The 25 best college football teams to not win a national championship

Best college football teams without a national championship: 1999 Virginia Tech Hokies

Frank Beamer enjoyed an illustrious career in Blacksburg as the head coach of Virginia Tech, but he never got over the top and captured a national title during his 18-year run with the Hokies. Undoubtedly his best team and the closest he got to summiting the mountaintop was in 1999.

1999 was the year that a left-handed, lightning-quick, big-armed quarterback named Michael Vick broke onto the scene as a redshirt freshman. Vick helped revolutionize the sport and was genuinely ahead of his time.

Coming off of a quality 9-3 season in 1998, Vick catapulted the Hokies to the next level and made them legitimate national championship contenders. Vick was brilliant from the opening snap of the 1999 NCAA season. He ultimately finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne and Georgia Tech’s Joe Hamilton.

Freshmen were rarely given the praise that was heaped upon Vick, but his talent was undeniable. He finished with the highest passer rating in the country, and his heroics helped Virginia Tech finish with an unblemished record in the regular season.

Virginia Tech knocked off four ranked teams during the regular season, and only rival West Virginia played it within one score. A 38-14 win over then-No. 22 ranked Boston College to finish the regular season propelled the Hokies into the BCS Championship Game at the Sugar Bowl against Bobby Bowden’s Florida State squad.

The title game is remembered for the show put on by Vick and Florida State’s dynamic Peter Warrick. After falling behind 28-7, Vick led Virginia Tech to 22 unanswered points that gave the Hokies a 29-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Bowden’s Seminoles ultimately proved to be too talented and too deep, outscoring Virginia Tech 18-0 in the fourth quarter to secure the national championship.

In a bit of revisionist history, it’s fun to imagine how Vick would have fared if he played under an offensive coordinator who knew how to fully maximize his talent.