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USA Today
25-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
The Athletic ranks the top 25 college football programs since 200. Where is Ohio State?
The Athletic ranks the top 25 college football programs since 200. Where is Ohio State? Do you agree with @slmandel's list of the top 25 college football programs of the 2000s? — The Athletic (@TheAthletic) May 23, 2025 Being at the top of list of best things is something everyone would be proud of. I mean, having a road or school named after you or a Wikipedia page is also noteworthy, but when it comes to ranking the best teams in a sport over a period of time, who doesn't want to be on top? On that note, the Ohio State football program should be able to beat its chest a little thanks to the latest ranking from The Athletic, which took on ranking the top 25 college football programs over the last 25 years. If you're counting, that's from the year 2000 on. And ... according to the piece, YOUR Ohio State Buckeyes are numero uno during that time period. Now, it's important to note how The Athletic came about these rankings, so we'll give you the cliff-notes version. Stewart Mandel took a look at win %, BCS/NY6 bowls, national titles, conference titles, top ten wins, top 25 wins, top ten rankings, top 25 rankings, and losing seasons. He ranked them all and came up with a final tally of how the teams stacked up. When you look at all of that, Ohio State is really the only team that has stayed away from a downturn over the last 25 years. Because of that, it is No. 1 in winning percentage (.840), top ten wins (39), top ten rankings (75.4%), and top 25 rankings (92.7%). That was enough to rank ahead of No. 2 Alabama -- largely because of the time period before Nick Saban's arrival in 2008. The staying power and recession-proof era for the Buckeyes is very, very impressive and you shouldn't let anyone tell you the program is overrated because of the numbers and success on the field. Teams rounding out the top ten behind OSU and Alabama are Oklahoma (3), Georgia (4), LSU (5), Clemson (6), Oregon (7), USC (8), Texas (9), and Florida (10).
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Where Oregon Football ranks among the best teams of this century
The Oregon Ducks have undoubtedly been one of the best teams in college football over the past few years, routinely near the top of the rankings and in the College Football Playoff mix with Heisman Trophy contenders and dozens of players sent to the NFL draft. However, the success in Eugene extends far beyond the last few years. According to The Athletic's Stewart Mandel, the Ducks are among the best teams in all of college football when it comes to the 21st century, dating back to 2000. Advertisement Mandel recently ranked the top 25 teams of the century, with the Ducks coming in at No. 7 on the list. The top 10 went as follows. Oregon's place at No. 7 on the list is impressive, considering that they are the only team in the top 10 who has not won a national championship in that time. However, they have had a Heisman winner and multiple Heisman finalists, as well as two appearances in the national championship and three Rose Bowl victories. Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions. This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Football: Ducks among best teams of 21st century
USA Today
24-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Where Oregon Football ranks among the best teams of this century
Where Oregon Football ranks among the best teams of this century The Oregon Ducks have undoubtedly been one of the best teams in college football over the past few years, routinely near the top of the rankings and in the College Football Playoff mix with Heisman Trophy contenders and dozens of players sent to the NFL draft. However, the success in Eugene extends far beyond the last few years. According to The Athletic's Stewart Mandel, the Ducks are among the best teams in all of college football when it comes to the 21st century, dating back to 2000. Mandel recently ranked the top 25 teams of the century, with the Ducks coming in at No. 7 on the list. The top 10 went as follows. Oregon's place at No. 7 on the list is impressive, considering that they are the only team in the top 10 who has not won a national championship in that time. However, they have had a Heisman winner and multiple Heisman finalists, as well as two appearances in the national championship and three Rose Bowl victories. Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
USA Today
22-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
2004 USC ranked as top five team of 21st century by The Athletic
2004 USC ranked as top five team of 21st century by The Athletic It is impossible to ignore the dominance of 2004 USC football in any historical assessment. It is widely accepted among college football fans (outside of Auburn, Alabama, that is) that the 2004 USC Trojans were one of the greatest college football teams of the modern era. That team went wire-to-wire as No. 1 in the country, dominating Oklahoma in the BCS Championship Game at the Orange Bowl to claim the school's 11th national championship. Where does 2004 USC rank among the best teams of the 21st century? In a recent story, Stewart Mandel of The Athletic gave his top 25 college football teams of the past 25 years. Mandel had the 2004 Trojans at No. 5 on the list, behind only 2001 Miami, 2019 LSU, 2005 Texas, and 2020 Alabama. "This remains the last team to go wire-to-wire at No. 1 in the AP poll," Mandel wrote about the Trojans. "[Matt] Leinart and [Reggie] Bush were the Trojans' undisputed stars, but defensive tackles [Shaun} Cody and Mike Patterson led a dominant defense that held foes to 82 rushing yards per game. USC endured scares, holding off Aaron Rodgers-led Cal on a goal-line stand, and surviving at Oregon State thanks to Bush's 65-yard punt return. But it capped the season by thumping 12-0 Oklahoma in one of the most lopsided national title games ever." While certainly impressive, most USC fans likely believe that the Trojans should be higher on the list. While they did not play the toughest of schedules (it was a relatively weak year for the Pac-10 and Notre Dame), they largely dominated every opponent that they faced, including the famous 55-19 drubbing of Oklahoma in the national championship game. In addition, the 2005 edition of USC came in at No. 13 on the list. Had that team defeated Texas in the Rose Bowl, it may very well have gone down as the greatest team of the century, if not all time. But thanks to Vince Young's infamous touchdown run in the final seconds, the Trojans came up one game short of a historic third consecutive national title. Finally, the first team to miss the cut of the rankings was 2008 USC. One of the most underrated teams of all time, Pete Carroll's squad boasted arguably the best defense of the modern era. Although they went 11-1 with a dominant nonconference victory over Ohio State, an early season road loss at Oregon State kept the Trojans out of the national championship game. USC responded by hammering Penn State in the Rose Bowl to cap the program's fourth and final 12-win season under Carroll.
New York Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
2019 LSU, best of the 2000s? Plus NFL vs. CFB scheduling
Until Saturday Newsletter 🏈 | This is The Athletic's college football newsletter. Sign up here to receive Until Saturday directly in your inbox. Today in college football news, the rock and roll album of the year is 'I Don't Want to See You in Heaven' by Atlanta's own Callous Daoboys. Recommended for: Those who are now imagining what it would be like if Fall Out Boy was our only source of news on the end of the world. Since the number 25 is special in college football, of course the 25th season of the 2000s needs to have its own top 25s. This week, Stewart Mandel kicked things off with a ranking of the 25 best teams of this millennium-ish. That's a hard job! Stewart went with 2001 Miami at No. 1, pointing out the nine future All-Pros on that cartoonishly loaded roster. It's long been a popular choice, especially as the NFL careers of those Hurricanes only added to that team's standing. Three things: Psst: Now that some readers have already scrolled past the rest of this section, I gotta admit a CFB internet heresy. I'm not sure I would have 2001 Miami at No. 2 on my list, either. 2004 USC, 2005 Texas, 2018 Clemson and 2020 Alabama would each get very strong consideration. Still, Stewart's the one who did all the work of actually ranking 25 teams. Read it here. 🏆 Another ranking! Bruce Feldman has the 25 best players of the millennium so far. I think No. 1 is indisputable here, despite playing just one real year in FBS. Hint, hint. 🎲 This newsletter now delivers good Clemson feelings every week. Bruce's win total picks include this: 'If I had to predict the national title game matchup now, almost 250 days away, I'd predict Clemson versus Texas.' So far, I've been leaning toward exactly the same. Advertisement 🤔 In the big-playoff era, traditional conference championship games already feel a little obsolete (and maybe even counterproductive). Could the SEC really turn its main event into a multi-parter? 🙄 Realignment has already killed way too many rivalries. Now it seems to have conspired with CFP uncertainty to endanger Notre Dame-USC, who have played almost every year since 1926. 🏆 All 136 QB situations in FBS, ranked in tiers by David Hale. My alma mater is in 'Tier 20: Nowhere but up.' Hell yeah. Love going up. 👴🏻 ''Those parents are going to want to have conversations with you. Whereas not many parents in the NFL are calling the head coach saying I need to talk about my son being unhappy,' the ACC assistant said.' (Bill Belichick, college football coach, continues to sound like an experiment designed to make one man hate both college and football.) 💎 Mayhem underway already in the softball championship scene: Texas A&M became the first No. 1 seed to ever lose in regionals, falling to Liberty on Sunday. Million-time champ Oklahoma is now the top seed remaining, and former Sooners star Jordy Bahl leads Nebraska against No. 7 Tennessee. Everything to know here. The NFL and its own de facto developmental league are now counter-programming each other. (To be clear, that's now how I think of college football, but the NFL's opinions matter a lot more than mine.) Personally, I find all of this rude. The NFL has more than enough days, and college football feels like the last entertainment entity it should ever trample upon. Think of everything college football has done for the NFL, such as making sure nobody in the league has to think about Belichick's personal life. In light of all this, Chris Vannini explains this battle actually goes back more than half a century, back to when CFB was nationally entrenched and the Super Bowl wasn't even a thing yet. Advertisement In 1961, when Congress began allowing the NFL to pool its TV rights, college football leadership lobbied for Saturdays to be protected. The bill eventually protected Friday nights as well, ensuring high school football also wouldn't have to compete against the pros. That's part of the reason this year's Black Friday NFL game happens to kick off at 3 p.m. ET, dancing just around the outskirts of the Friday night part. How convenient! Lots more in Chris' story. One last ranking! It's another big one: Stew's updated 2025 top 25 after portal season. More good Texas and/or Clemson feelings! Let's come back to this one on Friday. (Slightly different newsletter schedule this week, like when it's November and the Sun Belt is suddenly playing on Wednesdays.) 📫 Love Until Saturday? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
