Where should Tennessee be ranked, ALL-TIME, among College Football Programs?

#51
#51
Thank you for saving me the bother of reiterating that all important qualifier. I could have just as easily established the parameters of this question as the years between 1926 (when Neyland first assumed command of the program) and 2001, knowing that we would have the top winning pct. (.73305) in the country and 2nd most wins (589), trailing only Alabama in that respect (see I-A Winning Percentage 1926-2001). All programs go through peaks and valleys, but status as an elite program, not merely in the here and now or over the last X number of years, is earned over the course of history.
 
#52
#52
Volosaurus rex said:
Some forum threads pose topics that can be debated passionately, endlessly and, ultimately, without resolution. For example, the thread entitled “Vol uniform/helmet design discussion,” pits strident advocates of radical stylistic innovation vs. staunch traditionalists. I would like to pose the following question, one that I suspect will evoke an enormous schism between generations, for your consideration:

Among the traditional powers of college football, precisely where do you believe Tennessee’s program should be ranked?

This question does not pertain to the last 5-10 years, the last 25 years or any other arbitrary time frame. Rather, it implies historical comparison over the entire histories of programs considered to be traditional powers. Programs recognized in this category are so designated because they have enjoyed higher and longer periods of sustained excellence and shorter and less severe “valleys” in their respective histories. Oregon, for example, is unquestionably a top-5 program right now but does not deserve mention in this category because of the brevity of their status as an apex program.

Since true objectivity does not correlate strongly with fandom, I also concluded that external insights, specifically ones derived from data compiled by Richard Billingsley, would provide an excellent starting point. For those of you not familiar with his work, Richard Billingsley operates the website, “College Football Research Center” (Home), and provides one of the computer ranking services that are part of the BCS Selection process. Here is a link to Billingsley’s ranking of the top programs of all-time: http://www.cfrc.com/Archives/Top_Programs_2011.htm.

Personally, I believe that he correctly identified the top 9 programs of all-time. He has us ranked 9th overall, right behind USC, and I cannot argue that the programs he has ranked ahead of us don't deserve to be there, based primarily on the number of national championships that they have won, respectively. I wouldn’t rank Michigan 2nd all-time and I am a bit surprised that he has Georgia 10th. Moreover, I find it difficult to reconcile the discrepancy between his rankings for Florida State (12th), Florida (20th) and Miami (27th), considering the fact that all three programs essentially came of age as major powers during the mid 1980s. For those of you who may be interested, here is a link to his methodology: http://www.cfrc.com/Archives/Dynamics_08.htm. Be forewarned, however, that this data is more directly relevant to seasonal rankings than all-time program comparisons.

In any event, where do you think that Tennessee should be ranked, ALL-TIME, among college football programs?
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A couple of seasons ago, before Dooley was hired, we were

#8 in the all time wins list.

#3 in all time bowl appearances.

#7 in all time bowl wins.

#1 of all teams, nation wide, who have beaten Bama the most.

#1 in players on NFL rosters. At the time, we had 43.

The 1st college program to use artificial turf.

The 1st S.E.C. team to have a black q.b.

The 1st team to win the BCS.

3rd most S.E.C. championships

3rd largest capacity seating of a stadium.

1 of 2 teams to have a Navy.

Never been on major probation from the NCAA
 
#55
#55
For the one's who say top ten you guys get the topic. For the one's who say different due to Johnny come lately. I guess they never seen teams like Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, lsu, Georgia and many others suck ass.

UT is top 10 period & this is without bias
 
#56
#56
The CFDW has a pretty good all time ranking imo.

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College Football Data WarehouseCopyright - StumbleUpon

I think we'll pass UGA if we win the Sugar. :cool2:
 
#60
#60
If you're going back to the very beginning then I believe 9th is a good ranking. When I first saw the post my immedite thought was 7th.
 
#61
#61
Statistically top 10..its math and it doesn't lie. Whats funny is that people on this board would actually think Florida would ever be above Tennessee. They would need a decade of perfect seasons to even reach the level of wins UT has..and that's with UT sucking a big D for the past 5 years.
 
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#62
#62
To me # 2! Family # 1 Tennessee and my Vols #2. HISTORICALLY WE ARE # 2 BEHIND BAMMER. (VIOLENT VOMITING) In South. In ENTIRE U.S.(Yankees do not count to me,but for sake of yall here it is:#1N Dame #2Bama #3 Tie Okl, USC,#5 Tennessee.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#63
#63
iluvsmesumdooley said:
Florida has the lead on us for all-time series, so I would rank them over us. We might still be slightly above LSU. Still above Florida State and Auburn. Still would have us ranked over UF and possibly Michigan had it not been for the last 5 disgusting, despicable, embarrassing years
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The Gators have only been playing football since 1990 ! :birgits_giggle:
 
#64
#64
Jax_Vol said:
The sec only had ten teams until around 1990. Florida was not one of our traditional rivals. We played auburn, Bama, Kentucky, Georgia and Vandy every year. And we rotated the other four teams...LSU, Florida, ole miss and miss state.
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Come on Jax, your memory isn't that bad, is it? :)

Before 1992 the SEC played 6 conference games.

UT traditionally played:

1. Auburn
2. Bama
3. Ole Miss
4. Kentucky
5. Vandy
6 Rotated: Miss State, LSU, UF, & UGA
 
#65
#65
Regarding where UT should be ranked all-time, around 9 or so is about right.

UT is ranked high all-time in a lot of categories but longevity of the program has a lot to with it.

UT isn't a 9-10 win team year in and year out. I think UT's all-time winning percentage is about 68% so that's 7-8 wins on average per year. Over the long haul that's a lot of wins.
 
#66
#66
tennesseeduke said:
We should be #7 IMO. Fl. St. should be 25 or so. How are they 12 all time when they were all girls until 1947. Only 484 wins really? Miami has almost 100 more wins and twice as many NC's.

Just an FYI...UT was the leader in wins from 1925-2010 of all college teams.

Alabama should be #1 as much as it pains me then Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio St., USC, then us. IMO.

:hi:

tennesseeduke
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So, to be one of the top 10 greatest programs, you need to have played since before 1940? Florida State should be in most peoples top 15 and some would put them top 10.

They have one of the greatest decade runs, if not the greatest, in college football history. Literally inches from a couple more titles.

It's true they don't have 800 wins because they haven't been playing long but they do have a top 10-12 winning %, national titles, and Heisman winners to go with.

As for UT, I'd say 8th
 
#67
#67
orangeluvr said:
The Gators have only been playing football since 1990 ! :birgits_giggle:
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I wonder how many people are on the board who have lived long enough to have seen more Tennessee wins in their lifetime than Florida wins.

Florida was not a championship program until the 90's, but they've been a winning program since the 50's
 
#69
#69
The Vols are #1 in my heart.

Prior to Fulmer's last year we were top three. We have slipped but should still be too five unless we continue to slip.

This is a storied program and should rise up sooner than later.
 
#72
#72
99gator said:
I wonder how many people are on the board who have lived long enough to have seen more Tennessee wins in their lifetime than Florida wins.

Florida was not a championship program until the 90's, but they've been a winning program since the 50's
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You have to go back to the 50s to find a decade when UT had its way with Florida. It's easy to say what UT could have done had we played every year, but you can't deny the most successful modern run in UT history came while playing second fiddle to UF.

That said, all-time i think Tennessee is in the 7-8 range while UF is around 12-14. UF has work to do catching up with UT and UGA on the number of SEC titles. UF won't catch UT in all-time wins in my lifetime.
 
#73
#73
#1 TENNESSEE #2 BAMA #3 NOTRE DAME #4 USC,OKL,MICH. Florida isn`t HISTORICALLY a champ. team. Only since Spurrier. Fla St? lmao Some young uns on here. Heck,Miami is ahead of Fla St! Go Vols!
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#74
#74
I think you could rank them in teirs better than numerically.
Teir 1 being Bama, Notre Dame the unarguable big time historical teams.
Teir 2 Texas USC Ohio St. Vols Michigan
Teir 3 are your teams that have been more successful in the last 20-30 years. Basically since espn has been around Florida and Oregon type teams.
 
#75
#75
It's a unique argument when you're discussing a totally different game (today) compared to the game of nearly 100 years ago. Imagine getting into an automobile conversation and someone trying to tell you that Dodge is higher rated than Toyota because they've been around longer...as an example.

I think a better barometer of success would be a more recent calculation from when integration happened. I know there isn't a specific date but it's probably a better measure. So I'd be interested in seeing where the rankings stand since 1960, for instance. That's 50+ years...a nice sample size.
 
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