College Football Rankings: Who Are the Game's 14 Biggest Flops?
Imagine being sent back in time—back five years, 10 years or even 20 years.
Imagine some football fan in, say, 1990 asking you who would be the top 10 teams in 2010.
You say:
1. Oregon
2. Auburn
3. Boise State
4. TCU
5. Alabama
6. Utah
7. Ohio State
8. Wisconsin
9. Oklahoma
10. Stanford
Imagine doing the same thing in 2000. Can you imagine the funny looks from people? Who in the hell is Boise State? And TCU? Are you kidding? No Miami? No Florida State? No Notre Dame? No Michigan? No Penn State? No Florida? No Texas? Really?
No. 1 Notre Dame
1 of 15
Notre Dame is a shell of its former self. One of the winningest programs in the history of the game has sunk to the point where if they were to join a conference, they might want to look at Conference USA. That's about their speed.
They've lost to Navy three times in four years. This year it wasn't even close. Now they are getting students killed because they have to get ready for that big game against Tulsa?
No. 2 Texas A&M
2 of 15
Another once proud program that can no longer beat anybody. It has gotten so bad that when you type Texas A&M on Bleacher Report to search for photos, you get basketball pics.
A&M is now a bad joke. From 1985-1999 they finished in the Top 25 every year but two. They have not done it since.
This year's team is 5-3, but with the remaining schedule they are most likely looking at having to beat Texas to go 6-6.
No. 3 Michigan
3 of 15
Little did they know that when they ran Lloyd Carr off for taking them to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando and beating Tim Tebow, they would be looking back on that year as the last of the good times.
Michigan is now a punch line. Ohio State doesn't even take them seriously anymore. For that matter, Michigan State doesn't take them seriously anymore.
Rich Rodriguez is now 13-18. Gary Moeller lost 15 games in five years and got run off for that.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
No. 4 Colorado
4 of 15
The 1990 national champions—also the school that had Rashaan Salaam win a Heisman Trophy. Now they are so pathetic they rush the field when they beat Georgia. Hey guys, Georgia is 4-5. Their last national title was 10 years earlier than your last one.
Remember the great Colorado-Michigan game a few years back with the miraculous Hail Mary catch? Keith Jackson called that game. What network would even televise a Colorado-Michigan game now? Fox Sports Net? Big Ten Network?
No. 5 Miami
5 of 15
Miami was once a beast in the Big East. They won five national titles from 1983 to 2001. They had a chance to win a bowl game and take home a few others in that stretch too.
Now they are in the ACC and struggle to beat teams like Duke, North Carolina and Virginia. They have yet to participate in an ACC title game.
Maybe they should start scheduling FAU and FIU every year. They can claim a city championship—assuming they win.
No. 6 Tennessee
6 of 15
Tennessee was the first winner of the BCS National Championship in 1998. They gave the football world Peyton Manning and Reggie White. Now they are beating UAB in double overtime.
Since the start of the 2005 season, UT is 38-34. Since the start of the 2008 season, they are 14-19.
This year's team has a shot at winning the last four games against Memphis, Ole Miss, Vandy and Kentucky to make it to 6-6 and become bowl eligible. Aim high, Vols. You can do it.
No. 7 Georgia
7 of 15
Every year Gator fans like myself look forward to the Florida-Georgia game. Every year we either go to the game and record it or stay home and watch on TV. And EVERY YEAR we have to watch that damn Lindsay Scott play from 1980.
We've won this game 18 frigging times in 21 years! Have we NOT produced a highlight?
Yesterday it finally hit me. It isn't that we don't produce highlights; it's that THEY don't. It's been 30 years, and they haven't done anything since.
This year they are 4-5 and hoping to defend their championship of the Independence Bowl. Maybe Texas A&M can get a rematch.
No. 8 Florida State
8 of 15
A team that finished in the Top Five for 14 straight years up until 2001 now has a hard time winning in the ACC. They haven't beaten Florida since the "Swindle in the Swamp" that got the refs suspended and brought instant replay to college football. That was 2003.
They play in bowl games now in places like AT&T Park in San Francisco in a game sponsored by Emerald Nuts or Nashville in the Gaylord Hotels Bowl. Last year the ACC pulled some strings to get a 6-6 team to the Gator Bowl so Bobby Bowden could go out in a game in Florida.
This year they are languishing near the bottom of the Top 25, and their fans are happy about it.
No. 9 Texas
9 of 15
Last year they were playing for the BCS title. This year they are losing to Iowa State and Baylor. At home. In back to back weeks.
The Horns have four losses already. It's not even November yet.
No. 10 Penn State
10 of 15
Come on Joe. Enough is enough. You used to compete for national titles all the time. Now you are just trying to get to the Outback Bowl. Time to call it a day.
From 2000-2004, PSU posted one winning season. The records had been getting better since with winning seasons from '05-09, but this year's squad has three losses already. Is it slipping again?
No. 11 Florida
11 of 15
Winners of 30 of 32 games, including two BCS bowl games and a national championship, before this month began, Florida went 1-3 in October.
This included a loss to LSU when they couldn't stop a fake field goal when everybody in the stadium and watching on TV knew it was coming and a 10-7 loss to Mississippi State, who threw one pass in the last 40 minutes of the game. A shovel pass.
Now they are squeaking out wins against 4-4 teams and calling it the "biggest win we've had?" Really? Bigger than beating Ohio State for a national title? Bigger than beating Oklahoma for a national title? It's Georgia. Are we Colorado now?
No. 12 USC
12 of 15
Show of hands: Who is surprised that Lane Kiffin has already turned USC into a joke? Anybody?
No. 13 Georgia Tech
13 of 15
Last year they were in the Orange Bowl. This year they are in the toilet bowl. It's hard to look pathetic in the ACC, but they have done it.
They are at 5-3 with a loss to Kansas, who can't beat anybody, and NC State and Clemson hammered them. They don't have one impressive win, and unless they can beat Va Tech this week, they won't get one.
No. 14 Clemson
14 of 15
Clemson continues to disappoint. Every year you think they have a boatload of talent. Every year they manage to lose three or four games.
Tommy Bowden couldn't get them over the hump. It doesn't look like Dabo Swinney is going to either. This week they lost to Boston College, which was previously 0-4 in the ACC.
"Honorable" Mention
15 of 15
Nebraska has been turning it around under Bo Pelini, but the years before him were abysmal. They are still not all the way back to the team that was the most feared in college football for about a quarter century though. They definitely spent some time at the back of the line.
Washington could also be there. They were once pretty good under Don James and even shared the 1990 title with Colorado. Now they are just awful.
BYU is now pretty pathetic despite having some very good teams in the past.
UCLA has showed flashes of brilliance at times. Now they are pitiful.
Pittsburgh gave us Tony Dorsett and Dan Marino. Now they just give their fans indigestion.
Cincinnati was BCS worthy a year ago. Now they can't beat anybody.
Louisville, see Cincy, but make it a few years ago.
The moral of the story: Enjoy the good times when your team is on top—because it won't last long.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
