https://247sports.com/college/ohio-...l-Teams-Ranked-by-Wins-134426081/#134426081_1
Discuss or cuss whichever
Discuss or cuss whichever
SHR or not - 50 Best College Football teams by # of wins
- Thread starter MARSHALL77
- Start date
Many teams placement on that list is meaningless. I remember getting in to it with Kitty on the old smack board when he was bragging about wvu being (then) #13 in all time wins. That's back when cfbdatawarehouse (a great site) was still around and it made research easy. Anyway, I recalculated the list based on only wins against teams that are currently at the FBS level. So I took out all the wins against the Mahoning Cycle Club (yes wvu has wins over them in their total), high schools, what were the equivalent of NAIA, DIII, DII and FCS.
When I did that wvu dropped to 37th, for example. Miami (OH) had more than 100 more wins than wvu when the fat was taken out.
When I did that wvu dropped to 37th, for example. Miami (OH) had more than 100 more wins than wvu when the fat was taken out.
Agree with the whole idea of discounting for non-I-A competition. Which works for the Mountaineers up north. But also for the Mountaineers down south. Appy State was in the NAIA until 1968. If their wins versus small colleges count, then certainly there are lots of schools still at a lower level whose wins should count too, right? The winningest team is probably some small college no one has heard of.
MU claims 598 wins, which also includes lots of games versus small colleges, high schools, army units, YMCAs and such.
MU claims 598 wins, which also includes lots of games versus small colleges, high schools, army units, YMCAs and such.
WVU has played 663 games against current power 5 teams plus Notre Dame. They are 299-350-14 all time versus current power 5 teams, 45% wins, which I'm sure will come to quite a shock to non-alumni wvu fans who think they are right up there with Alabama and Ohio St.
http://www.winsipedia.com/west-virginia
Marshall has played 93 games all-time versus current power 5 teams and are 20-73. 21% wins. 12 of those 20 wins are against Louisville.
http://www.winsipedia.com/marshall
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While I get your point, just dropping all opponents who are currently not in Div 1 is dubious at best. Just because a school is lower division now doesn't mean they have always been that way. For example, in the early part of WVU's history, Washington & Jefferson College was WVU's biggest rival. (They haven't played each other since 1935.) WVU's record includes 34 games against W&J that you certainly dropped from the totals even though W&J was a football power in those days. (For example, W&J played Cal to a scoreless tie in the 1922 Rose Bowl, finished 10-0-1, and won a share of the national title.) Furthermore, WVU's record is similar to most of its peers. For example, WVU has 663 games vs current P5 schools, which is similar to Virginia Tech's total of 661. I am guessing Pitt, Syracuse, Maryland, and others have similar P5 totals.
I must also point out that WVU has never included high schools in their wins total. Never. In contrast, Marshall's official record includes 33 games against 8 different high schools. (Marshall's record against high schools is 19-7-7.) Oh by the way, WVU lost in its only game against Mahoning Cycle Club, so you are wrong about that as well.
ESPN recently published a list of the 150 best college football games of all time. Marshall and WVU each appear on the list once.
Your trivia question: without Googling, name the games.
Your trivia question: without Googling, name the games.
I would have to guess Herd-ECU bowl game, and for WVU, I'm going to go with one of their games against Pitt, likely the 13-9 game, or possibly the game in the 70's when McKinsey (spelling) kicked a field goal for a win.
Honorable mention wvu: Turmain Mack game (blocked punt)
WVU's site used to have a link that showed every game they ever played and there were a lot of "games" that are listed. They might as have been high school teams.
I didn't think that would have been it, mainly because I fell asleep during that last play of the game that lasted about 10 minutes when I watched it at the movie theater.
Maybe so, but WVU has never, ever, included high school games as part of their official record. WVU's win total listed in the OP's link includes zero high schools, while Marshall's official win total includes 19 wins over high schools.
Without scrolling and reading responses...my guesses are...
MU/ECU OT bowl game.
wvu/VT, Mike Vick's game winning drive/FG to win it for VT and keep them in the title hunt since PSU lost earlier.
Winsipedia lists WVU’s record as 755, the OP’s article at 750. This includes 323-110-28 versus teams not today in Div I-A. While, of course, divisions did not exist in the distant past and teams have gone up and down in level, the main point that WVU’s record is mostly what it did in what today would be considered small college (pre and immediate post WWII), I-AA (SoCon), or mid-major (Eastern Independents/Big East/Leastleftovers) levels, and not at the True Major level like most of the schools in the article.
Winsipedia lists games versus Uniontown AC, Quantico Marines, Monessen AC, Connellsville AC, WVU Alumni, Latrobe AC, Pittsburgh AC, Mahoning Cycle Club, and Greensburg AA, none of which are colleges of any sort.
Yes, I get it. Now go look at Pitt, Virginia Tech, and other WVU peers. They include those type games as well. Even Michigan, Penn State, et al. include such games. You seem to be implying that WVU is alone in that regard.
WVU has played 461 non FBS games, VT has played 465. Pitt has "only" played 319.
In the Big 12:
Oklahoma - 137
Texas - 136
Texas Tech - 189
Kansas - 242
Kansas State - 253
Oklahoma State - 268
Baylor - 175
Iowa State - 299
TCU - 196
In the Big 12:
Oklahoma - 137
Texas - 136
Texas Tech - 189
Kansas - 242
Kansas State - 253
Oklahoma State - 268
Baylor - 175
Iowa State - 299
TCU - 196
There are lots of ways to spin records. Most fans spin them to make their school look good. WVU is no different. Neither is Marshall. When MU fans were boasting about being the "Winningest team of the 1990s", I don't remember seeing an asterisk noting that the majority of those wins were against non-Div 1A opponents.
Both Marshall and wvu played several games with "Athletic Clubs" in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Athletic clubs were actually the first professional football teams. Colleges in the Northeast especially played a lot of Athletic Clubs. wvu lost some games to Athletic Clubs including a road game at Mahoning Cycle Club in Ohio. Marshall lost to the Ironton YMCA, the Charleston YMCA, and the Ashland YMCA. But these opponents likely had some ringers on the team that were getting paid. This article from the NFL Hall of Fame indicates that the first players paid to play football played for Athletic clubs.
https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/birth-of-pro-football/
https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/birth-of-pro-football/
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Interesting. Folks need to remember that there weren't as many colleges playing football in those early days. Finding opponents wasn't easy for many schools. Plus, transportation was terrible. It's no wonder that Pitt has fewer non-FBS opponents on their record compared to WVU, Virginia Tech, and Syracuse; getting in and out of Morgantown and Blacksburg was no simple task. Traveling too/from Pittsburgh was MUCH easier; they had much easier access to colleges that played football.
