26. Best college football teams of all-time: 1917 Georgia Tech
One year before, this Southern team that was a powerhouse in college football for the better part of the 1910s beat Cumberland in the most lopsided game of football in history, by oh you know, just your casual score of 220-0.
The next season, the one we’re including here on our list, head coach John Heisman led his Yellow Jackets to a perfect 9-0 season, giving up just a measly 17 points by the time the year was over.
Overlooked by many analysts, this Georgia Tech team was back to their regularly scheduled programming of destroying Southern opposition, defeating teams by absolutely massive amounts. They defeated Washington & Lee by a massive 63-0, but that wasn’t the end to the carnage, as before the end of the season they had defeated Vanderbilt 83-0 and decimated Carlisle by 98 points in a shutout win.
Led by the “Golden Tornado” of Albert Hill, Everett Strupper, Joe Guyon and Judy Harlan, John Heisman’s Yellow Jackets obliterated every team they faced, with their closest matchup a thrilling (not really) 32-10 win over Davidson. Heisman called this team the best team that he had ever coached and the team was hailed by the New York Sun as “one of the truly great teams of all time.”
They may not get love on every list, but they’ve found a spot on our list here as one of the all-time greats.