The AP poll is has been the most consistent ranking system over the long history of college football. What programs come out best? Here are the top programs according to a CFN formula using all the AP’s final rankings.
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The AP college football rankings don’t have anything to do with the College Football Playoff process, and they haven’t had a part in determining the actual national champion for over a decade, but they’ve been the most consistent and reliable polls since 1936.
No other ranking system provides a better historical snapshot of the last 80+ seasons.
There were times when the AP rankings went rogue – making the biggest splash in 2003 naming USC the national champion, and not BCS Champion LSU – and they’ve played a part in the past when it comes to split title winners. They just keep on marching along.
Here’s the drill. Taking all the AP final rankings, CFN devised a scoring system giving every AP national champion 25 points, the No. 2 team 24, No. 3 23, and so on down to the bottom – currently No. 25, but the rankings were only a top ten for a bit, and was later a top 20.
What does this all prove? Consistency is great, consistency at a high level matters more, and winning national championships – or coming close – becomes a gamechanger.
AP Final Rankings Greatest Teams Of All-Time
Rankings from 1935 through to Clemson’s national championship after the 2018 season. Who earned the most respect and attention from the AP voters?
Top Teams Of The … 1930s | 1940s | 1950s
1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s
| Rank | Teams | Points | Previous Rank |
| 1 | Oklahoma | 1182 | 1 |
| 2 | Alabama | 1062 | 2 |
| 3 | Ohio State | 1052 | 3 |
| 4 | Michigan | 985 | 4 |
| 5 | Notre Dame | 975 | 5 |
| 6 | USC | 832 | 6 |
| 7 | Texas | 789 | 8 |
| 8 | Nebraska | 783 | 7 |
| 9 | Penn State | 694 | 10 |
| 10 | Tennessee | 686 | 9 |
| 11 | LSU | 653 | 11 |
| 12 | Georgia | 591 | 14 |
| 13 | Auburn | 572 | 13 |
| 14 | Florida State | 563 | 12 |
| 15 | Miami | 530 | 15 |
| 16 | Florida | 518 | 17 |
| 17 | UCLA | 503 | 16 |
| 18 | Michigan State | 454 | 18 |
| 19 | Arkansas | 439 | 19 |
| 20 | Clemson | 424 | 20 |
| 21 | Washington | 376 | 22 |
| 22 | Texas A&M | 375 | 21 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 363 | 22 |
| 24 | Ole Miss | 347 | 24 |
| 25 | Georgia Tech | 343 | 25 |
NEXT: AP College Football Rankings: Greatest Programs Of All-Time: 26 to Finish
AP College Football Rankings: Greatest Programs Of All-Time
Others Receiving Votes
| Others Receiving Votes | |||
| 26 | Iowa | 320 | 26 |
| 27 | Pitt | 293 | 27 |
| 28 | TCU | 289 | 28 |
| 29 | Stanford | 284 | 29 |
| 30 | Colorado | 267 | 30 |
| 31 | Oregon | 254 | 31 |
| 32 | Missouri | 251 | 32 |
| 33 | Army | 246 | 34 |
| 34 | Arizona State | 242 | 33 |
| 35 | Maryland | 238 | 35 |
| 36 | Minnesota | 236 | 36 |
| 37 | Virginia Tech | 225 | 37 |
| 38 | Duke | 213 | 38 |
| 39 | North Carolina | 210 | 39 |
| 40 | West Virginia | 210 | 41 |
| 41 | Navy | 207 | 40 |
| 42 | Syracuse | 202 | 44 |
| 43 | California | 198 | 42 |
| 44 | Purdue | 196 | 43 |
| 45 | Houston | 183 | 45 |
| 46 | Oklahoma State | 179 | 46 |
| 47 | BYU | 178 | 47 |
| T48 | Illinois | 177 | T48 |
| T48 | Baylor | 177 | T48 |
| 50 | Kansas State | 176 | 50 |
| 51 | SMU | 168 | 51 |
| 52 | Boise State | 153 | 52 |
| 53 | Northwestern | 152 | 54 |
| 54 | Boston College | 150 | 52 |
| 55 | Washington State | 139 | 55 |
| 56 | Oregon State | 120 | 56 |
| 57 | South Carolina | 118 | 57 |
| 58 | Miss State | 122 | 58 |
| 59 | Kentucky | 110 | 63 |
| 60 | Louisville | 109 | 59 |
| 61 | N.C. State | 108 | 60 |
| 62 | Rice | 107 | 61 |
| 63 | Texas Tech | 104 | 62 |
| 64 | Kansas | 96 | 63 |
| 65 | Pennsylvania | 95 | 65 |
| 66 | Utah | 92 | 66 |
| 67 | Fordham | 88 | 67 |
| 68 | Santa Clara | 86 | 68 |
| 69 | Arizona | 84 | 69 |
| 70 | Tulane | 81 | 70 |
| 71 | Tulsa | 79 | 71 |
| 72 | Air Force | 75 | 72 |
| T73 | Cornell | 68 | 73 |
| T73 | Miami Univ. | 68 | 73 |
| 75 | Virginia | 66 | 75 |
| 76 | Indiana | 63 | 76 |
| 77 | Dartmouth | 61 | 77 |
| 78 | UCF | 56 | 84 |
| 79 | Princeton | 55 | 78 |
| 80 | Yale | 54 | 79 |
| 81 | Holy Cross | 53 | 80 |
| 82 | Wyoming | 48 | 81 |
| 83 | Duquesne | 46 | 82 |
| 84 | Iowa Pre-Flight | 44 | 83 |
| 85 | Villanova | 41 | 84 |
| 86 | Rutgers | 40 | 86 |
| 87 | Cincinnati | 39 | 87 |
| 88 | William & Mary | 33 | 88 |
| 89 | March Field | 32 | 89 |
| T90 | Colorado State | 31 | 90 |
| T90 | Toledo | 31 | 90 |
| T92 | Bainbridge NTS | 30 | 92 |
| T92 | Utah State | 30 | 94 |
| 94 | Great Lakes | 29 | 93 |
| 95 | Southern Miss | 25 | 95 |
| T96 | East Carolina | 23 | 96 |
| T96 | Pacific | 23 | 96 |
| T96 | Randolph Field | 23 | 96 |
| 99 | Wake Forest | 22 | 99 |
| 100 | Marshall | 21 | 100 |
| 101 | Carnegie Tech | 20 | 101 |
| T102 | St. Mary’s (Cal.) | 19 | 102 |
| T102 | Vanderbilt | 19 | 102 |
| 104 | Del Monte P-F | 18 | 104 |
| 105 | Nevada | 15 | 105 |
| 106 | Fresno State | 14 | 127 |
| T107 | Georgetown | 13 | 106 |
| T107 | Hawaii | 13 | 106 |
| T107 | Norman Pre-Flight | 13 | 106 |
| T110 | Columbia | 12 | 109 |
| T110 | San Francisco | 12 | 109 |
| T110 | USF | 12 | 109 |
| T112 | San Diego State | 11 | 112 |
| T112 | Western Michigan | 11 | 112 |
| T114 | Boston University | 10 | 114 |
| T114 | El Toro Marines | 10 | 114 |
| T116 | George Washington | 9 | 116 |
| T116 | Hardin-Simmons | 9 | 116 |
| T116 | New Mexico State | 9 | 116 |
| T116 | Temple | 9 | 116 |
| T120 | Colorado College | 8 | 120 |
| T120 | Fort Pierce | 8 | 120 |
| T120 | Iowa State | 8 | 120 |
| T120 | Washington & Lee | 8 | 120 |
| T124 | Delaware | 7 | 124 |
| T124 | Lafayette | 7 | 124 |
| T124 | St. Mary’s PF | 7 | 124 |
| T127 | Marquette | 6 | 127 |
| T127 | Ohio | 6 | 127 |
| T127 | Sec. Air Force | 6 | 127 |
| T127 | VMI | 6 | 127 |
| 132 | San Jose State | 5 | 132 |
| 133 | Northern Illinois | 4 | 133 |
| T134 | Bowling Green | 3 | 134 |
| T134 | Central Michigan | 3 | 134 |
| T136 | WKU | 2 | 136 |
| T136 | Memphis | 2 | 136 |
