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The 50 Best College Football Teams of All Time
From 1906 Chicago through 2013 Auburn, Bill Connelly tells the story of innovators, transcendent players, burgeoning dynasties, and greatness denied in The 50 Best* College Football Teams of All Time. From Joe Guyon and Red Grange to Michael Vick and Tyrann Mathieu, from Amos Alonzo Stagg to Chip Kelly, from the jump shift to the spread offense, from world wars to integration, from the 1925 Rose Bowl to the 2013 Iron Bowl, learn what made college football so unique, maddening, and addictive. This is not a book about college football’s best teams; it’s a book about college football at its best.
- GenresSportsNonfiction
412 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 8, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 3, 2017
When I found out that Bill Connelly had created a Kickstarter to fund a new book, I instantly knew I was going to contribute. I absolutely do not regret that decision.
It's likely that you know Connelly from his work at SB Nation (or maybe Football Outsiders, or Athlon annuals, or. . . you get my point). He's the guy who achieves the herculean task each year of writing previews for every FBS team that are probably something like eight pages each if printed out. A single preview contains more information than what you'll get perusing entire annuals. Bill is essentially the king of modern college football analytics. S&P+ has staked its claim as the go-to measurement of a team. Bill writes many, MANY posts that are heavy on the stats and concepts. He, somewhat unfairly, can also write seriously on things that have essentially nothing to do with stats or even football. Or he can retain a sense of humor when it's sorely needed.
What I'm verbosely getting at here is that Connelly is a versatile writer. If you go into this book expecting a stats-heavy approach, you will be disappointed or at least confused. If you go in with an expectation of insight into the history of the sport and numerous interesting stories, you will be very pleased. This book is somewhat similar to what he did last summer in detailing short histories of each season dating back nearly fifty years. You get about 8 pages each about a specific team's season that Bill has deemed important in some way. Many are important for social reasons outside of football. Some are just wildly entertaining (looking at you, 2013 Auburn). My only real complaint about this format is that the number of teams and obvious length constraints don't really allow some of the chapters to breathe. That's the tradeoff we get when trying to cover as many teams as possible, I guess.
You can read the book as a cohesive whole or pinpoint chapters in which you're interested. Either way is valid and enjoyable. I would suggest as a highlight the late 1950s and 1960s era, as the intersection between college football and civil rights, always lurking, moved to the forefront.
Anyway, if you have even a cursory interest in the history of the bewildering institution that is American college football, I would strongly suggest this book. You won't regret it. My apologies for the long winded gushing that was this review.
It's likely that you know Connelly from his work at SB Nation (or maybe Football Outsiders, or Athlon annuals, or. . . you get my point). He's the guy who achieves the herculean task each year of writing previews for every FBS team that are probably something like eight pages each if printed out. A single preview contains more information than what you'll get perusing entire annuals. Bill is essentially the king of modern college football analytics. S&P+ has staked its claim as the go-to measurement of a team. Bill writes many, MANY posts that are heavy on the stats and concepts. He, somewhat unfairly, can also write seriously on things that have essentially nothing to do with stats or even football. Or he can retain a sense of humor when it's sorely needed.
What I'm verbosely getting at here is that Connelly is a versatile writer. If you go into this book expecting a stats-heavy approach, you will be disappointed or at least confused. If you go in with an expectation of insight into the history of the sport and numerous interesting stories, you will be very pleased. This book is somewhat similar to what he did last summer in detailing short histories of each season dating back nearly fifty years. You get about 8 pages each about a specific team's season that Bill has deemed important in some way. Many are important for social reasons outside of football. Some are just wildly entertaining (looking at you, 2013 Auburn). My only real complaint about this format is that the number of teams and obvious length constraints don't really allow some of the chapters to breathe. That's the tradeoff we get when trying to cover as many teams as possible, I guess.
You can read the book as a cohesive whole or pinpoint chapters in which you're interested. Either way is valid and enjoyable. I would suggest as a highlight the late 1950s and 1960s era, as the intersection between college football and civil rights, always lurking, moved to the forefront.
Anyway, if you have even a cursory interest in the history of the bewildering institution that is American college football, I would strongly suggest this book. You won't regret it. My apologies for the long winded gushing that was this review.
October 27, 2023
Great run through the history of college football through the 50 best/most interesting teams
September 28, 2018
Good history of college football. As someone who began as simply a Badger fan and moved into the Big Ten and ultimately the entire CFB ecosystem the by-team structure made for easy reading and offered a rough timeline of both individual dynasties and general strategic shifts.
Connelly's writing is easy to read, but for whatever reason I have qualms about bringing this up to a 4 or 5. Maybe I'm just not that into game scores from decades ago.
Connelly's writing is easy to read, but for whatever reason I have qualms about bringing this up to a 4 or 5. Maybe I'm just not that into game scores from decades ago.
March 16, 2020
Great book that follows changes in CFB through teams though don't let that get you to closely as the teams that show each chapter are a looser guid to who's being followed. Bill C. is one of the best CFB writers out there though and the book is an easy, enjoyable read.
October 16, 2017
Definitely a read-in-small-doses kind of book but is an interesting way to tell the story of college football and very well-written.
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February 13, 2021I haven't read this book, but SPOILER ALERT! the greatest college football team of all time is the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers. Fight me.
August 25, 2023
Very interesting read. Loved how it also went through what was happening in the world at the time
April 7, 2017
I am a huge CFB fan, so I liked going through the history to see teams that played a part in how the sport has been shaped, even if that didn't mean all of them won a national title (or even a conference title, in some cases). The one criticism I have is that some chapters felt like a literal recap of a season (in game 1 this happened, in game 2 this happened, etc.) vs. others that told us why they mattered in a big picture sense, while also hitting on what actually happened in the season. The best example of the latter is the Alabama team that went up against an integrated USC squad and how that changed things moving forward. That stuff was fascinating, while the season recap chapters were just meat and potatoes.
And as the book went on, I definitely enjoyed it more as it started becoming teams I either (a) knew more about or (b) had watched growing up. Would definitely recommend to any fans of CFB. 7/10
And as the book went on, I definitely enjoyed it more as it started becoming teams I either (a) knew more about or (b) had watched growing up. Would definitely recommend to any fans of CFB. 7/10
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews