College football winningest teams: Who has the most wins in history?

Posted by author December 31, 2024 Football

Spread the love

A number of the most successful programs ever are competing in the 2024 College Football Playoff.

There are 10 teams with over 900 wins in college football history, four of whom are playing for a spot in the semifinals of the CFP this season.

Blue-blood programs with all-time success like Texas, Ohio State, Georgia, Penn State and Notre Dame are among the teams vying for a national championship in 2024, with Arizona State, Boise State and Oregon also looking to take the trophy.

Here’s a look at the most winningest programs in college football history ahead of the CFP quarterfinals:

Who has the most wins in college football history?

The winningest college football team ever is Michigan, which has 1,011 all-time wins in 1,405 games. The Wolverines have also played the third-most games among Division I teams, only behind Rutgers and Navy.

Michigan has 36 more wins than arch-rival Ohio State, which has the second-most wins ever with 975.

Winningest college football teams ever

Here are the top 10 most winningest teams in college football history among current Division I FBS programs:

1. Michigan (1,011 wins)
2. Ohio State (975 wins)
3. Alabama (974 wins)
T-4. Texas (960 wins)
T-4. Notre Dame (960 wins)
6. Oklahoma (950 wins)
7. Penn State (942 wins)
8. Nebraska (923 wins)
9. Georgia (923 wins)
10. USC (881 wins)

Interestingly enough, Texas and Notre Dame are tied for all-time wins as they’re set face Arizona State and Georgia, respectively, in the quarterfinals of the 2024 College Football Playoff. A win and a loss for either team would place one or the other in sole possession of the fourth-most wins ever.

USC has played the least number of games of any FBS program in the top 10, with 1,323 games. Notre Dame has played 1,339 and Oklahoma has played 1,350, which ranks ninth and eighth among teams in the top 10, respectively.

Ohio State, which has the second-most wins ever, has the highest win percentage of any top 10 program, with a .735 all-time winning percentage.

Most College Football Playoff wins ever

Here’s the list of teams with the most ever wins in the CFP, since the playoff’s inception in 2014:

Alabama (9 wins, five losses)
Clemson (6 wins, 6 losses)
Georgia (5 wins, 1 loss)
Ohio State (4 wins, 4 losses)
Texas (2 wins, 1 loss, Michigan (2 wins, 2 losses), LSU (2 wins, 0 losses)
Penn State (1 win, 0 losses) Oregon (1 win, 1 loss), TCU (1 win, 1 loss), Notre Dame (1 win, 2 losses), Washington (1 win, 2 losses)

Most college football national championships ever

Note: Yale, Princeton and Harvard’s championships all came before 1930, and all three programs are no longer in Division I FBS, college football’s top division

Here’s which teams have the most national championships in college football history: