College football's ten most victorious programs

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The Michigan Wolverines (in their famous "maize and blue" at right) are the most victorious program by number of wins and winning percentage.^[1]

Success of a college football program can be measured subjectively or through objective numerical criteria. Two numerical methods for determining College football's ten most victorious programs are the total number of wins the program has achieved, and their winning percentage over their history. These methods have the advantage that they rely on empirical numerical data. A disadvantage to these methods is that team schedules are not chosen randomly throughout the country and uneven competition faced by different teams could theoretically skew the results.

[edit] Top ten programs by number of wins and winning percentage

Notre Dame is second in wins and winning percentage, but the 2007 team has struggled, finishing with a 3–9 record after opening 0–5 for the first time in school history.^[2]

At the start of the 2007-2008 Division I FBS season, the following eleven NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams were in the top ten either by winning percentage and/or total number of wins:

Team	Years	Won	Lost	Tied	Pct.	Total Games
Michigan	127	860	282	36	.745	1,178
Notre Dame	118	821	269	42	.744	1,132
Texas	114	810	313	33	.715	1,156
Oklahoma	112	768	292	53	.714	1,113
Ohio State	117	786	301	53	.713	1,140
Alabama	112	780	308	43	.709	1,131
Nebraska	117	803	326	40	.704	1,169
Southern California	114	743	300	54	.702	1,097
Tennessee	110	761	316	53	.697	1,130
Penn State	120	780	343	41	.688	1,164

Bowl and playoff games are included in the table, and each tie game is computed as ½ won and ½ lost.

[edit] National championships

The University of Texas won their 800th game in the 2006 Rose Bowl, which also netted them a national championship.^[3]

Another way to rank programs is to look at which ones have the most most national championships. However, the top division of college football does not have an official championship. Instead, variously publications, analysts and scholars have identified championship teams over the history of college football. Some of these titles have been awarded retrospectively, and many seasons feature co-champions or competing claims to the title. The Bowl Championship Series attempts to solve this problem by having the two most highly-ranked teams play each other at the end of the season. This has not eliminated controversy, however, since choosing the top two teams is still a largely subjective matter. This has led the title of national football champion to be called a Mythical National Championship.