College Football Preview: The Best Teams of the 2000s

Less than two months to go until the college football season begins. The last two seasons we have seen crazy scenarios and exciting matchups. There have been a handful of teams that have stood out as the Football Bowl Subdivision power elite this past decade. To start off the countdown to the college football season, I have listed the best schools this decade in the FBS.

1) USC Trojans (93-22, .809)

Reggie "Give My Parents A House" Bush

National Championships – 2*, Conference Championships – 7, Top 10 finishes – 7, Heisman Winners – 3. It is hard for me to list and talk about these first three teams being a Sooner fan, but you cannot deny the success USC has had this decade. No one in the Pac 10 has been able to challenge them on a consistent basis. They have won an AP National Championship in the controversial split in 2003, have won a BCS National Championship the following year and appeared in another championship game the year after. The Trojans seem to reload every year and Pete Carroll always seem to be in the national hunt. It has also been hard to have more star-power than the Trojans (Carson Palmer, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez…and that’s just on the offensive side of the ball).

2) LSU Tigers (90-27, .769)

Anonymous LSU Tiger

National Championships – 2, Conference Championships – 3, Top 10 finishes – 5, Heisman Winners – 0. The only school to have won BCS titles with two different coaches (Nick Saban and Les Miles). In the competitive SEC, LSU has been the most consistent team in the conference over the course of the decade. The team trademark has been defense since Saban, and had carried over in the Miles era (at least until Bo Pelini left). The only thing holding them back would be no real Heisman contenders…or you could say that it speaks well to how much of a team the Tigers really are with no real star standing out.

3) Florida Gators (87-28, .757)

Douche bag #1...I mean the Second Coming...I mean Tim Teblow

National Championships – 2, Conference Championships – 3, Top 10 finishes – 4, Heisman Winners – 1. This would have been a sexy pick for the #2 slot with the second coming of Jesus as their Heisman QB (I know, I’m taking shots at them already). I placed more importance on wins and top 10 finishes. But it is hard to argue the Gators haven’t been a force in the SEC, especially in recent years. At the beginning of the decade it seemed they would never be able to replace Steve Spurrier…that is until Urban Meyer took over. Two BCS Championships in the last three years. If only they got a hold of Meyer earlier (thankfully not).

4) Oklahoma Sooners (102-19, .843)

All Day baby...all day

National Championships – 1, Conference Championships – 6, Top 10 finishes – 7, Heisman Winners – 2. If not for BCS woes, Oklahoma could be the team of the decade. OU has the most wins of any schools in the decade (although they have played more games than any other school). They have had two Heisman winning QBs (Jason White in 2003, Sam Bradford in 2008) leading them to BCS Championship games. They have the most BCS Championship appearances (4). And when it comes to conference play, the Sooners have won more twice as many conference championships as anyone else in the Big 12…combined. In the first half of the decade it was all about the dominating defense. That has since shifted to prolific offense (maybe changed since Mike Stoops left the program). Now if Bob Stoops can straighten out their post-season, maybe they can end the decade in the #1 slot.

5) Ohio State Buckeyes (91-23, .798)

Heisman winner Troy Smith

National Championships – 1, Conference Championships – 5, Top 10 finishes – 6, Heisman Winners – 1. The Buckeyes seem to be suffering from a similar virus the Sooners suffer from. In a similar situation, the Buckeyes could have also found themselves at #1 of the decade with another BCS Championship, losing back-to-back title games to SEC schools (Florida in 2006, LSU in 2007)…both in blowouts. Ohio State has rocked the Big Ten, winning at least a share of the conference crown five times in nine years. Jim Tressel has not only ruled the Midwest, but has also ruled rival Michigan, winning the last five matchups.

6) Texas Longhorns (97-18, .843)

Vince Young...before he went insane

National Championships – 1, Conference Championships – 1, Top 10 finishes – 6, Heisman Winners – 0. For Texas, there has only been one thing keeping them from being a dominating force in the Big 12 and in the country…Oklahoma. Texas has ended up second or losing a tie-breaker to OU six times in the last decade (including the controversial THREE-way tie a year ago, I emphasize the THREE for those Texas fans who forget they were also tied to Texas Tech). If Mack Brown wasn’t the Sooners whipping boy in the first half of the decade, the Longhorns could have also had a shot at the #1 spot. Instead they are stuck at midnight missing their crystal slipper…I mean trophy. They’ll always have the asterisk. And Vince Young.

7) Miami (Fl) Hurricanes (83-29, .741)

Willis McGahee before the injury

National Championships – 1, Conference Championships – 4, Top 10 finishes – 4, Heisman Winners – 0. No offense to Randy Shannon, but why did the Hurricanes fire Larry Coker again? (Oh yeah, because he wasn’t able to keep his team disciplined that culminated in an all-out brawl with FAU) The Canes dominated the first half of the decade just as they were a force since the mid-1980s. BCS Championship in 2001, lost in overtime in the title game the next year and in 2000 was kept out of the title game by the BCS and Florida State despite beating them earlier in the season (this BCS thing is full of controversy, huh). Where they really went wrong was leaving the Big East in 2004, where they dominated, to the ACC where they have consistently disappointed. Shannon has them in the right direction, so we shall see where the future of “the U” is going.

8) Boise State Broncos (98-17, .852)

Ian Johnson after the Statue and before he disappears of the face of the planet

National Championships – 0, Conference Championships – 7, Top 10 finishes – 1, Heisman Winners – 0. Perhaps if they were in a BCS conference, one could argue that Boise State is the best school of the decade. They have the best winning percentage in all the FBS (the first half of the decade under Dan Hawkins, the second under current coach Chris Petersen). They have won their conference as many times as USC during the same time frame (in the WAC and the now defunct Big West). Or as some would argue that the only reason they have such a high winning percentage would be the quality of competition in the WAC doesn’t stack up with the power conferences (with the only real challengers in the conference being Fresno State and Hawaii). The Broncos shining moment came at the expense of an over-achieving Oklahoma team in their Cinderella-like Fiesta Bowl win in the 2006 season, in a thrilling overtime victory that became an instant classic. The victory propelled them to their only top 5 finish.

9) West Virginia Mountaineers (77-35, .688)

The Dynamic Pat White

National Championships – 0, Conference Championships – 4, Top 10 finishes – 3, Heisman Winners – 0. In the last half of the decade, the Mountaineers were probably the most exciting team offensively, dominating the Big East under Rich Rodriguez. The coming-out party was the Sugar Bowl in the 2005 season, upsetting the heavily-favored Georgia team. After that the school has been trying to duplicate that success for the most part, especially since Rodriguez ditched the team to take the Michigan job. Current head coach Bill Stewart now has the job of replacing the only QB to start and win bowl games in all four years of his college career in Pat White.

10) Utah (76-33, .697)

The Utes upset Alabama

National Championships – 0, Conference Championships – 3, Top 10 finishes - 2, Heisman Winners – 0. Utah is the only non-BCS Conference team to ever win two different BCS bowl games, and with two different coaches (Urban Meyer in 2004 and Kyle Whittingham in 2008). Would be the model example of how a non-BCS team can have success in the BCS…except for the fact that they are trying to get Capitol Hill to replace the BCS with a playoff system (I wonder why? Not really). Last year the Mountain West Conference that Utah belongs to stepped up its game with two teams finishing in the top 10 (TCU) and a third in the top 25 (BYU). Maybe they can replace the ACC or Big East in the BCS (haha probably not).

Others receiving votes:

How did Eric Crouch win the Heisman? More importantly, how did Nebraska pull off a play that Oklahoma couldn't in the same game? Oh yeah, that's right, because Nate Hybl can't run and fell down.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (74-40, .649) – The second Heisman winner (Eric Crouch) and even though still trying to resurrect, the Cornhuskers were a force in the early part of the decade (some idiot up there just decided to fire Frank Solich and hire Bill Callahan).

Florida State Seminoles (78-38, .672) – Bobby Bowden had the first Heisman winner of the decade (the old-man Chris Weinke), a BCS Championship appearance, and has four conference championships (but none since 2005).

Virginia Tech Hokies (89-29, .754) – “Beamer-ball” has led to great defensive and special teams, giving the Hokies three conference championships including the last two. Highlights also include Michael Vick (pre-dogfighting) and outshining “the U” in the ACC since the move in 2004.

Georgia Bulldogs (90-26, .776) – Since Mark Richt has brought Georgia back to relevance in the SEC, winning two conference championships (2002 and 2005). Has yet to produce and lift the Bulldogs to the national forefront, but hard to do so with LSU, Florida, and now Alabama and Ole Miss surging in the SEC.

TCU Horned Frogs (83-28, .748) – Three conference championship (2000, 2002, 2005), a wealth of talent in the hotbed that is the state of Texas, and some guy that used to go there named Ladainian Tomlinson. And why did the Big 12 pickup Baylor instead of TCU?

Oregon Ducks (77-35, .688) – Two conference championships early in the decade and in 2007 almost another one (and a BCS Championship bid?) had Heisman frontrunner QB Dennis Dixon not gotten injured toward the end of the season (talk about bad luck, they went on to lose a total of four QBs in four straight weeks).

Michigan Wolverines 76-36, .679) – Outside of being controlled by Ohio State the last five years, the Wolverines started the decade with three conference crowns in five years. There is also a reason they are the winningest program in FBS history (but if they keep having 3-9 years like last year maybe not for long).


The next College Football Preview entry will have the annual Meat Life Five Predictions. My very next entry will be the Summer Movie Reviews continued!

themeatlife.blogspot.com