Welcome to Sports Illustrated’s College Football Quarter-Century Week. We will look back at the past 25 seasons in college football, ranking the top 25 teams, quarterbacks, non-QB players, coaches, games and scandals. Up first: The best teams from 2000 to present.
1. Miami 2001
The term “loaded” has never applied more accurately to a team than these Hurricanes. Thirty-eight players on the ’01 Canes were drafted by the NFL. They led the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 9.4 points per game, and in takeaways (45). Only one of their 12 wins was by single digits, and they beat five ranked opponents by an average of 32.8 points. They were so good, rookie head coach Larry Coker just had to keep from screwing it up.
2. LSU 2019
The ultimate offensive juggernaut. No FBS team has ever scored more than the Tigers’ 726 points, which averaged out to 48.4 per game over a perfect 15–0 season. Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow’s 60 touchdown passes and 202 pass efficiency rating were both FBS records at the time, and his 6,039 yards of total offense remains the single-season record. Receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson combined for 38 TD catches, signaling the superstar NFL talents they would become.
3. Alabama 2020
This Crimson Tide team set a record that might never be broken, going 11–0 against SEC competition in a pandemic season that included no regular-season nonconference games. Nick Saban’s last national champion won every game but one by at least 17 points, and stomped Ohio State by 28 in the College Football Playoff championship game. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith won the Heisman, with quarterback Mac Jones finishing third and running back Najee Harris finishing fifth.
4. Clemson 2018
The Tigers had a couple of close calls in a 5–0 start, beating Texas A&M by two and Syracuse by four. But after that they morphed into a monster, annihilating their last 10 opponents by an average of 36.1 points. That included playoff punkings of previously undefeated Notre Dame and Alabama by a combined 55 points. Trevor Lawrence was a freshman phenom surrounded by skill talent, and the Clemson defense was loaded with NFL players.
5. Texas 2005
Winners of Sports Illustrated’s Game of the Quarter Century over USC for the national title, the ’05 Longhorns are one of just three power-conference teams in the 21st century to average 50-plus points per game (50.2). Vince Young was unstoppable all season but didn’t win the Heisman, losing out to Reggie Bush. Young got his revenge in the championship game, shredding the Trojans for 267 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. It is Texas’s only national title in the last 55 years.
6. USC 2004
When undefeated Oklahoma met the undefeated Trojans in the Orange Bowl for the national championship, the game was considered a toss-up. By halftime, USC led by four touchdowns, and by early in the fourth quarter the score was 55–10. It was an emphatic validation of the greatness of this Pete Carroll–coached team, which had two Heisman winners (Matt Leinart and Bush) and a battalion of other talented players. The ’04 USC team was the middle part of a 34-game winning streak across three seasons, with only the above Texas team stopping a national championship three-peat (the ’03 title was split with LSU). Six years later, NCAA violations led to a vacated title.
7. Georgia 2022
Kirby Smart’s teams have always played great defense, but the second of his back-to-back national champions is his best offensive team to date. Averaging 41.1 points per game and 7.17 yards per play, the Bulldogs sprinted through a 15–0 season that changed the narrative on quarterback Stetson Bennett from an overachieving game manager to one of the most accomplished QBs in college football history. Georgia hung 50 on LSU in the SEC title game, 42 on Ohio State in a thriller CFP semifinal and a record 65 on TCU in the championship game.
8. Alabama 2009
Saban’s first Crimson Tide champion was a defensive powerhouse that rolled undefeated through a schedule that several analytics programs declared the toughest in the nation. There were a couple notable close calls—a blocked field goal on the final play to beat Tennessee, a late rally to beat Auburn—but Alabama played one of its greatest games of the Saban era in an SEC title showdown with defending national champion Florida. A year after losing a classic to the Gators, the Tide dominated Tim Tebow & Co., 32–13, then beat Texas for the national title. Running back Mark Ingram became Alabama’s first Heisman winner.
9. Georgia 2021
The Bulldogs allowed just 10.2 points per game, still the lowest in FBS since 2011. A record five defensive players were taken in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft, and two more members of that unit were first-round picks the following year. Georgia did not surrender more than 17 points in any regular-season game, and bounced back from an upset loss in the SEC title game to nemesis Alabama. The Dawgs crushed Michigan in the CFP semifinals, then got revenge on the Tide in the final. Fittingly, that victory was sewed up on a pick-six by cornerback Kelee Ringo.
10. Michigan 2023
The focused Wolverines powered through controversies and sanctions to go 15–0. Head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended for three games at the beginning of the season for NCAA violations and three games at the end of the regular season for a different set of violations—the Connor Stalions advanced scouting case. None of it stopped his team. Michigan’s relentless defense led the nation in fewest points and yards allowed per game, and its throwback offense ran the ball 202 times more than it passed. The Wolverines withstood some challenges late in the season, holding off Ohio State without Harbaugh and defeating Alabama in overtime in the CFP semifinals, then overwhelmed Washington in the title game.
11. Ohio State 2014
The level of talent Urban Meyer amassed by his third season in Columbus, Ohio, was such that the Buckeyes could win the national championship with their third-string quarterback. Starter Braxton Miller was injured before the season began and backup J.T. Barrett broke his ankle against Michigan, so it was up to Cardale Jones to lead Ohio State in the postseason. The Buckeyes blasted Wisconsin, 59–0, in the Big Ten title game to earn a controversial inclusion to the first College Football Playoff, then the No. 4 seed upset Alabama and blew out Oregon to win it all. Running back Ezekiel Elliott was unstoppable in the postseason, rushing for 696 yards in the final three games.
12. Florida State 2013
Jameis Winston’s first college game was a taste of the season to come: He completed 25-of-27 passes for 356 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in a rout of Pittsburgh. With the redshirt freshman an immediate star, Jimbo Fisher’s offense roared through a 14–0 season averaging 51.6 points per game, highest for any national champion since Nebraska in 1995. The Seminoles were unchallenged until the BCS championship game, when they fell behind Auburn 21–3 before rallying to win 34–31 on a Winston touchdown pass with 13 seconds remaining.
13. Clemson 2016
The Tigers’ return to the mountaintop for the first time since 1981 featured victories over programs that won the previous five national championships—2013 title winner Florida State in the regular season, ’14 title winner Ohio State in the CFP semifinals and ’11, ’12 and ’15 winner Alabama in an epic final. Deshaun Watson led three fourth-quarter touchdown drives against the Tide, throwing the game-winning pass to Hunter Renfrow with one second left. Former Alabama walk-on Dabo Swinney fully validated his coaching chops by handing Saban his first title-game defeat after winning it all five previous times.
14. Alabama 2012
Everyone knew the defending champs were going to be good again, and the Tide wasted no time proving it by smashing Michigan, 41–14, and running off eight straight lopsided victories. Alabama needed a late drive to win at LSU and then was shocked by Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M, but upsets elsewhere the following week put the Tide back in contention. A steely victory over Georgia for the SEC title sent them back to the BCS championship game. Once there, they completely outclassed Notre Dame, 42–14, in a game that was over by halftime.
15. Alabama 2011
It’s hard to separate Bama’s back-to-back champions, so we won’t. A veteran, overpowering defense and an elite offensive line made the job fairly simple for first-year starting quarterback AJ McCarron. The Tide didn’t allow more than 14 points all season to FBS opponents, leading the nation in scoring defense (8.2 points per game) and total defense (183.6 yards per game). Alabama’s lone loss was 9–6 at home to LSU, a game in which the Tide missed four field goals, but they dominated an anticlimactic rematch in the BCS championship, 21–0. The all-SEC final sufficiently curdled stomachs around the country to spur the creation of a four-team playoff.
16. USC 2005
The best non-champion of the 21st century? These Trojans, whose only loss was that classic in the Rose Bowl to Texas. (If LenDale White had converted a fourth-and-2 run with two minutes to play, the teams’ places on this list would probably be reversed.) USC wasn’t as good defensively as the ’04 title winners, but it was largely the same explosive offensive cast as the previous two years. With Lane Kiffin calling plays for Leinart, Bush, White and Dwayne Jarrett, the Trojans never scored fewer than 34 points. The only close call in the regular season was the comeback, 34–31 win at Notre Dame, which quickly became known as the “Bush Push” game after Bush shoved Leinart across the goal line on a QB sneak for the winning touchdown with three seconds left. The wins may be vacated in the record books, but the dominance isn’t erased from our memories.
17. Ohio State 2002
A single game in the desert changed the course of two programs. The Buckeyes’ huge upset of Miami—which featured one of the most controversial pass interference flags in history—stopped a Hurricanes repeat title bid, and they haven’t been close to winning one since then. Meanwhile, Jim Tressel’s second season marked the rebirth of Ohio State, which has been a perennial Top 10 program ever since. The ’02 team was 14–0, but half of those wins were one-score games in which the Buckeyes made the clutch plays. Running back Maurice Clarett and the defense led the way, but quarterback Craig Krenzel was an underrated asset.
18. Miami 2002
The Hurricanes retained much of the talent from the ’01 juggernaut and rolled undefeated through the regular season. While the defense was younger without Ed Reed and some other studs from the previous year, quarterback Ken Dorsey, running back Willis McGahee and receiver Andre Johnson stepped up their play and became stars. Miami ripped Florida early, nipped Florida State by a point, dominated Tennessee in Knoxville, withstood Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech late in the season, and appeared to be a cinch to repeat as champions. But a controversial double-overtime loss to Ohio State remains a bitter memory for Canes fans, essentially closing the window on a remarkable two-decade run for the program.
19. Florida 2008
This was peak Meyer and peak Tebow, a charismatic combination of coaching and quarterback play that led the Gators to great heights. They suffered a stunning September upset at home against Mississippi, after which an emotional Tebow promised he would push his team back into contention. Then he delivered. Florida smashed No. 3 LSU, routed rivals Georgia and Florida State, then beat Alabama in a classic test of wills for the SEC title. Charlie Strong’s talented defense took over in the BCS championship game, throttling high-powered Oklahoma and producing key red zone stops. Nobody knew it at the time, but the SEC would belong to Saban thereafter.
20. Auburn 2004
The best team of the 21st century that never got a chance to play for a national title. The Tigers were iced out of the BCS championship game by USC and Oklahoma, marking the last time an undefeated SEC champion would have no access to the title. Tommy Tuberville’s best team was led by the running back tandem of Carnell “Cadillac” Williams and Ronnie Brown, both first-round NFL draft picks, who combined for more than 2,000 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns. Dispatched to the Sugar Bowl against Virginia Tech, Auburn completed a 13–0 season and then watched Oklahoma completely flop in the title game.
21. Auburn 2010
It’s unfair to defensive tackle Nick Fairley, running back Michael Dyer and several other Tigers to say this was a one-man team—but this undefeated season and national title was absolutely a Cam Newton production. Newton played just one season in an Auburn uniform, but those 14 games were a tour de force—50 touchdowns and more than 4,300 yards total offense leading an undefeated team. With Gus Malzahn calling plays, the Heisman winner was the difference more often than not as Auburn won seven one-score games, including a surprising slog past Oregon in the national title game—a title the Tigers won on a last-play field goal.
22. Florida 2006
The Gators’ return to winning championships under Meyer happened faster than expected, in his second season. After losing to Auburn at midseason, they regrouped and won a series of close games to get into the fringe of BCS championship contention. When Ohio State beat Michigan and UCLA upset USC at the end of the season, the pathway opened for the Gators to play the Buckeyes for the title. Ohio State was heavily favored and returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, but then Florida unleashed an avalanche of speed on both sides of the ball that overwhelmed the Big Ten champs.
23. Boise State 2006
Chris Petersen’s eight-season master class in coaching at Boise State began with perfection—a 13–0 debut season. The Broncos began the year outside the Top 25, and they didn’t crack the Top 10 until finishing the regular season 12–0. They followed that up with one of the most memorable wins in college football history—not just upsetting blueblood Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, but doing it in the most entertaining way possible. Boise State’s final three scoring plays were, in order: a hook-and-lateral 50-yard touchdown to force overtime; a halfback pass for a touchdown in OT; and then a game-winning Statue of Liberty reverse. The man who scored those winning points, Ian Johnson, then followed that up by dropping to a knee in the end zone and proposing to his cheerleader girlfriend. Scene.
24. Oklahoma 2000
Bob Stoops’s second Sooners team flew under the radar in September and blew up in October, beating No. 11 Texas, No. 2 Kansas State and No. 1 Nebraska in succession to move to the top of the rankings. After winning a rematch with K-State in the Big 12 title game, Oklahoma smothered Florida State and its backup QB for the national title, 13–2. The Sooners’ defense, led by safety Roy Williams and linebacker Rocky Calmus, was dominant enough that Oklahoma could win its last four games while averaging only 19.8 points.
25. Alabama 2015
How do you win a national championship with Jake Coker at quarterback? By pairing him with Heisman winner Derrick Henry in the backfield and fielding yet another excellent Saban defense. An early upset against Mississippi did not derail the season, and the Tide rolled through November winning every game by two touchdowns or more. After beating Florida in the SEC championship game, Alabama destroyed Michigan State in the CFP semifinals and outlasted Clemson in a dramatic title showdown. Struggling to stop the Tigers’ offense, Saban dialed up one of his best in-game calls with the score tied early in the fourth quarter—an onside kick that running back Kenyan Drake recovered. Alabama scored two plays later and never surrendered the lead.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as The 25 Best College Football Teams of the Past 25 Years.