Mt. Rushmore of College Football (teams)

Submitted by kgroff531 on
Living in Florida puts me under constant attack from Gator fans who claim that Florida is the superior program to Mich. While I have to concede at the present time, I must rely on history to back my case. Only way I can explain it is to say that Michigan is on the Mt. Rushmore of college football and they aren't adding any faces. Anyways, got me to thinking...who would be the 4 teams on the Mt. Rushmore of college ball? All time and current (last 10 years)? My lists are below (its harder than you think to ONLY pick 4) All Time: Michigan, Notre Dame, Alabama, & .....ohiost Current: Florida, USC, LSU, &......yeahhh...ohiost
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Bryan

August 31st, 2009 at 11:33 PM ^

I agree. In just doing a few quick checks to confirm that texas was #2 in wins, I found an odd measure of all-time wins. In searching the google for "college football all time wins" the first site, secsportsfan.com, listed only wins from the "national championship era (circa 1936)." I have never seen all-time wins list that does not include ALL wins. FWIW, UM is 7th in that listing, right below OSU and Penn State, which are 5th and 6th, respectively.

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OSUMC Wolverine

August 31st, 2009 at 11:27 PM ^

Current: Florida, USC, Texas, Oklahoma All time: Notre Dame, Michigan, Alabama, Penn State Current, the big12 is the most fun conference to watch right now, bar none. All time, Penn State is there because Joe Pa is there, nuff said.

Joined: 09/06/2008

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Yostal

August 31st, 2009 at 11:42 PM ^

Solely because it allows me an excuse to talk about the past. If we're using the Mount Rushmore concept, then we must look back at why Borglum chose the four presidents he did, for their roles in creating, preserving, and expanding the union. When Borglum made his choices in 1926, the Republic was 150 years old. If we're doing this now, college football is 140 years old, so it's close on that level. So if it's creating, preserving, and expanding the game of college football, then I would need to go with * Yale (the original college football powerhouse, even if their role has faded from the national picture today.) * Michigan (expanding the game, the original western powerhouse, all-time leader in wins, do I really need to go on here?) * Notre Dame (wow that hurts, but it's true. So much of college football's mythology is wrapped up into how Notre Dame fits in to it.) So that means we need a fourth. Many worthy candidates: Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Southern California, Ohio State, Nebraska, and that's not even the whole list. Part of what makes this exercise difficult is that when Borglum was picking Presidents, he had 30 to choose from, whereas we have, well, over 200+ teams here, all of whom have a coincidental history, where as presidents have administrations all to themselves? But I am getting off the point. I think I would have to go with Southern Cal, largely for their role in expanding the college football union as the first West Coast power, but it really pains me. I really don't think I am right here, and I will not be annoyed if anyone disagrees with me on this. I also apologize if I was too literal in my interpretation of this. (Appended after missing the second part of the assignment:) As for the 2000s, I think it's Florida, USC, LSU, and either Oklahoma or Texas. That one is a really tough call again.

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Seth9

September 1st, 2009 at 12:35 AM ^

I'd go with Michigan, Notre Dame, USC, and Texas. Michigan and Notre Dame were easy, being the top two winningest programs of all time. USC was also fairly easy, as they have dominated the Pacific coast and the Rose Bowl. Furthermore, the play of USC, this decade ranks among the best stretches of football in the modern era, although perhaps below the Bear Bryant era for Alabama (incidently, Alabama has not consistently been an elite program since Bryant left, so they didn't make my top four). USC's achievement in this age of college football is more impressive considering the increasing parity between teams as more and more teams are able to recruit nationally. Finally, Texas made my list over Oklahoma, as Texas holds a winning record over Oklahoma and has won more games overall than Oklahoma, which for me at least, trumped Oklahoma's national championships. As far as this decade goes, I think a top 4 is superseded by USC's consistent dominance, something that neither Florida, nor OSU, nor anybody else can claim.

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