College Football: The greatest teams of every decade

The upcoming season marks the 150th year that college football has existed on the sports landscape. Which program was the best of each decade?

Ever since the first intercollegiate game between Princeton and Rutgers back in 1869, college football has resided in the pantheon of American sports. That season, the Scarlet Knights and the Tigers played twice. Each team claimed one victory, sharing the national title and the crown of the best team of the 1860s.

The game slowly spread outward from those roots. The nexus of power originated in the northeastern part of the country. It then spread westward and southward, as more schools picked up the sport and its position in the American sporting calendar became more concrete.

With each passing decade, there have always been teams that stand out ahead of the pack. In celebration of the sport’s 150th anniversary, let’s take a quick look at the top team in each decade by winning percentage. (NOTE: Traditionally, decades span a range such as 2001-2010. In this week’s Sunday Morning Quarterback, decades are being defined as the years 0-9 over a period of time for the sake of analysis.)

1870s: Princeton dominates the decade

After splitting the 1969 season against Rutgers, Princeton pulled away from its New Jersey rival over the next decade. The Tigers won more than 88 percent of their games in the period, going 22-2-2 between 1870 and 1879.

Over the decade, Princeton claimed either a share or the outright national title in eight of the 10 seasons. This was, of course, a time when schools often played just one or two games per year. The conditions were ripe for a dynastic run, and the Tigers seized the opportunity by the tail.

1880s: Yale overtakes their future Ivy League foe

Princeton was still among the best teams in the country throughout the 1880s. Between 1880 and 1889, the Tigers actually had a better winning percentage than they did during the 1870s. Princeton won over 90 percent of its games, finishing the decade 78-6-5 in 89 contests.

But they were overtaken by Yale, which went an astounding 86-2-3 over the 10-year period. The Bulldogs matched Princeton’s run, earning at least a share of the national title in eight seasons during the 1880s. This was the greatest run of Bulldogs success, and it came before the school even employed a full-time coach. Alumnus Walter Camp took over the coaching gig in 1888, seven years after graduating from the school.

1890s: Yale remains atop the heap for a second straight decade

After owning the 1880s, the Bulldogs hardly slowed down once Camp took over the coaching duties. Yale went 116-7-5 over the last decade of the 19th century. In the process, the Bulldogs also added six more national titles to their record.

Right on their heels was still Princeton. The Tigers won all or part of five national titles in the decade-long span, going 107-9-4 in the process. For the first three decades of college football’s existence, Princeton was the 1B to Yale’s 1A when it came to ranking the best teams in retrospect.