ESPN recently posted the following article.
Vince Young-led Texas the best team of the past 20 years: Ranking the 21 championship teams since the BCS era began
Initially, I was thinking "okay, someone's judgement, but it can be debatable." I opened up the article and began reading the list. I did read the entire list, but I paused for a longer time than I initially thought after seeing #3 on the list.
1. 2005 Texas Longhorns
The 2005 Longhorns are the top championship team of the past 20 years in large part because they claim the best player of the past 20 years. Quarterback Vince Young, remarkably, didn't win the Heisman Trophy that season, but he produced one of the greatest individual seasons in recent college football history, culminating with one of the greatest individual game performances the sport has ever seen. In the 2006 Rose Bowl against heavily favored USC, Young completed 30 of 40 passes for 267 yards, rushed for 200 yards and delivered the game-winning play, an 8-yard touchdown dash on fourth down with 19 seconds remaining. That play defined the BCS era. And turned Young into a legend. Young wasn't the only star for Texas, which also boasted a top-10 defense. Michael Huff was the Jim Thorpe Award winner and, like Young, became a top-10 NFL draft pick. Linemen Jonathan Scott and Rodrique Wright were consensus All-Americans, as well. The '05 Longhorns never lost. And saved their best for the biggest stage. -- Jake Trotter
2. 2008 Florida Gators
Urban Meyer has called his 2008 Gators the best to ever play the game. Meyer obviously has a bias, but he also has a legitimate point. Nineteen players from that team were eventually drafted, and Tim Tebow ranks among the greatest quarterbacks in college football history. He helped lead the Gators' offense to 611 points, the highest scoring total in SEC history, all while playing against eight of the nation's top 30 defenses. But the offense went beyond him, with Percy Harvin, Chris Rainey, Jeff Demps, Louis Murphy, Aaron Hernandez and David Nelson making Florida virtually unstoppable. Defensively, Carlos Dunlap, Brandon Spikes and Joe Haden set the tone, giving Florida a nasty, aggressive edge. And then there's that "The Promise" speech Tebow made after an early season loss to Ole Miss, galvanizing the team to take its play to a championship level. Tebow took over late in the win over Oklahoma at the Orange Bowl, and the Gators' defense shut down the high-powered Sooners and Heisman winner Sam Bradford, holding them to 14 points and 363 total yards. -- Andrea Adelson
3. 2001 Miami Hurricanes
You could make the argument this team belongs at No. 1 for a host of reasons, starting with the biggest: its sheer talent. The roster featured 38 future NFL draft picks, including 17 who went in the first round. Among the 22 starters in the 2002 Rose Bowl win over Nebraska to clinch the national title, 18 were drafted -- 11 in the first round. The offense started with quarterback Ken Dorsey but featured Clinton Portis, Andre Johnson and Jeremy Shockey creating weekly mismatches. Frank Gore and Willis McGahee were backups. The defense was even better, with Ed Reed, Jonathan Vilma, Jerome McDougle, Mike Rumph, D.J. Williams and Phillip Buchanon leading the way. Miami averaged 42.7 points and gave up an average of 9.8 points per game. If there's one knock, it's the schedule. Miami played in the Big East at the time, so its average opponent rank is not as good as '08 Florida or '05 Texas. The Hurricanes also had to survive scares late in the season against Boston College and Virginia Tech, and Nebraska was an inferior opponent in the championship game. That shouldn't detract from what this team accomplished. -- Adelson
I had to reread the idea of this article. ESPN Analytics calculated overall, offensive and defensive ratings to find the true strength of a champion through a comparison of top college football programs across seasons. The model includes a giant network of all FBS college football teams that played approximately 15,000 games over 20 years and assigns each team to a game, score and home-field advantage indicator within each season. The network establishes a team's strength interrelated with every other team in the network and returns a rating measured in points above the average team (zero rating).
I know that analytics help with certain things, but ain't no way Vince Young would have done what he did in 2005 vs that "The U" squad, thanks to the eyeball test. Just to remind me of the dominance they declare VY to have, I had to look up the tape of the KU @ UT game that year. It was ugly, so I'm just sending the link. I will admit that VY was special, but "The U" was simply filthy. I still remember that beatdown championship game vs. Nebraska.
Vince Young-led Texas the best team of the past 20 years: Ranking the 21 championship teams since the BCS era began
Initially, I was thinking "okay, someone's judgement, but it can be debatable." I opened up the article and began reading the list. I did read the entire list, but I paused for a longer time than I initially thought after seeing #3 on the list.
1. 2005 Texas Longhorns
The 2005 Longhorns are the top championship team of the past 20 years in large part because they claim the best player of the past 20 years. Quarterback Vince Young, remarkably, didn't win the Heisman Trophy that season, but he produced one of the greatest individual seasons in recent college football history, culminating with one of the greatest individual game performances the sport has ever seen. In the 2006 Rose Bowl against heavily favored USC, Young completed 30 of 40 passes for 267 yards, rushed for 200 yards and delivered the game-winning play, an 8-yard touchdown dash on fourth down with 19 seconds remaining. That play defined the BCS era. And turned Young into a legend. Young wasn't the only star for Texas, which also boasted a top-10 defense. Michael Huff was the Jim Thorpe Award winner and, like Young, became a top-10 NFL draft pick. Linemen Jonathan Scott and Rodrique Wright were consensus All-Americans, as well. The '05 Longhorns never lost. And saved their best for the biggest stage. -- Jake Trotter
2. 2008 Florida Gators
Urban Meyer has called his 2008 Gators the best to ever play the game. Meyer obviously has a bias, but he also has a legitimate point. Nineteen players from that team were eventually drafted, and Tim Tebow ranks among the greatest quarterbacks in college football history. He helped lead the Gators' offense to 611 points, the highest scoring total in SEC history, all while playing against eight of the nation's top 30 defenses. But the offense went beyond him, with Percy Harvin, Chris Rainey, Jeff Demps, Louis Murphy, Aaron Hernandez and David Nelson making Florida virtually unstoppable. Defensively, Carlos Dunlap, Brandon Spikes and Joe Haden set the tone, giving Florida a nasty, aggressive edge. And then there's that "The Promise" speech Tebow made after an early season loss to Ole Miss, galvanizing the team to take its play to a championship level. Tebow took over late in the win over Oklahoma at the Orange Bowl, and the Gators' defense shut down the high-powered Sooners and Heisman winner Sam Bradford, holding them to 14 points and 363 total yards. -- Andrea Adelson
3. 2001 Miami Hurricanes
You could make the argument this team belongs at No. 1 for a host of reasons, starting with the biggest: its sheer talent. The roster featured 38 future NFL draft picks, including 17 who went in the first round. Among the 22 starters in the 2002 Rose Bowl win over Nebraska to clinch the national title, 18 were drafted -- 11 in the first round. The offense started with quarterback Ken Dorsey but featured Clinton Portis, Andre Johnson and Jeremy Shockey creating weekly mismatches. Frank Gore and Willis McGahee were backups. The defense was even better, with Ed Reed, Jonathan Vilma, Jerome McDougle, Mike Rumph, D.J. Williams and Phillip Buchanon leading the way. Miami averaged 42.7 points and gave up an average of 9.8 points per game. If there's one knock, it's the schedule. Miami played in the Big East at the time, so its average opponent rank is not as good as '08 Florida or '05 Texas. The Hurricanes also had to survive scares late in the season against Boston College and Virginia Tech, and Nebraska was an inferior opponent in the championship game. That shouldn't detract from what this team accomplished. -- Adelson
I had to reread the idea of this article. ESPN Analytics calculated overall, offensive and defensive ratings to find the true strength of a champion through a comparison of top college football programs across seasons. The model includes a giant network of all FBS college football teams that played approximately 15,000 games over 20 years and assigns each team to a game, score and home-field advantage indicator within each season. The network establishes a team's strength interrelated with every other team in the network and returns a rating measured in points above the average team (zero rating).
I know that analytics help with certain things, but ain't no way Vince Young would have done what he did in 2005 vs that "The U" squad, thanks to the eyeball test. Just to remind me of the dominance they declare VY to have, I had to look up the tape of the KU @ UT game that year. It was ugly, so I'm just sending the link. I will admit that VY was special, but "The U" was simply filthy. I still remember that beatdown championship game vs. Nebraska.
