The Seven Hundred Club of College Football

 

Team	Won	Lost	Tied	Pct.	Years	Total Games	Conference
Ohio State 1	942	329	53	.731	131	1324	Big Ten
Alabama 2	942	333	43	.731	126	1318	SEC
Notre Dame 3	929	330	42	.730	131	1301	Independent
Michigan	976	352	36	.729	141	1364	Big Ten
Oklahoma	931	331	53	.728	126	1312	Big 12
Boise State	472	177	2	.727	53	651	Mountain West
Texas	928	385	33	.702	128	1346	Big 12

    Growing up I would see some evangelical Christian shows on T.V. One of them was called the "700 Club"; I think that the goal was that believers would donate 700 dollars to the church. Perhaps once, or maybe yearly. Some would say (perhaps facetiously or mockingly) that it was possible to buy your way to heaven for seven hundred dollars. Ha ha. Oh, those televangelists! Always wanting more moolah. Speaking of moolah, most hard-core football fans want more success, wins, money, glory, all the hyperbole.

    As of 2022 there are seven elite major college programs that have won at the rate of 70 percent or better. They are the cream of the crop, more or less. Boise State is a newcomer, and has not proven themselves at the highest levels like the others, but they are among the best. Teams rated 8th through 27th are in the 60 percent range, which include powerful franchises like USC (Southern Cal), and Penn State, and the newest member to join, James Madison.

    Teams in the 55 percent to 59 percent range are listed 29 to 63. This is not bad. Utah is almost at 60 percent winning rate, while BYU is around 58 percent.

    Most teams in the top 50 percent of winners jockey and move a lot to do better and better, make bowls and have dominant seasons. The other half, the bottom feeders, occasionally have great seasons, too. Like Indiana, my hometown alma mater. They lose more than they win, overall, but sometimes they provide some really good teams.

    The pandemic season was good for them, my Hoosiers. Shortened as it was. They ended up only playing 8 games instead of 12. Purdue wimped out at the season's end, I guess because of Covid concerns. Last year (2021) went south again. And of course, the Purdue game was played last season, when IU was down. Convenient.

    Looking ahead, the top teams in the .700 club should maintain those numbers. the next tier, in the .600s, perhaps has a few teams that may slip, such as James Madison, since they have entered into a higher tier, and most of their historic wins are against lesser competition, smaller clubs. Other teams have slipped in the last while, like Georgia Tech, and maybe Central Michigan, and couple others, even Florida State.

    I am hopeful that Brigham Young can continue to win (recruiting is huge) at a huge rate that it has done in the last two years, which is 21 and 4, better than 80 percent. That despite turning it over to lose another heartbreaker to Boise State, and faltering in last year's bowl underdog in University of Alabama-Birmingham. The other two setbacks were a last minute scheduled Coastal Carolina on the road, and a powerful Baylor Bears last fall. 

    This season presents some huge challenges for the Y, but I think things will be all right, maybe even terrific. The Big-12 looms in the future as an even bigger challenge.

Should be fun.