Top 25 college football programs based on AP Poll ranking percentage
There are many ways to judge the success of a college football program, and Ohio State checks almost all the boxes. You can measure by national championships, conference championships, the number of players churned out to the NFL, and more.
Another way to measure the blue bloods of college football is by the major polls. One of those — the AP Poll — has been around since 1936 and has not only crowned national champions in the past but has continued to rank the top 25 teams on a week-by-week basis. Our friends at College Football News did their own analysis and crowned the best program of all time based on the final ranking in each AP Poll, but we thought we’d look at it from another angle.
In this case, we’re taking a look at which teams have been ranked in the AP Poll the most percentage of the time throughout history. And since the Associated Press ranks the top 25, we’ll do the same.
Here are the top 25 college football programs of all time based on the percentage of time they have been ranked in the AP Poll. We count down from 25 to numero uno. All information is taken from College Poll Archive.
25
Oregon Ducks
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
27.9%
24
Iowa Hawkeyes
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
2979%
23
Wisconsin Badgers
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
34.3%
22
Michigan State Spartans
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
34.6%
21
Arkansas Razorbacks
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
35.6%
20
Washington Huskies
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
38.0%
19
Clemson Tigers
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
39.7%
18
Texas A&M Aggies
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
40.2%
17
Miami Hurricanes
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
42.4%
16
UCLA Bruins
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
44.6%
15
Florida State Seminoles
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
46.6%
14
Tennessee Volunteers
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
49.0%
13
Auburn Tigers
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
50.1%
12
Georgia Bulldogs
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
52.4%
11
LSU Tigers
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
53.3%
10
Florida Gators
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
53.4%
9
Penn State Nittany Lions
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
55.3%
8
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
60.8%
7
Texas Longhorns
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
62.3%
6
USC Trojans
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
65.5%
5
Alabama Crimson Tide
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
70.0%
4
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
70.7%
3
Oklahoma Sooners
Percentage of time ranked in AP Poll
73.0%
2
Michigan Wolverines
Read More: Top 25 college football programs based on AP Poll ranking percentage