The 50 greatest college football teams throughout history

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First string backfield men for the University of Michigan football team /

37. Best college football teams of all-time: 1947 Michigan

I know what you’re going to say: “How can a team that didn’t even win a national championship in their respective season land this far ahead of the victors from that season?”

Well, let me explain.

They were better than the team that won the national title in 1947. Head coach Fritz Crisler was a revolution in the game of football. Les Miles would love this man if that’s any indication. Who didn’t love him, however, was AP voters of the time.

Crisler was the first to really experiment with the game of football, his teams adopting the name of being “Mad Magicians” for their sheer deception. Crisler, the brains of this team, would give schematic fits to most teams today if put into a modern setting with a modern coach’s education.

Crisler’s teams would have up to six men handling the football in a given play, exhausting spectators and opposing defenses alike. As a result, tailback Bob Chappuis, wingback Chalmers Elliot and quarterback Howard Yerges consistently starred on the offensive side.

Thanks to Crisler’s then-new two-platoon system that split up players between offense and defense, they were able to out-hustle and out-condition every team they faced. Crisler’s team was deprived of the national title thanks to only beating No. 11 Illinois by seven points.