USC Ranks No. 5, UCLA No. 17 In AP's All-Time Top 100 College Football Program Rankings
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) — The Associated Press has been ranking the best teams in college football for the last 80 seasons -- now it has compiled a list of all-time rankings.
To determine an all-time Top 100 for the first time, the AP counted poll appearances (one point), No. 1 rankings (one bonus point) to acknowledge elite programs and gave a big bonus for AP championships won (10 points).
Since the first Top 20 in 1936, 1,103 polls have been taken and 164 schools have been ranked.
Many of today's powerhouses were unheralded at the beginning of the poll, and vice versa. Minnesota was the first No. 1 in 1936. Western Kentucky was the last team to make its poll debut (in the final poll of the 2015 season). In between, some unlikely programs --- Muhlenburg, NYU and Colorado College -- have made appearances.
But the top all-time programs were largely familiar names. Ohio State took the top spot, with the University of Oklahoma, Notre Dame and the University of Alabama ranking second, third and fourth. USC rounded out the top 5, while UCLA managed to squeeze into the top 20.
Here are the all-time stats for the Trojans and Bruins:
No. 5 Southern California (974 points)
Total appearances: 743, 67.36 percent of all polls.
First appearance: 1936.
No. 1 rankings: 90½.
Championships: Five (last 2004).
Best full decade: 1970s appeared in 89.86 percent of polls.
Worst full decade: 1940s appeared in 47.43 percent of polls.
Poll point: The Trojans were top-ranked 42 times from Dec. 7, 2003-Sept. 21, 2008, under coach Pete Carroll.
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No. 17 UCLA (535 points)
Total appearances: 521, 47.23 percent of all polls.
First appearance: 1939.
No. 1 rankings: Seven.
Championships: None.
Best full decade: 1980s appeared in 72.67 percent of polls.
Worst full decade: 1940s appeared in 29.55 percent of polls.
Poll point: The Bruins are the highest-ranked team to never win a championship.
The official preseason AP Top 25 poll will be released August 21.
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