The Hierarchy of College Football

In one of my last articles I mentioned that the big time schools have symbiotic relationship with the  other universities.  Simply put, without the other schools to lose games, the big powers would have to play each other which would dramatically increase losses.  After writing that I thought it might be nice to identify the traditional powers and what makes them better than everyone else.  A cynic might jump to the conclusion that it's ultimately about money and certainly there is truth in that.  Before we jump to conclusions, I want to identify 4 classes of teams: Major, Minor, Doormats, and Cannon Fodder.

Major Powers

In my mind there are 15 teams that are major powers.  In my mind a traditional power is made up of 2 things - wins and fans that love to what their team win.  Here is the breakdown by Conference:

Big Ten
Michigan
Ohio State
Nebraska
Penn State

SEC
Alabama
Auburn
LSU
Florida
Tennessee
Georgia

Big 12
Texas
Oklahoma

ACC
Florida State

Pac 12
USC

Independents
Notre Dame


The list was a lot easier to compile than I thought.  I essentially used two lists: total wins and stadium size.  The 15 schools listed are the top 16 in terms of overall winning percentage (Miami-FL is 14th).  They also have 15 of the top 16 stadiums in terms of capacity (Texas A&M is 13th).  They've also won 42 of the last 50 NCAA championships with Miami the main culprit this isn't on the list with 5.

These facts alone demonstrate pretty clearly the have / have-not nature of college football.

Minor Powers


I am sure there are fans of teams not on the list that would feel slighted which is why I created another category of 17 which I call Minor Powers: Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Miami-FL, UCLA, Washington, Oregon, Arizona State, West Virginia, Colorado, Virginia Tech, Boise State, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, TCU, Missouri, and Arkansas.  These schools occasionally become relevant nationally but due to lack of resources and recruiting this only lasts a few season.  A few schools like Miami have threatened to be considered a "traditional power" but no other schools really fit the criteria.  Miami-FL is close as they've won 5 national championships over the last few decades.  I didn't include them because 1) they don't have their own stadium and 2) their fan base is ridiculously small and fickle.  They win due to the sheer talent available in South Florida as there isn't any close options nearby (Kentucky is almost as close to the Florida State campus as Miami).

Doormats

Schools not on either of the lists above but in one of the larger conferences - SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, Pac 12, and Big East would be considered a doormat.  That isn't to mean these schools don't have good teams or vie for major bowls from time to time but in the long term view of college football they exist in their leagues solely to provide wins for the traditional powers.

Cannon Fodder

Teams in schools from the Mountain West, Conference USA, MAC, Sun Belt, and WAC are the bottom rung in terms of national relevance.  They do provide an important service as they are the primary opponents in the "preseason" cannon fodder games.  These are nice tune ups to get teams ready for the conference schedule, provide both schools with a little bit of income, and make alumni happy as it greases the way to be bowl eligible.

That in a nutshell is the hierarchy in college football.  It has been this way for a long time and will continue far into the future.  The key is revenue.  Oregon and Oklahoma State have made a pretty good push in recent years mainly because of wealthy alumni that have put millions of their money into the schools.  That isn't sustainable long term as eventually their money will run out but if fans start to consistently fill their stadiums that will allow them to expand and further increase revenue.  When that happens, someone will be added to the list.  Until then you should expect the 15 school listed above to continue to win just about every year.