Power Ranking the Greatest Undefeated Seasons in College Football History

Going undefeated is one of the toughest things to do in sports, not just in college football. No matter the talent or the strength of schedule, asking players, especially college players, to be perfect each week is nearly impossible. 

Even then, not every undefeated team is created equally. Some teams put more players into the pros or face tougher schedules along the way. Even more have historical significance on their side in hindsight. 

Which undefeated teams throughout the history of college football had the greatest runs? We power rank them in the following slides based on the players, coaches, schedules and game results. 

Honorable Mentions

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Here are the teams that didn't quite make the list but couldn't quite be omitted, either: 

2009 Alabama Crimson Tide: This was the first national championship for head coach Nick Saban with the Tide. Running back Mark Ingram won the Heisman, but Alabama was led by a defense that gave up less than 12 points per game. Taking some shine off the season was a Colt McCoy-less Texas in the BCS championship game.

1999 Florida State Seminoles: Quarterback Chris Weinke would win the Heisman the following year, but Florida State capped off an undefeated season in which it was the wire-to-wire No. 1 team in the AP poll with a win over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. 

1947 Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Quarterback John Lujack would go on to the win the Heisman, while the defense gave up about a touchdown per game.  

1974 Oklahoma Sooners: Barry Switzer's '74 team was in the middle of an era of dominance in which the Sooners lost just three games in five years. The '74 team brought home Switzer's first national championship. 

1961 Alabama Crimson Tide: Winning a national championship under head coach Bear Bryant is tough to ignore. The Tide gave up just 25 points all season. 

Bonus: 2004 USC Trojans

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Yes, in addition to an honorable mention category, we have a bonus category. Why? Because we make the rules, and the rules are that there are no rules. 

Also, the 2004 USC Trojans fit into a category of their own. They had to later vacate their BCS national championship victory over Oklahoma because of the Reggie Bush impermissible benefits story. (The Associated Press still recognized USC as champions, though.)

That doesn't mean the Trojans didn't go out and win every game, however. Quarterback Matt Leinart won the Heisman that year, and Bush would win it the following year (before it, too, was redacted). 

Eleven players from the '04 team were drafted in 2006. That was as talented a group as you were going to find in college football. 

10. 2006 Boise State Broncos

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The 2006 Boise State Broncos start this list off because they didn't have the most talented team or play the hardest schedule. (It should be noted, though, that they beat Oregon State early in the year 42-14—and the Beavers went on to win 10 games that season.) They also didn't play for a national championship.

What they did for college football outside the traditional powers, though, can't be ignored. 

Led by first-year head coach Chris Petersen, Boise State plowed through its schedule and reached a Top 10 ranking in the Associated Press poll. (Petersen's two coordinators that yea were Bryan Harsin on offense and Justin Wilcox on defense.)  

The Broncos' 43-42 overtime win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl will go down as one of the most incredible college football games of all time. After getting off to an early lead, Boise allowed the Sooners to crawl their way back and take a 35-28 lead. That's when the Broncos reached into their bag of tricks with the hook-and-ladder, halfback pass and Statue of Liberty. 

The game introduced Boise State as college football's new Cinderella. While the Broncos never had a national championship opportunity, they did serve as the sport's giant-killer. 

9. 2013 Florida State Seminoles

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It was almost too easy for Florida State in 2013. That was partly a result of their average strength of schedule, but they were also just that good. Only once, in the BCS national championship against Auburn, was Florida State really challenged. 

It's impressive, though, that Florida State went undefeated one year after losing 11 players to the NFL draft. For context, 18 more players from that national championship team would be drafted in 2014 and '15. One of them was quarterback Jameis Winston, who won the Heisman as a redshirt freshman in '13. 

The Seminoles had the No. 1 defense in the country and one of the top offenses to boot. As far as pure dominance goes on the scoreboard and on the field, Florida State had an amazing team. 

8. 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes

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Unless you're a diehard Buckeyes fan, most are going to remember one thing from Ohio State's undefeated 2002-03 season: the double-overtime win over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship. Even then, that almost didn't go Ohio State's way. 

Hurricanes cornerback Glenn Sharpe was called for a late pass interference on a fourth down in the first overtime, which gave Ohio State another chance to score. After capitalizing on that second opportunity and scoring again in the second overtime, the Buckeyes stopped Miami cold to pull off the stunning 31-24 victory. 

Remember, too, that Miami was an unstoppable runaway 18-wheeler at the time in the world of college football. How good was that team? Frank Gore was the third-string running back. For Ohio State to win that game, even in controversial fashion, is huge. 

7. 1956 Oklahoma Sooners

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The 1956 Oklahoma Sooners, led by head coach Bud Wilkinson, were in the middle of a 47-game winning streak in the '50s. Of all of those teams, however, the '56 Sooners were flat-out unstoppable. It's not just that the Sooners went 10-0 that year; it's how they did it. 

They had six shutouts and allowed just a handful of touchdowns all season long. In all, the defense gave up an average of 5.1 points per game, while the offense chipped in less than 30 points in a game just once all year. Save for two separate weeks in the middle of the season, the '56 Sooners nearly went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the nation. 

6. 2005 Texas Longhorns

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For much of head coach Mack Brown's 16 years at Texas, the Longhorns were good—really good, even—but not always the best even in the Big 12. There was a time when Texas and Oklahoma traded blows for the Big 12 South title, with the Sooners representing the division more often than not. 

The one year when everything finally came together was 2005. The Horns knocked off Ohio State on the road in an early nonconference game and, with a couple of exceptions, breezed through Big 12 play, winning every one of those games by at least double digits. 

The national championship game against USC, which was in the middle of a dynasty under head coach Pete Carroll, was one for the ages with the perfect ending. Longhorns quarterback Vince Young, who finished second in the Heisman voting behind Trojans running back Reggie Bush, scored the go-ahead touchdown with 20 seconds remaining on a 4th-and-5. 

That game would be the subject of its own A Football Life documentary and named the top title game of all time by NFL.com's Mike Huguenin.

5. 1971 Nebraska Cornhuskers

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Johnny Rodgers won the Heisman the following year in 1972, but the '71 national championship-winning Cornhuskers get grouped into one of the great college football teams of all time. 

Rodgers was the electrifying playmaker, but the '71 Huskers were really led by their defense. As Huskers.com notes, that defense, known as The Blackshirts "included seven first-team All-Big Eight selections, four players who would earn consensus All-America recognition during their careers." 

The 35-31 win at Oklahoma is considered the true "Game of the Century," and Nebraska capped off the season with a 38-6 win over Alabama in the Orange Bowl. 

4. 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers

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Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne had plenty of great teams throughout the years, but the '95 Huskers are always in the conversation as his best ever. The offense was unstoppable and led by quarterback Tommie Frazier. 

"I would say if I were to choose one player who has had the most impact on the outcome of the greatest number of games over the longest period of time since I’ve been at Nebraska, it would be Tommie Frazier,’’ said Osborne, per Huskers.com. 

Nebraska's 62-24 dismantling of Florida, which included this amazing play by Frazier and prompted the age-old question "how many tackles can one man break," was the dismount on an incredible season. The Huskers outscored opponents by nearly 39 points per game and scored at least 35 points every time out. 

3. 1945 Army Cadets

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The 1945 Army team is one of those classic examples of dominance. For a three-year stretch in the 1940s under head coach Earl Blaik, the program didn't lose a single game. 

The '45 team, led by Heisman winner Felix "Doc" Blanchard, would finish the year with the No. 1 offense and No. 1 defense in college football with one of the toughest strength of schedules in the country. (Army running back Glenn Davis would win the Heisman the following year.) The peak moment of that season was beating No. 2 Notre Dame 48-0 in Yankee Stadium. 

Couple that national championship with the end of World War II and there's a lore with the '45 Army team that is unmatched by any other team at any other point in history. 

2. 1972 USC Trojans

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If there's one thing to take away from the '72 Trojans, it's this: Not only was USC incredible, but everyone knew it. The Trojans were voted No. 1 on every ballot in the coach and media polls. Every one. 

USC had both a strong offense and a stingy defense, outscoring opponents by about four touchdowns on average for the year. That's even more remarkable when you consider the Trojans had one of the toughest schedules in the country and defeated six ranked teams: No. 4 Arkansas, No. 15 Stanford, No. 18 Washington, No. 14 UCLA, No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 3 Ohio State (42-17 in the Rose Bowl).  

Former broadcaster Keith Jackson said the '72 Trojans were the greatest team of all time. When a team gets that kind of praise, it's tough to ignore. 

1. 2001 Miami Hurricanes

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The 2001 Miami Hurricanes aren't just the top undefeated team. There's a large camp that believes the '01 Canes are the greatest college football team of all time. Talent-wise, you'd be hard-pressed to find another team that compares, as Edward Aschoff of ESPN.com detailed in 2014.

"No, coach Larry Coker didn't have a Heisman winner on his team, but he coached 17 future first-round draft picks and 38 total draft picks," Aschoff wrote. "Of the 22 starters in that Nebraska shellacking, 11 of the 18 who were drafted went in the first round."

Some of the names on that roster were Andre Johnson, Clinton Portis, Jeremy Shockey, Bryant McKinnie, Jonathan Vilma and Ed Reed—and that's not even close to everyone. This team outscored opponents 512-117, blowing out ranked teams like Syracuse and Washington. The season culminated in a convincing 37-14 Rose Bowl victory over Nebraska. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless cited otherwise. All stats courtesy of Sports-Reference.com.