College football rankings: Every team that’s been ranked No. 1

Every college football team that’s been ranked No. 1.

Being ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll is still a huge deal in the college football world.

Though the poll may not have the gravitas it once did in the advent of the College Football Playoff era, it’s still a very important metric in the landscape of the sport because it serves a measuring stick across teams from many different generations. Though the dynasties change, college football rankings and the impact of the AP Poll holds true.

The AP Poll first came into use back in 1934. It has been used regularly since 1936 and the Associated Press has been doing preseason polls since before the 1950 NCAA season. With going on 100 years worth of polls, which teams have been ranked No. 1 at some point by the Associated Press, if only for a single week?

Here are all the college football teams ranked No. 1 by the AP Poll.

• Alabama Crimson Tide
• Arkansas Razorbacks
• Army Black Knights
• Auburn Tigers
• Boston College Eagles
• BYU Cougars
• California Golden Bears
• Clemson Tigers
• Colorado Buffaloes
• Cornell Big Red
• Florida Gators
• Florida State Seminoles
• Georgia Bulldogs
• Iowa Hawkeyes
• LSU Tigers
• Maryland Terrapins
• Miami Hurricanes
• Michigan Wolverines
• Michigan State Spartans
• Minnesota Golden Gophers
• Mississippi State Bulldogs
• Missouri Tigers
• Nebraska Cornhuskers
• North Carolina Tar Heels
• Northwestern Wildcats
• Notre Dame Fighting Irish
• Ohio State Buckeyes
• Oklahoma Sooners
• Ole Miss Rebels
• Oregon Ducks
• Penn State Nittany Lions
• Pittsburgh Panthers
• Purdue Boilermakers
• SMU Mustangs
• Syracuse Orange
• TCU Horned Frogs
• Tennessee Volunteers
• Texas Longhorns
• Texas A&M Aggies
• UCLA Bruins
• USC Trojans
• Virginia Cavaliers
• Washington Huskies
• Wisconsin Badgers

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And there you have it. 44 different teams have been ranked No. 1 at some point by the Associated Press. What is interesting is for every blue-blood program you’d expect to see on here like the Alabama Crimson Tide or the Ohio State Buckeyes, you’ll look at a team like the Northwestern Wildcats or the Virginia Cavaliers appear on here and think, “huh?”

Another interesting thing to notice is only four of these 44 teams are not considered Power 5 schools. While the Army Black Knights and the BYU Cougars are national independents, neither team has the Power 5 distinction like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have. The only Group of 5 conference member on here is the SMU Mustangs. The Cornell Big Red don’t play at the FBS level.

What’s also peculiar is who is not found on this list anywhere. You would think that with their rich football histories programs like the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Virginia Tech Hokies and the West Virginia Mountaineers would have been ranked No. 1 at some point in the AP Poll. The same thing applies to the Navy Midshipmen in the Group of 5.

Though it’s not easy to establish yourself as the top banana in this day and age, we saw not that long ago the Mississippi State Bulldogs do it back in 2014. Not only did they achieve a No. 1 ranking for the first time in school history, but Mississippi State became the first team to be ranked No. 1 overall by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee.

Who do you think is the next team to be ranked No. 1 by the AP Poll for the first time ever?

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