Gridiron Gloom: A Deep Dive into the Annals of College Football's Least Successful Teams

College football, a sport steeped in tradition and boasting a passionate following, has been played for over 150 years, with the first official game dating back to 1869 when Rutgers defeated Princeton 6-4. Within this landscape of fierce competition and storied programs, there inevitably exist teams that have struggled to find success on the gridiron. This article delves into the history of college football to identify some of the worst teams to have ever played the game, examining the factors that contributed to their struggles and highlighting some of the most abysmal records and performances.

Defining "Worst": A Multifaceted Approach

Determining the "worst" teams in college football history is not a simple task. Various metrics can be considered, including:

Overall Winning Percentage: This provides a long-term view of a program's success (or lack thereof).
Losing Streaks: Sustained periods of futility can be particularly demoralizing and indicative of deep-seated problems.
Single-Season Performance: Some teams have endured seasons so disastrous that they stand out as particularly awful.
Margin of Defeat: The extent to which a team is outmatched can be a telling sign of its overall quality.
Historical Context: Factors such as funding, academic standards, and conference affiliation can influence a team's ability to compete.

The Usual Suspects: Teams Mired in Historical Futility

Several programs have struggled for extended periods, accumulating records that place them among the least successful in college football history.

Power Five Programs Under .500

A simple listing of the all-time worst winning percentages among the Power Five programs would include Duke, Kansas, Kansas State, Indiana, Rutgers, Northwestern, Iowa State, Oregon State, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt. Each of those football programs are still under .500 in their history.

Duke Blue Devils: If we’re honest they should make the top 5.

Kansas Jayhawks: Kansas is 610-686-58 all-time for a winning percentage of 47.2%. The Jayhawks have won six conference titles with the last coming in 1968.

Kansas State Wildcats: KSU has been more than respectable on the field of late. Pick any time frame prior to the Bill Snyder era ('92 or so), and you've a fully qualified candidate for the worst teams ever. I can't believe you left out the mid-late '80s Kansas State team. The team Sports Illustrated dubbed "Futility U." Five winning seasons in 54 years. From '84 to '88, they went a combined 4-40-1 … and were lucky to win those four. They had two very lengthy losing streaks, broken up only by perhaps the most infamous college football game in history -- November 7, 1987 -- a 17-17 tie against equally inept Kansas, known forever to my fellow Kansans as "The Toilet Bowl." What makes the turnaround at K-State so incredible, and so under-reported, is people forgetting how terrible the Wildcats really were.

Indiana Hoosiers: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn ImagesIndiana wraps up the trio of Big 10 teams at 518-715-44. The Hoosiers have two conference titles, the last of which came in 1968. It’s really hard to overlook the vast amount of seasons where the Hoosiers have been average to bad throughout their history. I was born in 1982 and there have been just 8 seasons since then where Indiana finished with a winning record. Sure, they got stuck in the hard Big Ten division in recent years. However, they have one of the most beautiful campuses in college football in a fairly advantageous location that can pull from a swath of Midwestern suburban areas within reasonable driving distance. It’s a good academic school but it can’t be holding the Hoosiers back like some other places in their position.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights: The Scarlet Knights are 678-701-42, a win percentage of 49.2%. This list should be put on hold until after this weekend. Rutgers is just that far from proving its right to make the cut. The Scarlet Knights have won only three of their last 22 games. Their last two losses came to a I-AA team and a I-A team that was coming off a loss to a different I-AA team -- and both losses came at home. Rutgers is a public institution of nearly 50,000 students located in a talent-rich football state. When small privates are piling up two touchdown leads on a school with RU's resources, it's beyond any excusable slump from a small college with short funds. If the Scarlet Knights fall to Army this weekend (hardly an impossibility), there is no way in hell they're not going to doughnut the rest of the season. That would bring their grand total of losses in a row to 16, including losses to a California team that had previously lost 13 straight, a I-AA team, a sub-I-AA team, and an Army team that lost to Holy Cross (a I-AA that barely earns top 25 nods, I mean c'mon, Jesuits can't play football -- Boston College notwithstanding. The Sports Guy will back me up on this one.) Oh yeah, and all this while Rutgers is the birthplace of college football. Don't look now, but we're seeing the latest addition to this distinguished top 10 right in front of our very eyes. Since 1996, Rutgers has given up point totals of 50 or more on several occasions. This includes 62-0 at Notre Dame, 80-7 at West Virginia (WVU was shut out the previous two weeks) and 64-6 against Miami. The Miami game got out of hand so fast people started leaving in the first quarter. When Pitt posted a 45-0 lead by halftime, they ran the ball up the middle on nearly every play in the second half just to keep the score down. Now consider this year's opener, a loss to I-AA Villanova at home … and then, the successive loss to Buffalo, at home (each by significant margins) and you've got all the marks of a very, very bad team. It's going to be scary to see what Tennessee, Miami, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame post up if they don't take it easy on these guys. I'm a Rutgers grad, and proud of it. Rutgers University is blazing a trail as perhaps the most pathetic bunch ever to call themselves a I-A team. I'm not even talking the Terry Shea era here (which, by the way, was absolutely horrific -- something like, oh, one Big East win in four years). Look at the past 13 games where the Knights are 2-11 and have been outscored 468-114. Just to put this in perspective, Rutgers has been absolutely destroyed by "powerhouse football programs" such as Villanova, Temple, UConn and California. Throw in a couple of 60- or 80-point blowouts to the big guns and it's a safe bet that good ol' RU is headed for one of the most humiliating, embarrassing and outrageously inept football reputations of all time. And yes, I am a season ticket holder. … While our football program may be a joke, we take our tailgating very, very seriously.

Northwestern Wildcats: Northwestern is the second Big 10 team on the list. The Wildcats have a 570-710-44 all-time record. A good question would be where Northwestern would’ve landed on this list prior to this summer? Within the Big Ten I believe their lows have been lower than Indiana. However, Northwestern has a much better track record of pulling out a decent-to-good season far more often than the Hoosiers. So far, 6 players have decommitted this summer and Northwestern stands at only 9 commits for 2024, 12 spots lower overall than aforementioned Indiana this cycle. Plus, it’ll likely only get much worse before it even begins to get better. The Wildcats were in the midst of a 34-game losing streak (the longest in Division I-A history) during the 1981 season, when they lost all of their games, getting outscored 505-82 -- an average of 40 points a game. Northwestern fans celebrated a 61-14 home loss to Michigan State by tearing down the goalposts and marching through Evanston shouting, "We're the worst!" After the Wildcats ended their losing streak, defeating Northern Illinois 31-6 on Sept. 4.

Read also: Stand Out with Your College Essay

Iowa State Cyclones: The Cyclones are 577-681-46.

Oregon State Beavers: You can't leave the Oregon State Beavers off this list. Although Dennis Erickson has recently resurrected them from the ashes, the Beavers still hold the NCAA Div. IA record for the most consecutive losing seasons at 28 straight years, 1970-98. The Beavs did not have ONE winning season during that time, they went through six head coaches and compiled an appalling 65-238-6 record. They also managed two 14-game losing streaks, separated only by a 31-28 come-from-behind win over Fresno State in 1981 (at the time the greatest comeback in NCAA history, giving Joe Avezzano -- yes, the current special teams coach for the Dallas Cowboys -- his first victory at OSU) which followed a stellar 0-11 campaign in 1980. But that's not all! Oregon State pulled off twin 15-game losing skids under Jerry Pettibone in the 1990s! During this illustrious period, OSU managed as many as five wins twice, but had three or fewer wins 22 times! Before the 1999 Oahu Bowl, Oregon State's last bowl appearance was the Rose Bowl following the 1964 season.

Mississippi State Bulldogs: Mississippi State is the second SEC school on the list. The Mustangs are 544-563-42 all-time (49.2%).

Vanderbilt Commodores: Most seasons they are simply swallowed up by the SEC. Think about this…Vanderbilt doesn’t have a single top 10 finish ever in their history. Good luck to our boy Clark Lea. He did sign a contract extension through 2029 after just 7 wins through 2 seasons in Nashville which tells you enough about how low the bar is set for the school. This job is so incredibly difficult with academic standards and some of the worst history among the Power 5.

Arizona: If we’re chronicling strengths, it doesn’t make a ton of sense why Arizona has been so poor throughout their history. Harsh considering they finished 12th in the country only back in 2020. Still, that was a shortened Covid year

Washington State Cougars: Poor Wazzu may be relegated from the Power 5. If they are able to stay you could argue there are worst programs to be in the country. The Cougars have 8 seasons where they finished ranked since 1988 which isn’t terrible for a team on this list. Heck, they were 10th and won the Alamo Bowl just a few years ago, RIP Mike Leach.

Boston College Eagles: It hasn’t been a super dark decade+ for the Eagles, but it’s been pretty poor and they are arguably as badly positioned as any of the Power 5 programs to continue surviving and being able to increase their profile. What is there to like? They are situated in a bad region for college football recruiting and overshadowed from all corners by professional sports. Boston College also hasn’t finished a season ranked since 2007.

These teams often face challenges such as limited resources, strict academic standards, and difficulty attracting top recruits. Despite these obstacles, some have managed to achieve periods of success, demonstrating the potential for even the most struggling programs to turn things around.

Prairie View A&M: An Unenviable Record

Once-mighty Prairie View -- the Panthers won five national black college titles between 1953 and 1964 -- took quite a fall. During the 1990s, Prairie View set a record that might stand forever, losing 80 straight games, a losing streak that nearly doubles the second-longest Division I-AA streak -- Columbia's 44-game skein. Their worst year might have been 1991 -- they scored only 48 points all season, while giving up an average of 56 a game. After the Panthers ended their streak by beating Langston State 14-12, running back Kevin Ball said, "One isn't good enough for me. Prairie View has to be the worst of all time. As students, we used to go to the games and wait for the band to perform at halftime … then we'd leave, we'd be getting beat 58-0 already, anyway. No scholarships, bad facilities and almost 100 percent walk-ons will make you the worst any day. The only place we could make them winners was in video games …

Columbia Lions: A Lengthy Drought

Columbia lost 44 games in a row during these years, the second-longest in major college football history. Things got so bad that the band played the "Mickey Mouse Club" theme when the team took the field. During one 1985 game against Harvard, Columbia actually looked like it might win -- it was leading 17-0 with five minutes left in the third quarter. But the Crimson came back, and scored 49 unanswered points in the time remaining.

Macalester College Scots: Record-Breaking Futility

Between 1974 and 1980, the St. Paul, Minn., school lost 50 games in a row. The Scots' worst season probably came in 1977, when MIAC rivals Concordia Moorhead -- yes, the Concordia Moorhead Cobbers -- beat them 97-6, scoring 14 touchdowns to set an NAIA record that still stands (Cobbers kicker Kurt Christenson scored 13 points on extra point kicks alone). Also in 1977, Macalester set a Division III record by allowing 59.1 points per game.

Oberlin Yeomen: Struggling on Both Sides of the Ball

In 1994, Oberlin went 0-9, giving up 358 points and scoring only 10. In 1995, the Yeoman were outscored 469-72. After losing 56-0 to Allegheny in one 1992 game, the Yeoman had so few players they had to forfeit their next game against Wittenberg -- and the forfeit turned out to be one of their finest outings. "Nobody got hurt," one school official told Sports Illustrated. "And a forfeit shows up as a 6-0 loss in the books, which was better than most of our scores." Swarthmore and Oberlin scheduled a 1999 matchup just so one of them would end their losing streak. Oberlin won ONE game in the fall of 1997 against Thiel College. (It was the first win since about 1991.) I was there. You were there. We were on SportsCenter later on, getting mocked because we rushed the field. Nobody knew quite what to do after that. It was an incredible moment, one of the finest I've ever seen in any sport. Every one of those guys busted their ass, it's easy to field a winning team of 70, Oberlin at one point had a team of about 20. Some linemen played an entire game Ironman. Of course they lost games -- their opponents could put a fresh squad on the field in the second half. OC still had the best fake punt in the league, and they played with more tenacity and guts than any team I've ever seen. I understand putting Oberlin on your list -- it was pretty rough there, and they'll sheepishly admit that … Oberlin, who's first football coach was Heisman himself. Oberlin, who in their first season ever, went 7-0 and outscored opponents 262-30. Oberlin, the last Ohio team to ever beat Ohio State.

Swarthmore Garnet Tide: A Brief Resurgence

The small Pennsylvania school has a rich football tradition, but in the late 1990s fell into a stupor. On Sept. 19, 1997, the Garnet Tide's defense allowed 10 different Johns Hopkins players to score touchdowns, a Division III record. The Garnet Tide snapped a 28-game losing streak when they defeated Oberlin 42-6 on Sept. 4, 1999, in what was called "the game that somebody had to win." (See above.) In 2000, the Tide seemed to be rising, as the squad went 4-5. It wasn't enough.

Duke Blue Devils: Trying to Avoid the Record Books

Duke ran its losing streak to 23 games by the end of the 2001 season, and many prognosticators thought the Blue Devils had a good shot at breaking Northwestern's record of 34 straight losses by the end of this season. Their out of conference opponents aren't great shakes either. For instance, this year Duke plays Navy, another winless team from last season. I personally saw this team get dismantled at College Park last year. Maryland was up 7-0 before we were done tailgaiting, and midway through the third quarter, the fans had already lost interest in the action on the field and just started doing the Tomahawk Chop (the Terps were playing FSU the next week). Not only did they rack up a slew of consecutive losses, they did it playing in a conference where they were assured several winnable games each year. Outside of Florida State, there isn't a single powerhouse in the ACC … and Wake Forest is a perennial dud. Maryland hadn't been very good, quite frankly, until last season. And Virginia, North Carolina, NC State, Clemson -- these aren't exactly big guns either. If an SEC or Big 12 team racked up 20-some consecutive losses, well, that's understandable, but for a team to perform that badly in a basketball conference … you gotta be bad.

Marietta Pioneers: A Winless Era

Between Sept. 27, 1980, when the Pioneers defeated Otterbein 14-7, and the start of the 1984 season, they were outscored 1,124 to 148. The Pioneers' 41-game winless streak ended Nov. 3, 1984, when Marietta defeated 0-8 Wooster 15-2. The week before, the Pioneers had ended their 34-game winless streak by tying Ohio Northern (which had beaten Marietta 60-0 the year before) 3-3. Linebacker Phil Schmucker had been looking on the bright side all along. "Even in losing, there are still some positive values," he said.

New Mexico State Aggies: A Streak Ends in a Matchup of the Miserable

The Aggies started being awful in the late 1960s, and reached a peak of futility in the late '80s, when they lost 27 in a row, including a 52-7 drubbing by Kansas State, a team so bad SI called it "Futility U." One new assistant coach, watching his first practice, said, "Lord have mercy on our souls." New Mexico State's losing streak ended in November 1990 in a game that pitted the country's two worst major college teams against each other -- the 106th-ranked Aggies beat the 105th-ranked Titans of Cal State Fullerton 43-9. Head coach Jim Hess credited the victory to a minimum of turnovers. "We didn't even fumble the center snap," he said. An SEC team that lost 21 straight games (including 0-11 in 1999), then tore down their goalposts when they beat -- New Mexico State.

Virginia Cavaliers: An ACC Record for Losing

From the third game of the 1958 season to the last game of 1960, coach Richard Voris' Cavaliers set an ACC record for futility when they lost 28 in a row, going 0-10 in 1959 and 1960.

Bates College Bobcats: A Division III Struggle

Amidst the 37-game losing streak from 1991-1995, their average margin of defeat was 28.4 points. In 1990, Bates went 2-6 to establish a nine-year high water mark. In 1991, They finished the first game in a 26-26 tie against Amherst and went on to lose the remaining seven games of the season. Their average margin of defeat -- only 18 points.In 1992, we were 0-8. Points for = 38, Points against = 355. Not kidding. Worst defeat: Colby 52-0. That brings us to 1993, another 0-8 year. Points for = 71. Points against = 330. Worst defeat: Trinity 71-0. Thankfully, I graduated the following spring. In 1994 -- 0-8 -- again. Points for = 82. Points against = 320. Worst defeat: Amherst 53-0. 1995: Lost the first 6, but managed to squeak out a 33-29 win over top "rival" Bowdoin College to end the 37-game skid. Bates lost the last game to finish 1-7. Since 1995, Bates has gone 1-7 in all years, except 1996 (0-8) and 1999 (4-4!). Their total record since 1990 is 11-84-1 … Bates College plays football in the Division III NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference), which is basically glorified high school football. From 1990 to 2001, Bates went 10-78-1 (less than a one win per year average), including an astounding 37 in a row from 1991 to 1995. During a game in 1993, Bates fell behind Williams 35-0 -- in the first quarter! Take away the aberrational 1999 when they went 4-4, and Bates has won only a staggering six games in the last 11 years. The NESCAC is most likely the lowest level of competition in college football in the country. Bates is in the midst of a historic run in terms of futility playing in that conference.

The Ultimate Embarrassment: Cumberland vs. Georgia Tech, 1916

No discussion of college football's worst teams would be complete without mentioning the infamous 1916 game between Cumberland College and Georgia Tech. Cumberland was so bad, not long into the game, they began to immediately kick the ball back to Tech after receiving Tech's kickoffs as they found they lost more ground than they gained. Coach Heisman had to agree to shorten the periods from 15 minutes to 12 to get the game over with sooner (mercifully). Tech never threw the ball the entire game, but they gained 978 yards rushing. Tech also had no first downs, as they would score within the first four series of downs every time. Most DII and DIII schools that play some of the elite programs in the nation don't even come close to giving up triple digits to the powerhouses -- a feat that would be unheard of in football at any level. The worst team ever in college football history somehow managed to give up a three-figure score, however … in the first half! Georgia Tech built on their 126-0 HALFTIME lead to cruise to a 222-0 victory over lowly Cumberland College. The rest of the season didn't pan out much better for Cumberland, losing to Sewanee by a reported score of 100-0 in the same year.

Factors Contributing to Futility

Several factors can contribute to a team's struggles and its placement among the worst in college football history:

Lack of Funding and Resources: Programs with limited financial resources often struggle to attract quality coaches, build adequate facilities, and provide scholarships to talented players.
Academic Standards: Schools with high academic standards may find it difficult to recruit athletes who meet their requirements, limiting the talent pool available to the football program. South Carolina doesn't have academic standards high enough to preclude athletes, like say … Duke, Northwestern or Vanderbilt … so talent shouldn't be a problem.
Conference Affiliation: Playing in a highly competitive conference can make it difficult for even well-funded programs to achieve success.
Coaching Instability: Frequent coaching changes can disrupt a program's development and make it difficult to establish a consistent culture and recruiting strategy.
Recruiting Challenges: Programs located in areas with limited football talent or those with a poor reputation may struggle to attract top recruits.

From Worst to First? The Hope for Improvement

While some programs seem perpetually mired in mediocrity or outright failure, there are examples of teams that have managed to turn things around and achieve sustained success. The turnaround at K-State so incredible, and so under-reported, is people forgetting how terrible the Wildcats really were. Dennis Erickson has recently resurrected Oregon State from the ashes. These transformations often involve a combination of factors, including:

Hiring a Talented Coach: A new coach with a clear vision and a proven track record can instill a new culture, improve recruiting, and develop players to their full potential.
Increased Investment in the Program: Additional funding for facilities, scholarships, and coaching staff can provide the resources necessary to compete at a higher level.
Improved Recruiting: A renewed focus on recruiting can bring in the talent needed to improve on-field performance.
Patience and Stability: Building a successful program takes time, and it is important to provide coaches and players with the patience and stability they need to develop and grow.

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