Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma Sooners College Football News’ Top Program of All Time

By Chip Rouse

Sep 17, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) is sacked by Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Jalyn Holmes (11) during the first half at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) is sacked by Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Jalyn Holmes (11) during the first half at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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This past fall, the Associated Press ranked the Oklahoma Sooners No. 2 all-time among  teams that had been ranked among the AP Top 25 since the beginning of the college football weekly poll in 1936.

Dec 3, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners coaches and players take a team photo with the Big 12 championship trophy after the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners coaches and players take a team photo with the Big 12 championship trophy after the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /

The AP ranked Ohio State ahead of the Sooners as the greatest team in the modern era of college football, or since the AP rankings were introduced. And in a marquee matchup last September between the teams ranked one and two in the AP all-time rankings of college football’s elite programs, the Buckeyes lived up to that top status with a more than convincing 45-24 trouncing of the Crimson and Cream in front of a capacity crowd believed to be close to 87,000 and the largest to ever attend a football game at OU’s Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

The loss to Ohio State proved to be the last time the Sooners would lose in the 2016 season. They ran off 10 consecutive wins after that, including a 35-19 Sugar Bowl victory over Auburn.

College Football News has done Oklahoma one better than the AP’s No. 2 ranking of the Sooners in College Football’s All-Time Top 25. CFN ranks Oklahoma football as the greatest program of all-time. Ohio State is third in the College Football News rankings, and Alabama one better at No. 2.

In an article on the CFN website announcing the rankings, the editors of CFN described the methodology and scoring system they used to come up with the program rankings. They factored in all the final Associated Press college football rankings since 1936. Then they assigned a scoring system, giving every AP national champion 25 points, the No. 2 team 24 points, No. 3 23 points, and so on.

What does this really mean? The editors of College Football News say that consistency is great, but consistency at a high level over a long period of time matters more. “And winning national championships is a game-changer,” they say.

For over a decade the top five programs in college football has remained fairly constant, with some configuration of Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Michigan and Notre Dame. It is not a coincidence that these five are also among the winningest programs all-time.

College Football News’ Ranking of the Top Ten Greatest College Programs of All-Time

  1. Oklahoma Sooners
  2. Alabama Crimson Tide
  3. Ohio State Buckeyes
  4. Michigan Wolverines
  5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  6. USC Trojans
  7. Nebraska Cornhuskers
  8. Texas Longhorns
  9. Tennessee Volunteers
  10. Penn State Nittany Lions

Where other Big 12 schools were ranked: 29. TCU Horned Frogs, 41. West Virginia Mountaineers, T47. Baylor Bears, 49. Kansas State Wildcats, 51. Oklahoma State Cowboys, 62. Texas Tech Red Raiders, and 63. Kansas Jayhawks.

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