Top Ten College Football Teams of the Decade

With the decade soon coming to a close, now is a great time to look back and reflect on the past ten years. It is inevitable that critics and pundits will rank anything and everything from the past years, ranging from the best movies to the top albums and artists. However, one ranking that piqued my interest was a list of the top ten college football programs from the past ten years.

The list that I found took all opinion out of the equation and ranked the teams based solely on their winning percentages. Based on this criterion the list turned out as such:
10-Tennessee
9-8 (Tie)-Michigan and USC
7-Miami
6-Georgia
5-Virginia Tech
4-Ohio State
3-Oklahoma
2-Texas
1-Boise State
After examining this list it became clear to me that while the idea of ranking teams based purely on winning percentage is a compelling idea, it is very ineffective.

One big problem that I have with this list is that both Florida and LSU are not included. Florida and LSU each won two National Championships over the past decade. The idea that a team can win two championships in a decade and yet not make the list of the decade’s best teams is outrageous. Both Florida and LSU should not only be on this list, but should be strongly considered for the number one spot. Another thing that troubles me about this list is that the number one team is Boise State. In my opinion, a team that hasn’t even played in the National Championship game should not be considered for the number one spot. Although some may argue that Boise State should have had that opportunity in 2006 when they were the only team in the country to go undefeated, the fact remains that many other schools have made multiple appearances in the title game. These schools include Oklahoma, USC, LSU, and Florida, with USC, LSU, and Florida having won multiple National Championships. A final reason why Boise State should not be number one is because of the conference in which they play. They are a part of the Western Athletic Conference, or the WAC for short. The level of competition in the WAC pales in comparison to that in the conferences that other teams in this list belong to such as the SEC, Big 12, and Pac 10.

I would like to conclude by proposing my own list of the top college football programs of the decade. The list goes as follows:
10-Boise State
9-Georgia
8-Michigan
7-Miami
6-Ohio State
5-Texas
4-Oklahoma
3-Florida
2-LSU
1-USC
My list is based off of several criteria. First and perhaps most importantly, is the consistency of the football program. This is why I have USC as number one on my list. They have, in my opinion, been the most consistently great team of the decade. Second is the number and quality of bowl games played in by a given team, including National Championships. This is why I have LSU and Florida very high on my list, as they both won two National Championships in the decade. Lastly was the level of competition played against. This is why I have only one team on my list, number 10 Boise State, which belongs to a non-BCS conference. I believe that my list helps to prove that a much more accurate list of the top college football teams of the decade can be made by looking at more than just winning percentage.