Best All-Time NCAA College Football Program

Who has the best all-time NCAA college football program? Your answer to that question probably has more to do with the region of the country you hail from than anything else.

Alabama, Notre Dame, USC, Michigan, Ohio State, even Yale are often discussed as possibly having the best all-time NCAA college football program. [Yale might surprise you. If so, check out SEC vs Ivy League football.

Some of the relatively objective factors to consider include:

All-Time Win-Loss Record

Number of Championships won

The caliber of a program's coaches

The quality of a program's players

The amount of fan support for the program

A program's tradition, history, culture, etc.

Impact of program on fans and community

After considering all the above factors (and others), we think the University of Alabama undoubtedly has the best all-time NCAA college football program.

Obviously we are biased. But, so is everyone. In fact, if you don't have a bias towards some college football team, or conference, then you obviously are not interested in (or know anything about) college football.

So, SECSportsFan.com is as qualified as anyone to say who has the best all-time NCAA college football program.

And, truly, we think we have the facts on our side.

Let's start with all-time wins.

Alabama comes in 5th (Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas and Nebraska have all won more). But, Alabama's all-time record of 774-301-43 was accomplished in fewer years and fewer games than the teams ahead of them.

How bout National Championships?

The fact is that Alabama has won as many college football National Championships as anyone. Before the advent of the BCS, college football championships were decided by voting in multiple polls. So, the further back you go, the more difficult it is to name only one team as the champion as there often were several major polls, each naming a different national champion.

Depending on which poll you rely on; Alabama, USC, and Notre Dame all have between 10 and 12 college football national championships. The Crimson Tide can legitimately lay claim to NCAA Football National Championships in 1925, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1941, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, and 1992. Point blank – no one beats Alabama for the most National Titles of all-time. And, clearly no statistic is more important than the number of National Championships to determining who has the best all-time NCAA College Football Program.

How about bowl game appearances?

The Crimson Tide has appeared in 54 Bowl games, winning 30 of them through the 2006 season. This is more bowl appearances and bowl wins than any other NCAA football program.

How bout conference championships?

Bama has more than anyone in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) with 21 all-time. And, of course, the caliber of SEC Football is the best.

How about coaches and players?

Alabama is also the top all-time NCAA college football team because of the coaches and players that have built the foundation of the football program over the years.

As discussed at Best All-Time NCAA College Football Coach Alabama's Paul "Bear" Bryant was the best college football coach ever.

As for great players, Alabama has had 92 First-Team All-Americans. To date, 19 former Tide coaches and players have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. They include halfback, Johnny Mack Brown (1923-25) and linebacker, Cornelius Bennett (1983-86). Many former Alabama players went on to have great NFL careers. In fact, more quarterbacks from the University of Alabama have won the Super Bowl than QB's from any other school.

And, we haven't even talked about the intangibles that Alabama football brings to the table. The unmatched college football culture and tradition in Alabama or the biggest all-time college football rivalry with Auburn.

No, in the end, Alabama is the clear choice for the Best All-Time NCAA College Football Program. That's our "objective" opinion.

To read more about Alabama football and other great SEC football programs, see All-Time Best SEC Football College.

Cast your vote at this link for the Top All-Time SEC Football Team.

Here's some info about a Great Early College Football History Book.

You can read about other great college sports programs at:

Best All-Time NCAA College Football Program
Best All-Time NCAA College Football Program
Best All-Time NCAA College Football Program

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What Other Visitors Have Said

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Oklahoma is the Best College Football Program of the Modern Era
The University of Oklahoma is clearly the best college football program in the modern/post-WWII era. The stats speak for themselves.

OU has the highest ...

Bama Not Best CFB Program
Joe Pa, Bobby Bowden are both better then bear bryant, he would not win as much in today's game.

When you sign everyone, how can you NOT WIN. Penn ...

Steve from the west coast. Not rated yet
What a joke! SEC...need I say more. Alabama still holding onto "Bear Leave Me Alone Bryant."

Outside of LSU and Florida, the rest of the SEC is worthless!...

LSU is looking for food in BAMA` Not rated yet
I'm coming to the LSU/Bama game and want to know where to go to eat & also where to go tailgate on campus. I'm making gumbo, etouffee (shrimp/crab) and ...

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