The AP poll is has been the most consistent ranking system over the long history of college football. Going by the final rankings, what programs come out best? Here are the top programs of the 1990s according to a CFN formula using all the AP’s final polls.
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There were plenty of split national titles in the 1990s with the AP pollsters picking Colorado in 1990, Penn State in 1994 and Michigan in 1997, but Florida State was the star of the decade highlighted by AP national championships in 1993 and 1999.
Taking all the AP final rankings, CFN devised a scoring system giving every AP national champion 25 points, the No. 2 team 24, No. 3 23, and so on down to the bottom.
1990 AP National Champions
1990 Colorado
1991 Miami
1992 Alabama
1993 Florida State
1994 Nebraska
1995 Nebraska
1996 Florida
1997 Michigan
1998 Tennessee
1999 Florida State
1990s AP Rankings Greatest Teams
These rankings are created according to the CFN scoring system – this isn’t the official AP ranking of its all-time greatest teams.
RANK | TEAM | POINTS |
1 | Florida State | 231 |
2 | Florida | 194 |
3 | Nebraska | 172 |
4 | Tennessee | 163 |
5 | Michigan | 154 |
6 | Penn State | 146 |
7 | Miami | 137 |
T8 | Alabama | 117 |
T8 | Ohio State | 117 |
10 | Colorado | 116 |
11 | Texas A&M | 115 |
12 | Notre Dame | 105 |
13 | Kansas St | 95 |
14 | Washington | 78 |
15 | Virginia Tech | 70 |
16 | Auburn | 67 |
17 | Georgia | 65 |
18 | Wisconsin | 62 |
19 | UCLA | 54 |
20 | Syracuse | 53 |
21 | North Carolina | 50 |
22 | Arizona | 44 |
23 | Georgia Tech | 48 |
24 | Texas | 43 |
25 | Iowa | 42 |
others receiving votes | ||
26 | BYU | 36 |
27 | Arizona St | 34 |
T28 | USC | 33 |
T28 | Wash St | 33 |
30 | Oregon | 30 |
T31 | Michigan St | 29 |
T31 | Northwestern | 29 |
T33 | Clemson | 28 |
T33 | Oklahoma | 28 |
35 | LSU | 27 |
36 | Mississippi | 23 |
37 | Virginia | 22 |
T38 | Boston College | 21 |
T38 | Kansas | 21 |
T38 | Stanford | 21 |
41 | NC State | 20 |
T42 | Arkansas | 19 |
T42 | California | 19 |
T42 | Colorado State | 19 |
T42 | Southern Miss | 19 |
T42 | Tulane | 19 |
T42 | West Virginia | 19 |
48 | Miss St | 18 |
49 | E Carolina | 17 |
T50 | Houston | 16 |
T50 | Marshall | 16 |
T50 | Utah | 16 |
T53 | Air Force | 14 |
T53 | Louisville | 14 |
T53 | Purdue | 14 |
T56 | Missouri | 8 |
T56 | Minnesota | 8 |
58 | Hawaii | 6 |
59 | Tulsa | 5 |
60 | Wyoming | 4 |
T61 | Illinois | 3 |
T61 | Texas Tech | 3 |
T63 | Fresno State | 2 |
T63 | Oklahoma St | 2 |
T63 | Toledo | 2 |
T66 | Army | 1 |
T66 | Wake Forest | 1 |