Ranking the 25 Most Dominant College Football Programs of the Last 10 Years

We know which college football teams dominated the last five seasons --see here
-- but which teams were the most dominant of the past decade? (2000 to 2009)

Using the same criteria to calculate the most dominant football teams of the last five years, we can see how vastly some programs shifted from the beginning of the decade to the end. Miami and Florida State were missing from the previous list. But, because the Hurricanes and Seminoles were two of the top programs starting out the 21st Century, it's no surprise to see those schools at #10 and #11 for the decade. Other teams remained constant: Texas, Florida, USC and Ohio State all retained their top 10 status. While other prominent teams of the last 5 years (Penn State and BYU) completely disappeared for having suffered terrible slumps in the early going.

Florida was the top program from 2005-2009. But which program dominated the decade in its entirety? That would be the burnt orange out of Austin...

Disclaimer:Some of you may disagree with the results here and decry the whole list as steeped in fool's logic and personal bias. Feel free to leave comments in the suggestion box below. Also keep in mind that I crunched nearly as many numbers as ground control did to slingshot Apollo 13 around the dark side of the moon. So if you spot any miscalculations, let me know and I'll make the corrections.

1. Texas Longhorns

Aside from Boise State, no team won more games the past decade than the University of Texas. The Longhorns also found themselves in the BCS title game twice, winning the whole ball of wax in 2005. Were it not for Oregon's Joey Harrington passing wild over Texas in the 2000 Holiday Bowl, the Longhorns would have been the only team to go a perfect 10 for 10 in ten-win seasons for the decade. A feat only Florida State can boast, having done so in the 1990s. Still, 9 seasons out of 10 isn't bad and no other program (not even Boise State) can make the same claim for the 2000s. Other teams scooped up more National Titles the past ten years, but not program was as consistently good across the board as Texas.

Losing seasons 0
10 win seasons 9
Total wins 110
National Title games played 2
National Title games won 1
January wins 4

Total points: 28

2. USC Trojans

USC very nearly finished the decade as the top program, falling less than one point off of Texas' total for a metaphoric reenactment of the 2005 BCS Championship. Ironically, had the Trojans pulled out that win in Pasadena, USC would have topped this list easily. But the biggest factor in USC coming up short for the top spot was the first two seasons of the decade when the Trojans went 11-13. Pete Carroll arrived for the second of those seasons and, after a shaky start (he opened the season 1-4) a 48-17 shellacking of Arizona State on October 13 set off an amazing 88-11 run of sheer dominance, stretching from 2002 to 2008. Only a handful of dynasties in the history of college football have matched the Pete Carroll years at USC.

Losing seasons 2
10 win seasons 7
Total wins 102
National Title games played 3
National Title games won 2
January wins 5

Total points: 27.2

3. Oklahoma Sooners

No program played more National Title games in the 2000s than Oklahoma. And no team lost more title games than the Sooners. Oklahoma tied its Big 12 rival, Texas, for second in total wins over the past decade. And, although the new century started off with a bang, seeing the Sooners collect their 7th National Title, the ten-year-span has been a long and frustrating succession of post-season disappointment. Oklahoma lost back-to-back National Title opportunities in 2003 and 2004. The latter attempt came in humiliating fashion as USC manhandled OU 55-19. The Sooners also took the sport's most prolific scoring offense of all time to the 2008 title game and only scored 14 points to Florida's 24.

Still, with all the January hair-pulling for Oklahoma and its fans, the Sooners were often amazing during the regular season. Enough to rank the program as third best of the decade.

Losing seasons 0
10 win seasons 8
Total wins 110
National Title games played 4
National Title games won 1
January wins 2

Total points: 27

4. Florida Gators

The Florida Gators have never had an undefeated season in college football. So, when the stars occasionally align to give a blemished Florida a crack at the National Title, the Gators make it count, ripping a previously unbeaten Ohio State 41-14 in 2006 and holding the most prolific offense in college football history (the 2008 Oklahoma Sooners) to just 14 points. Those late-decade National Titles made up for a lackluster 32-18 run from 2002-2005. Florida was the top program of the last 5 years, but the imbalance of the decade lands UF at #4.

Losing seasons 0
10 win seasons 5
Total wins 100
National Title games played 2
National Title games won 2
January wins 5

Total points: 26

5. Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State gets some grief for their last two showings in the BCS Championship game. But, in the earlier part of the decade, the Buckeyes became the first college football team to go 14-0 (outside the way early Ivy League seasons) and they ended one of college football's most fearsome dynasties -- the early 2000s Miami Hurricanes. Ohio State joins Texas as the two most consistently top tier program year to year over the past decade.

Losing seasons 0
10 win seasons 7
Total wins 102
National Title games played 3
National Title games won 1
January wins 3

Total points: 25.2

6. LSU Tigers

One of three programs to win multiple National Titles in the last 10 years, LSU (much like Florida) was inconsistent through the decade seeing five seasons with less than ten wins. Call it "erratic" or call it "life in the SEC", in any case, the Tigers were clearly one of the elite programs of the decade.

Losing seasons 0
10 win seasons 5
Total wins 99
National Title games played 2
National Title games won 2
January wins 4

Total points: 24.9

7. Boise State

No program won more games in the last decade than Boise State. Unfortunately for the Broncos, only six of those wins were against teams that finished ranked in the final polls. Still, when Boise State is given the chance to prove its mettle (e.g. against Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and against Oregon in 2009), the Broncos typically show they're up to the task. 112 total wins, 8 ten-win seasons and a perfect 2-0 record in January are enough to land Boise State at #7.

Losing seasons 0
10 win seasons 8
Total wins 112
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 2

Total points 21.2

8. Virginia Tech Hokies

One of these days, Alice... Frank Beamer's gonna -- POW, right in the kisser. And land Virginia Tech a BCS Championship. The best college football school without a National Title trophy locked up somewhere on campus showed what gritty, hardnosed football can do for a program. With 8 ten-win seasons over the last decade, the Hokies have been kings of the ACC since leaving the Big East in 2004 -- winning 3 out of 6 conference titles, 4 division crowns and never finishing worse the second in the coastal division. But the ACC's "big fish" is still looking for national glory.

Losing seasons 0
10 win seasons 8
Total wins 99
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 3

Total points: 20.9

9. Georgia Bulldogs

It's been 30 long years since Vince Dooley and the Georgia Bulldogs hoisted a Sugar Bowl trophy over their heads, signifying the school's second and last National Title. Since then, Bulldog fans have had to sit to the side and watch other SEC teams horde all the national glory -- Alabama in 2009 and 1992 , Florida in 2008, 2006 and 1996, LSU in 2007 and 2003 and Tennessee in 1998. And yet, here they are -- the 9th most dominant program of the 2000s. Much like Virginia Tech waiting to cross the upper threshold, Georgia has simply won in gritty, hardnosed fashion.

Losing seasons 0
10 win seasons 6
Total wins 98
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 5

Total points: 20.8

10. Miami Hurricanes

Miami was a no-show on the list of most dominant programs of the last five years. So for the Hurricanes to turn up at number 10 for the decade reveals just how dominant that program was at the turn of the century. 46-4 from 2000-2003. Two National Titles played for (in 2001 and 2002) and one title won in blazing fashion -- a 37-14 pummeling of Nebraska in the 2002 Rose Bowl. The 2001 team is often heralded as the greatest college football team of all time. The 2000 and 2002 Hurricanes were no slouches, either.

Losing seasons 1
10 win seasons 4
Total wins 92
National Title games played 2
National Title games won 1
January wins 3

Total points: 19.2

11 (tie). Florida State Seminoles

It's better to burn out than fade away... An old cliché Bobby Bowden must not have heard. After amassing one of the greatest runs in the history of college football with 14 consecutive 10-win seasons (from 1987 to 2001), Bowden and his program sort of bumbled along this past decade toward a less than glorious departure for the veteran coach. The Seminoles lost 27 games in the last 5 years which is more than twice the number of losses the program had during the entire 1990s (13). Still, as harrowing as the 2000s have been by FSU standards, Bowden never let his program suffer a losing season this past decade. And that's a feat only 10 other schools can claim.

Losing seasons 0
10 win seasons 2
Total wins 85
National Title games played 1
National Title games won 0
January wins 3

Total points: 14.5

11 (tie). TCU Horned Frogs

TCU is another non-BCS conference school with gobs of wins in the 2000s and little respect to show for it. With an appearance against Boise State in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, the tide may be shifting. A few more chances to play in January after one of their 10-win seasons and TCU might have landed in the top 10.

Losing seasons 2
10 win seasons 7
Total wins 95
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 0

Total points: 14.5

Here are the 13 remaining programs in the Top 25 for the decade and how they scored:

13. Auburn Tigers

Losing seasons 1
10 win seasons 2
Total wins 88
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 4

Total points: 13.8

14. Oregon Ducks

Losing seasons 1
10 win seasons 5
Total wins 87
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 1

Total points: 13.7

15. West Virginia Mountaineers

Losing seasons 1
10 win seasons 3
Total wins 86
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 3

Total points: 13.6

16. Tennessee Volunteers

Losing seasons 2
10 win seasons 4
Total wins 83
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 3

Total points: 13.3

17. Iowa Hawkeyes

Losing seasons 3
10 win seasons 4
Total wins 80
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 4

Total points: 13

18. Alabama Crimson Tide

Losing seasons 4
10 win seasons 4
Total wins 79
National Title games played 1
National Title games won 1
January wins 2

Total points: 12.9

19. Utah Utes

Losing seasons 2
10 win seasons 4
Total wins 86
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 2

Total points: 12.6

20. Michigan Wolverines

Losing seasons 2
10 win seasons 3
Total wins 81
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 3

Total points: 12.1

21. Texas Tech Red Raiders

Losing seasons 0
10 win seasons 1
Total wins 85
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 2

Total points: 11.5

22. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Losing seasons 3
10 win seasons 4
Total wins 84
National Title games played 1
National Title games won 0
January wins 1

Total points: 11.4

23. Wisconsin Badgers

Losing seasons 1
10 win seasons 3
Total wins 86
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 0

Total points: 10.6

24. Penn State Nittany Lions

Losing seasons 4
10 win seasons 3
Total wins 77
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 3

Total points: 9.7

25. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Losing seasons 0
10 win seasons 1
Total wins 81
National Title games played 0
National Title games won 0
January wins 0

Total points: 9.1