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Who has the most college football bowl wins in history?

By Hunter Gibbon

Sep 3, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide offensive lineman Cam Robinson (74) blocks USC Trojans linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (42) during the game at AT&T Stadium. Alabama defeats USC 52-6. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 3, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide offensive lineman Cam Robinson (74) blocks USC Trojans linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (42) during the game at AT&T Stadium. Alabama defeats USC 52-6. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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With college football bowl season just around the corner, we take a look at the most successful teams in bowl history.

The college football bowl game originated almost 115 years ago, with the East vs. West game that pitted Michigan against Stanford in Pasadena, California. Since then, the bowl game has progressively drawn more and more interest, often pitting teams against each other that would likely never meet in the regular season.

Bowl games gave teams chances to prove their metal outside of their region of the country and provided a healthy boost in tourism for each hosting city. For some programs, bowl games have become foregone conclusions. For others, becoming bowl-eligible is rare and worthy of celebration. When looking into which programs have been the most successful once they actually reach a bowl game, the leaders should not surprise you.

Top Ten Bowl-Winning Programs

  1.  Alabama (37-24-3)
  2. Southern California (34-18)
  3. Georgia (29-19-3)
  4. Oklahoma (28-20-1)
  5. Penn State (28-16-2)
  6. Texas (27-24-2)
  7. Tennessee (27-24)
  8. Nebraska (26-26)
  9. Florida State (26-16-2)
  10. LSU(24-19)

*Note* Ties were broken by the total number of bowls game a program had played in.

I imagine that you aren’t the least bit surprised by any of the names on the list above. All are perennial powerhouses who remain bowl-eligible season in and season out. Anything short of a 10 win season and a bowl victory is often considered a disappointment for these programs.  They dominate recruiting every off-season, most likely due to the pedigree of postseason success they can advertise to recruits.

Four of the top 10 teams (Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, LSU.) currently reside in the SEC, widely considered the most dominant conference in the country more years than not. USC is the lone current Pac-12 team but holds the best win percentage of any program in the top-10 at .654. The current Big 12 and Big Ten contain two teams a piece. Florida State is the lone team from the current ACC, but its inclusion does not come as a shock to any college football fan.

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Surprisingly, Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State are not on the list.

Overall, it seems the lesson learned from this exercise in research is that history often repeats itself. This becomes especially true in college athletics when past success leads to increased revenue, leverage with recruits, and state-of-the-art facilities. All of which will lead to future success and continue the cycle. In rare cases, new programs can break into the elite, but in terms of sheer numbers, they have some catching up to do.

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