4. Power Five Programs That Missed The 60-Win Cut – and still haven’t made the College Football Playoff
You have to average around 8.5 wins a year to get into the club of top teams that have yet to get into the College Football Playoff. Here are some notable big-time programs that haven been able to get there.
Texas (48 wins) – Just 16 wins from 2014 to 2016 drag down the Longhorns. There was just one ten=win season in the College Football Playoff era.
Northwestern (51 wins) – Two Big Ten Championship appearances, four bowl wins in the last five seasons, and two ten-win seasons – yeah, it’s a power program now.
Miami (54 wins) – There’s been a whole lot of mediocrity around a nice two-year stretch of 19 wins in 2016 and 2017.
Michigan (54 wins) – The Jim Harbaugh era really has been a wee bit better than it gets credit for, but the two-win 2020 campaign was a disaster.
Auburn (56 wins) – Averaging eight wins a season with a few wins over Alabama weren’t enough to keep Gus Malzahn around.
USC (56 wins) – This isn’t really fair. The Trojans deserve to be in the top four of the Best Programs To Not Make The College Football Playoff, but it only played six games last season.
Texas A&M (57 wins) – It feels like it’s just a matter of time under Jimbo Fisher. The great 2020 was a huge boost.
Utah (58 wins) – The Utes don’t get the credit they deserve under Kyle Whittihgham. They were a win over Oregon in the 2019 Pac-12 Championship away from – probably – getting into the CFP.
TCU (58 wins) – The 2014 team got totally hosed out of a final spot in the CFP top four, and it hasn’t been close since. However, three seasons with 11 or more wins boosted the overall total.
Florida (59 wins) – The Dan Mullen era has been very, very strong, but don’t forget that the Gators made two straight SEC Championship games under Jim McElwain.
And now, the best four Power Five programs to not make the College Football Playoff, starting with …