Florida State finds itself on the wrong side of history

Up to this point, the 1956 Maryland Terrapins are the worst team on this list. In 1955, the Terps had one of their best years ever. Under head coach James "Big Jim" Tatum (no relation to NBA superstar Jayson), Maryland went 10-1. They split the ACC title with Duke and finished the year ranked third in the country.

They would lose to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. Also, three years earlier, the school won its first and only National Championship.

After, Tatum left to become the head coach of North Carolina, and Maryland appointed Tommy Mont as their new leader after he was an assistant under Tatum. Mont was a former quarterback at Maryland. The 1956 AP preseason poll had Maryland rank sixth. Unlike the last four teams we went through, Maryland only had to play one game before the week one rankings were released.

To start their season, they played against unranked Syracuse at home in Byrd Stadium on September 22nd. In a shocking twist of events, Maryland lost to the then Orangemen, 26-12. Two days later, Maryland plummeted out of the rankings. It was a bad omen of things to come. The Terps never got close to returning to the rankings.

The season was wasted away, as injuries among other factors destroyed any hopes for the Terrapins to get back into their winning ways. After beating Wake Forest in week two, Maryland would go on a dismal seven-game winless streak and ended the season with a putrid record of 2-7-1.

The Associated Press called Maryland's year as "one of the year's most disappointing football teams." Two years later, Mont resigned as head coach. Below is footage of Syracuse running back Jim Brown running around the Maryland defense.