 isn't added). A new wrinkle was added this year. A win over a team that finishes with three losses in a bowl game counts as one.
4. Bad Loss - The number of losses to teams that finished with three wins or fewer or a loss to a DI-AA team. Each loss counts as minus-1. Take away an additional 0.5 for a Bad Loss at home.
5. Bad Win - The number of wins to teams that finished with three wins or fewer, or a win over a D-IAA team. Each win counts as minus 0.25.
6. Elite Loss - The number of losses to teams that finished with two losses or fewer. Each loss counts as 0.25.
7. Point Differential - Points for minus points against divided by 100.
8. Winning Percentage - To take losses into account, winning percentage is in the mix. Total wins is the tie-breaker followed by winning percentage.
