All-Time CFB Historical Program Power Ratings (HPPR)

Submitted by M Ascending on

With all the nonsense going on over highest winning percentage (now claimed by GVSU and greatest football program of all time (the AP annointing Ohio State based on manipulated statistics, i.e., only counting the years the AP has been conducting its poll); it's time to set the record straight.

Just as in baseball, where the statistic that is most often used  to determine the best hitter is a combination of two basic statistics -- On Base Pct. plus Slugging Pct. (OPS) -- I have come up with a simple and objective measure of the overall strength of college football progerams.  It is the HPPR (Historical Program Power Rating).

The HPPR combines the total number of wins in a programs history (in order to credit the historical longevity of the program) with the all-time winning percentage (in order to credit the long-term efficiency of the program).  The leader (and best) should come as no surprise.  But there are some surprises along the way.

I have listed only programs that have an HPPR of 1300 or higher.  Also, these stats are as of the conclusion of the 2015 season and CFP.  But updating the list would only cement Michigan on top, as we are 8-0, thereby boosting both our win and win percentage totals.

Rank      Team                   Wins       Win %          HPPR

1.            Michigan             929           .731            1660

2.            Notre Dame       893           .731             1624  

3.            Ohio State         875           .722              1597

4.            Texas                 886           .710              1596

5.            Alabama            864           .718              1582

6.            Oklahoma          861           .720              1581

7.            Nebraska           880            .699             1579

8.            Penn State        856            .685              1541

9 .          USC                  813            .700              1513

10.          Tennessee        820            .680              1500

11,         Georgia              787            .649              1436  

12.         LSU                   770            .650               1420.        

13.         Auburn               741            .629               1370

14.         Florida               701            .630                1331

15.        West Virginia      727            .598                1325

16.        Virginia Tech       718            .606                1324

17.        Texas A&M         717            .602                 1319

18.        Washington        703            .610                 1313

19.        Georgia Tech      714            .592                 1306

20.        Clemson           703            .603                 1306

That's it, folks.  A couple of points:  The top 10 programs are on this list are the precise 10 that most people would name as THE Blue Blood legacy football programs. 

Among notable absentees:  Florida State; UCLA; Miami (FL);  Boise State;  Wisconsin; and one other -- oh, yeah, SPARTY.

While other criteria have been included in other lists of top programs, such as number of national championships; number of All-Americans and Heisman winners, etc., those are all subjective criteria, based on voting.  The list above is PURE (i.e., PURE MICHIGAN), as it is based on objective, indisputable stats.  GO BLUE!

 

 

 

MGoBoard
Football

DrMantisToboggan

November 2nd, 2016 at 12:40 PM ^

I would agree with this list, as a biased Michigan fan, but also as a football observer. Michigan and Notre Dame are the two historical, "godfather" type programs. OSU has been really good, consistently for the last 60 years. Alabama has had some dark years but is more often than not a destroyer of dreams. Texas is the state/program that's synonymous with the game. Those are the 5 best programs in history, in my mind.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 11/26/2014

MGoPoints: 74183

M Ascending

November 2nd, 2016 at 12:48 PM ^

Very good question?  I don't know the answer.  (Actually, did PSU have to vacate all those wins, or were they just removed from Paterno's list so that he is no longer the winningest coach in history?)   If you find out, let us know and I will revise the chart.  Thanks.

Joined: 09/14/2016

MGoPoints: 21352

bjk

November 2nd, 2016 at 7:45 PM ^

the corrupted, ethically-challenged and utterly faithless NCAA counts them doesn't mean we have to. I mean, this is your own metric, isn't it? Why not just include the condition "wins involving collaboration with and enablement of pederasty are automatically vacated?" If you take off about 10 wins for every season from when Paterno started suppressing evidence of pederasty and rape in 1976 to when he was dismissed, I think PSU drops safely off the list.

Joined: 11/26/2009

MGoPoints: 3993

LSAClassOf2000

November 2nd, 2016 at 2:17 PM ^

My own view on that, rather than calling it the "Dark Ages", is that I like to try and tell myself that suddenly the program took a nice, long walk in the woods to find itself, and at the end of 2014, having realized that there wasn't anything amiss in the first place, decided to pursue and hire Jim Harbaugh. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130610

Danwillhor

November 2nd, 2016 at 1:04 PM ^

Boise was absolute trash until about 2001-ish. Laughably bad. Comically bad. I miss watching them as a kid just to laugh. They just became good one year somehow (ha).

Joined: 12/02/2008

MGoPoints: 8609

turtleboy

November 2nd, 2016 at 1:10 PM ^

Greatest Team of All Time (since the AP poll came out) is like the Stone Cold Lock of the Century (of the week.) As pointless as annointing the Greatest Program Ever (in the BCS decade.) Wiping out half a centuries results makes little sense since football has drastically changed the rules and methods of play numerous times, and it's still changing. I like the ops metrics better, and including the entire history of football, not a sample size.

Joined: 04/22/2011

MGoPoints: 35131

ChiCityWolverine

November 2nd, 2016 at 1:10 PM ^

I'm all for remembering and honoring the past. Yost and Crisler in particular were responsible not only for building and maintaining our program, but numerous important innovations for the sport and the college landscape. Having said that, I'd honestly be more interested in a "modern" power ranking. 

From a Michigan perspective, Bo's arrival in 1969 seems a solid marker with racial integration and a more recognizable style of football (option notwithstanding) developing around that time as well. That era (1969-2016) would give a good representation on which programs matter in modern college football. 

Joined: 07/08/2011

MGoPoints: 3757

M Ascending

November 2nd, 2016 at 1:18 PM ^

My methodology incorporates the far past, the nearer past, and the present to provide a profile of a program's body of work throughout its existence.  Sure, one can pick and choose a random starting point, but then it becomes just another subjective sample.  Why should it be 1969?  Because that's when Bo came and we got good again?  Other programs would want to focus on different starting points.  

 

 

 

Joined: 09/14/2016

MGoPoints: 21352

Gavia immer_MI

November 2nd, 2016 at 3:04 PM ^

You're correct, you could, which would make my original point rather moot. I should have clarified what I really meant, which is, the easy way to shut down naysayers who are intent on "proving you wrong" is to just walk away and let your team's results speak for themselves. It's like those crazy fundamentalists that like to travel from campus to campus, essentially spouting hate at people. The easiest way to shut them down is to just ignore them and walk away., i.e. remove their power. Conversely, engage and give them power. In other words, just walk away from Sparty/Golden Domer/Buckeye fan and let the team do the talking because no one is going to change anyone's mind.

Joined: 10/22/2015

MGoPoints: 1586

saveferris

November 2nd, 2016 at 1:45 PM ^

Nice list, but you created a metric that uses two lists that Michigan was already tops in, so them coming out on top shouldn't be all that surprising.  The down list order does seem pass the smell test for the most part though.

Joined: 07/02/2009

MGoPoints: 24841