Maryland Football 40th, Navy 60th in AP All-Time Top 100
By Joe Serpico
The Associated Press has released their top 100 college football programs of all time on Tuesday. Maryland football ranks 40th and Navy is 60th on the list.
There is something we have learned to accept as Maryland Terrapins fans. The basketball team is going to take center stage over football most of the time in College Park. And while basketball is the top sport at Maryland, the football team ranks 40th all time in the nation, according to the Associated Press.
The AP has ranked teams since 1936 and released their top 100 college football programs of all time on Tuesday. The formula used by the AP gave teams one point for poll appearances, two points for being ranked No. 1 and 10 points for AP championships.
Maryland football finished with 230 points. The 1953 National Championship gave them the points they needed to place them at No. 40 on the AP’s list. Some of the bigger football schools that the Terps rank ahead of include Army, Oklahoma State, California, South Carolina and Baylor.
As impressive as that may be, the program is mediocre compared to most of their adversaries. Maryland played most of their games in the Atlantic Coast Conference, where they won nine conference championships, but are behind Florida State (9th), Miami (13th), Clemson (22nd), Georgia Tech (26th), Virginia Tech (31st) and North Carolina (38th) on the list.
The Terps were one of the founding members of the ACC, but joined the Big Ten Conference in 2014, where several teams rank ahead of them. Ohio State tops the list, followed by Nebraska (6th), Michigan (7th), Penn State (12th), Michigan State (19th), Wisconsin (24th) and Iowa (25th) all making the all-time top 25. Purdue (36) and Minnesota (37) also rank ahead of Maryland, making the Terps the 10th-best Big Ten team.
The Navy Midshipmen football team, who play in Annapolis, ranks 60th on the list with 128 points. Their ranking places them ahead of programs such as Boise State, Louisville and Utah, all teams who have made their way into the top 25 quite a bit in recent memory.
To see the AP’s entire top 100 college football teams, click here.
Next: Early Look at Terps' 2017 Recruiting Class
The Terps enter the 2016 season under first-year coach D.J. Durkin. Things might be rough in his inaugural season, but he has already brought in a solid recruiting class for 2017. Navy will play this season without Keenan Reynolds, who set an NCAA record for the most career touchdowns. You can see him playing for the Baltimore Ravens this summer.