CBS Sports identifies greatest college football team from every decade of last 100 years

With the 2026 college football season still roughly two months away, sports fans are anxiously awaiting the start of talking season when the Power Four conferences hold their annual multi-day media days festivities later this month, marking the unofficial kickoff to the regular season. But, in the meantime, college sports pundits continue to deliver quality content during what’s left of ranking season.

CBS Sports‘ Chip Patterson certainly brought the goods just in time for the Fourth of July weekend with a look back at the greatest college football teams of the last century. And while identifying the sports’ greatest dynasties — from Knute Rockne‘s Fighting Irish of the 1920s to Nick Saban‘s 17-year reign at Alabama throughout the 2010s — might be a heavy lift, CBS Sports made it a little easier on itself by breaking it down by the decade. And while there are bound to be controversial selections, Patterson acknowledges this is “an imperfect, biased read on the best teams of the last 100 years.”

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So, without further ado, let’s dive into CBS Sports’ list of the greatest college football teams of each decade over the last century:

1920s: Notre Dame (83-11-3)

When it comes to college football dynasties, everything starts with the legendary Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne, who won all his three national championships between 1924-1930, the last two coming in back-to-back seasons. Consistency is a defining characteristic of any dynasty and Rockne’s Fighting Irish were the the originals, topping nine or more wins eight times and only losing two or more games in a single season twice. In a day and age when teams rarely played more than 10 games in a season, Rockne went 105-12-5 in 13 seasons leading Notre Dame between 1918-30.

CBS Sports: “The sport, like the country, was extremely regionalized, with dynasties popping up in different corners. Cal and USC were warring for supremacy out West, Wallace Wade laid the foundation for Alabama’s excellence in the South and Cornell claimed three of its five national titles in the 1920s, but if there’s just one program for the whole decade, there’s no debate that Notre Dame and Knute Rockne take the cake.”

1930s: Alabama (79-11-5)

Honorable mentions: USC (72-25-9), Tennessee (79-17-4)

After Wallace Wade set the stage with three national titles in the back-half of the 1920s, Frank Thomas — a former Notre Dame quarterback — took the coaching reigns and quickly established the Crimson Tide as the class of the newly-created SEC. That included claiming the first-ever SEC title in 1933 before going a perfect 10-0 and winning the 1934 national championship behind Don “the Alabama Antelope” Hutson. CBS Sports cited Alabama’s consistency, with only one season (1939) featuring more than two losses throughout the 1930s, to edge out USC and Tennessee as the decade’s top team.

CBS Sports: “We haven’t even gotten to the Bear Bryant or Nick Saban portion of the proceedings, but it’s clear why the multi-generational expectations have been so high in Tuscaloosa.”

1940s: Notre Dame (82-9-6)

Honorable mention: Army (68-17-7)

Despite the massive interruption of World War II, the Fighting Irish were the unquestioned champions of the 1940s under Frank Leahy, a former Rockne disciple who returned to his alma mater in 1941 and won Notre Dame’s fourth national championship in 1943. Leahy enlisted in the Navy during WWII but returned in 1946 and promptly led the Irish to three more national championships over the final four seasons in the decade, during which Notre Dame went 36-0-2 from 1946-49. The Irish also claimed its first three Heisman Trophy winners in the 1940s, becoming the first college program to achieve such a feat.

CBS Sports: “It was the steady hand of Frank Leahy who was able to guide the Fighting Irish through the chaos (of WWII), even as he also missed two seasons of the decade while serving in the Navy.”

1950s: Oklahoma (93-10-2)

In the fourth season under legendary Oklahoma head coach Bud Wilkinson, the Sooners opened the decade with its first-ever national championship in 1950 — despite ending the season with a loss to Kentucky in the 1951 Sugar Bowl. Still, Wilkinson’s Sooners dominated the Big Eight conference throughout the 1950s, winning the Big Eight each season as part of 14 consecutive conference titles between 1946-1959. That run included two more national championships in 1955 and 1956 as part of a historic 47-game winning streak between 1953-57 that still stands as a Division I record.

CBS Sports: “Oklahoma had already established itself as a regional power in its conference under previous regimes, but the sustained dominance of the Wilkinson era laid the foundation for the investment and expectations that would follow the Sooners through the decades.”

1960s: Alabama (90-16-4)

Honorable mentions: Texas (86-19-3), USC (76-25-5)

As much as Rockne defined Notre Dame’s success in the ’20s, Paul “Bear” Bryant’s legendary 25-year run at Alabama is unmatched in the college football annals, during which he won six national championships and 13 SEC titles during his reign. And that began with the Crimson Tide’s first national title during a perfect 11-0 season in 1961. Bryant added two more national championships in 1964 and 1965 behind the play of star QBs Joe Namath and Ken Stabler, and was 1966’s only undefeated team without a tie but AP voters gave that year’s title to Notre Dame.

CBS Sports: “Ultimately, it is with an eye on the emerging powers of the 1970s that Bryant and Alabama get the nod for returning Alabama to its pre-WWII position at the top of college football’s mountain.”

1970s: USC (93-22-7)

Honorable mentions: Alabama (103-16-1), Oklahoma (102-13-3), Nebraska (98-20-4)

Legendary Trojans head coach John McKay’s reign began in the 1960s with the first two of his four national championships coming in 1962 and 1967. But it was in the 1970s that USC really established itself as a college football dynasty with two more national titles in 1972 and 1974 before handing the reins to former assistant John Robinson, who won the program’s third championship — a split title with Alabama — in 1978. But, more significantly was the memorable 1970 meeting when McKay’s integrated Trojans beat Bryant’s Crimson Tide in Birmingham, hastening racial integration throughout the South.

CBS Sports: “While Alabama’s run through the 1970s was an extension of Bear Bryant’s rule over the sport, USC’s decade reflected a successful transition of leadership without losing the program’s standing against its peers.”

1980s: Miami (99-20)

Honorable mentions: Nebraska (103-20), Penn State (89-28-2)

Legendary Hall of Fame head coach Howard Schnellenberger opened the decade by winning the Hurricanes’ first-ever national championship in 1983 before handing the reins to Jimmy Johnson, who went 52-9 across his five seasons in Miami before taking over the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. Of course, Johnson’s dominant run included a second national title in 1987, before Dennis Erickson closed out the decade by winning the first of his two national championships across his first three seasons in 1989.

CBS Sports: “National championships under both Jimmy Johnson (1987) and Dennis Erickson (1989) only furthered the mystique of ‘The U,’ because the program was no longer associated with just one leader.”

1990s: Nebraska (108-16-1) and Florida State (109-13-1)

CBS Sports diverges from its mission and names both Nebraska and Florida State as co-champions of the 1990s. And for good reason. After four decades as an independent, the Seminoles joined the ACC in 1992 and immediately established itself as the original ACC superpower. Under legendary coach Bobby Bowden, FSU won 88 of it 98 games over the final eight seasons of the decade, including its first two national titles in 1993 and 1999. At the same time, Nebraska legend Tom Osborne ended the Huskers’ own title drought with three undefeated national championship-winning seasons over his final four years at the helm in 1994, 1995 and 1997. In fact, between 1993-97, Nebraska went an eye-popping 60-3.

CBS Sports: “Nebraska may not have had the year-to-year consistency of Florida State throughout the 1990s, but three national titles (to FSU’s two) and a top-three finish by Frank Solich in 1999 helped solidify the case for a true co-champion honor.”

2000s: Florida (100-30)

Honorable mentions: Oklahoma (110-24), Texas (110-19)

Despite more overall wins from Big 12 powers Oklahoma and Texas, which each won BCS national championships in 2000 and 2005, respectively, the back-half of the 2000s were dominated by the SEC, which won seven consecutive national championships between 2006-12. That run of dominance began at Florida when the Urban Meyer-lead Gators claimed the program’s second and third national titles behind the inspirational play of quarterback Tim Tebow in 2006 and 2008, bookending Les Miles’ lone national title at LSU in 2007. That Florida run coincided with the beginning of the Nick Saban era at Alabama, which capped the decade with the first of his six national championships in Tuscaloosa in 2009.

CBS Sports: “Using the current membership, the SEC can lay claim to seven of the 10 national championships of this decade, with only the 2001 (Miami), 2002 (Ohio State) and 2004 (USC) seasons not ending with one of those southern-fried programs hoisting the BCS National Championship trophy.”

2010s: Alabama (124-15)

As mentioned above, no team dominated a single decade like Nick Saban’s Alabama did during the 2010s, when the Crimson Tide went 124-15 and won five SEC championships and four national titles. After a lackluster 2010, Alabama won back-to-back BCS national championships in 2011 and 2012 with a combined record of 25-2, and then claimed two more titles in 2015 and 2017 as Saban and the Crimson Tide moved away from his traditional “joyless murderball” offense to a more spread attack toward the end of the decade. Saban’s dynastic run included the memorable decision to bench two-year starting QB Jalen Hurts for freshman Tua Tagovailoa at halftime of the 2017 CFP national championship game.

CBS Sports: “The final total of six rings at Alabama for Saban includes 2009 and 2020, but this sustained success in the 2010s made Alabama not just the best program of the decade but the most consistent character in the college football conversation.”

2020s: Georgia (73-9)

Honorable mention: Ohio State (66-11)

Despite a less than full decade to work with, CBS Sports awarded the first-half of the 2020s to the Kirby Smart-led Bulldogs. Aside from Saban’s mastery of navigating the COVID-impacted 2020 season to claim his seventh and final national title, Smart wasted little time establishing Georgia as the SEC’s heir apparent by winning back-to-back CFP national championships in 2021 and 2022. That included Smart getting sweet revenge against his mentor and former employer with a 33-18 victory over Saban’s Alabama in the 2021 national title game. Georgia went 42-2 between 2021-23 and has won three SEC championships between 2022-25 despite two straight one-and-done CFP appearances the past two years.

CBS Sports: “Kirby Smart helped build the juggernaut of the 2010s with Saban, and as we stare down the final four years of the 2020s, he’s currently driving the frontrunner to be the team of the decade.”