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Houston Chronicle Ranks The Country's Top 20 College Football Programs

by Staff Reporter

December 11, 201752 Comments

The Advertiser-USA TODAY Sports

A panel of ten writers from the Houston Chronicle recently put together a list of the top 20 college football programs in the country and pegged LSU at No. 9.

Alabama, Ohio State, and Texas were ranked as the top three programs.

Here are the factors that the panel took into consideration to come up with their rankings.

quote:
1. Facilities.
2. History (recent and past).
3. Money (that a school spends - and not on recruits).
4. Recruiting (the area from which to draw).
5. Conference.
6. Attendance/game day atmosphere/campus geography.
7. Brand name/prestige.
8. Exposure/TV.
9. NFL draftees.
10. Coaching (stability).

Here's what they had to say about LSU:

quote:
9. LSU (68)

By itself, witnessing "Callin' Baton Rouge" in a raucous Tiger Stadium propels the program into the top 20. LSU's success in the past 15 years (with two of its three national titles coming in that span) and the Cajun-flavored tailgating scene shoves it into the top 10.

Here is the Top 10:

1. Alabama (146)
2. Ohio State (133)
3. Texas (100)
4. Oklahoma (97)
4. Southern Cal (97)
6. Michigan (90)
6. Notre Dame (90)
8. Clemson (78)
9. LSU (68)
10. Texas A&M (59)

You can see the Houston Chronicle's complete list here.

Do you think No. 9 is the right ranking for the Tigers? If not, where would you place them on this list?

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52 Comments

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cypresstiger•76 months

I live in Houston. The “Chronic” is a joke.

bamagreycoat•76 months

Yes LSU is definitely top ten but I would also put Georgia in the top ten as well. Georgia should be above Clemson imho.

GeauxTigers_713•76 months

This is a terrible list. Amateur hour

VooDude•76 months

Being a top program means you can attract a top coach. Why is LSU on here?

Homesick Tiger•76 months

So a winning program is not considered a factor?

WirelessMike•76 months

I was surprised at first to not see at least 1 of the big 3 Florida programs in there, but then I saw in the article that all 3 were just outside the top 10 at 11, 12 and 15. I'm still a little surprised that 1 of them didn't crack the top 10 over either USCw or Clemson. Hard to argue with the full list of 20, which includes Nebraska, Penn State and Georgia with those Florida teams and other obvious brands.

Klark Kent•76 months

eesh, this list is rough. i could nitpick it to death. But A&M is too high. Top 15-18 sure, not top 10. Notre Dame? lol. not even top 15. Texas over OU, UF, and Clemson? Laughable. A&M higher than UGA, UF, and Aubun? No, just, no. I'm comfortable with LSU being 8-9 tho. UF should probably be higher than LSU, as painful as that is to admit. But it should read #7 UF, #8 LSU, #9 Auburn, #10 UGA, #11 Michigan........#17 Notre Dame.

weeble•76 months

Probably the reason that A&M is so high is that one of the criteria is money spent (#3 on the list). Didn't A&M spend close to 100 million dollars on facilities in the first 3 years after they were accepted into the SEC? That alone was probably more money that the rest of the schools on the list spent during that time on facilities.

Cypdog•76 months

Florida is glaringly missing. A&M only hits two of their categories, money and facilities - which are tied at the hip to each other. Obviously a homer pick. That being said any of the bottom four are debatable depending on how you weigh the criteria.

alumni95•76 months

Yep... Houston Chronicle, so obvious pandering to the “home” teams.

Bristol Dawg•76 months

I know one thing. If we did away with those pictured fireworks, we could potentially have Mike back on the field. I can't believe firecrackers really continue to motivate over time. Also, everyone does them.

randybobandy•76 months

USC ??? They can't sell 10,000 tickets.

LSU-MNCBABY•76 months

Aside from us being ahead of Clemson I think it’s a good top 7-8. Atm being 10 is insane.

BestBanker•76 months

Top 3.50.

MountainCat•76 months

Texas?? They still play football over there??

ALWAYSLSU78•76 months

Houston based panel, I'm surprised North Texas State and Sam Houston aren't on the Top 10 list....

LSU-MNCBABY•76 months

Where would you have Texas then based on all of the factors they listed? You could reasonably argue they are #1 on factors 1,2,3,4,7,8

weeble•76 months

MNCBABY is right, downvote him if you want to but the list only counts wins and losses as a small part of the rankings. Besides Notre Dame (NBC) who else has their own TV network??? that alone has to be huge considering their criteria.

dpd901•76 months

USC, Norte Dame and OSU should all be T-2 based on historical. Oklahoma should be ahead of Texas, ATM doesn’t belong on the list at all. Everything else is pretty close.

Jack Daniel•76 months

Annnnd they hired a dline coach

Genestealer55•76 months

Pretty stupid

Ghost of Colby•76 months

I’d like to know the mental gymnastics they used to rank UT in the top 5 & above OU, as well as ranking aTm in the top 10.

STRIPES•76 months

Texas bring #3 on the list is a joke. A&M on the list at all is laughable. No Florida? No Auburn? But A&M is at #10? This is a homer list if there ever was one.

LSU-MNCBABY•76 months

Based on the factors they listed you could reasonably argue they would be #1 in factors 1,2,3,4,7,8. They’re a clear top 5 program in the nation based on facilities, money, recruiting ground, brand and exposure alone.

jimbeam•76 months

aTm lololololol

JackieTreehorn•76 months

Gotta put Florida on there. Notre Dame being so high is a joke.

LSU-MNCBABY•76 months

Based on the factors they listed ND should easily be in the top 10. Brand, history, Money, exposure they do very well in

tubucoco•76 months

I don't understand how Texas gets No. 3, the only thing got going for them right now is Money with a cap M. But I feel LSU should be ahead of Mich, Notre Dame and Clemson at No. 6.

tubucoco•76 months

But if they lose to Notre Dame in another bowl game my list will change. Lol

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