Continued success is far from easy in college football’s new era of NIL and transfer portal-driven roster decisions. The balance of power shifts over time. However, some programs have sidestepped mass changes in recruiting to post several consecutive winning seasons, including one that’s at 27 years, and counting.
There are some keys to keeping your program in the win column. Coaching longevity is one of the biggest keys; however, schedule favorability, and being able to stack elite recruiting classes on top of advanced player development are also immensely important. So, who are the five college football teams with the longest active winning season streaks?
Five College Football Teams With the Longest Active Winning Season Streaks
The Iowa Hawkeyes sit right outside the top five longest active winning streaks, as they have now finished their 12th straight season with more wins than losses. While this is certainly a lot, the number one team on this list is more than double. So, who are the top five?
5. Ohio State Buckeyes: 13 seasons
Arguably college football’s biggest powerhouse, the Ohio State Buckeyes is college football’s all-time winningest program. They have 38 conference titles, and nine national championships, including one back in January. Ohio State’s only losing season in the last 30 years came in 2011 following Jim Tressel’s resignation.
This led to Luke Fickell getting the job in the interim, prior to hiring Urban Meyer. The Buckeyes finished inside the top 10 for 13 consecutive seasons, and that didn’t change in 2025 under Ryan Day, after his program just ran roughshod through the first year of the expanded playoff, winning a national title.
4. Clemson Tigers: 14 seasons
Clemson finished with nine wins and four losses during the 2023 season. This marked the first time since 2010 that the Tigers failed to win at least 10 games in a single season. This was truly a remarkable run of success for head coach Dabo Swinney. They got back to form in 2024.
They finished last fall as the league champions, earning an auto-bid to the college football playoffs. Swinney has won two national championships at the ACC program and is one of just four active coaches entering the 2024 season with at least one title to his credit. He built Clemson into one of the biggest powerhouses the sport of college football has ever seen.
3. Georgia Bulldogs: 14 seasons
Tied with Clemson, the Georgia Bulldogs have also now picked up 14 straight seasons with a winning record. Kirby Smart took what Mark Richt did well and super-sized it to the highest extent with the SEC’s best winning percentage over the last four seasons. He even has a pair of national championships to show for it.
He’s recruiting at a level that’s never been seen between the hedges and producing early-rounders at a record-pace. As college football’s top head coach with Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh no longer out there, this is Smart’s sport. His dominance may strengthen in the expanded playoff era, given the likelihood of the Bulldogs’ annual placement inside of the Top 12.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide: 18 seasons
For this one, Nick Saban deserves each and every single ounce of credit here. He has put together nearly two decades of unrivaled success with the Crimson Tide, including six national championships before he decided January’s loss to Michigan in the College Football Playoff was his final game. Saban’s program produced more first-round picks than any other in college football over that stretch.
He even won more games against nationally-ranked competition than anyone else in the coaching profession. Recruiting is arguably his biggest strong suit, but Saban was equally impressive in the Xs and Os department on gamedays. Adaptability was a calling card for Alabama and that has to continue under Kalen DeBoer, as one of the nation’s bluebloods.
1. Boise State Broncos: 27 seasons
Perhaps the best regular season team in all of college football, the Boise State Broncos have had 27 straight seasons where they have won more games then they lost. Dirk Koetter got it started for the Broncos before the turn of the century in the Big West Conference before a streak of two-decades of winning continued under Dan Hawkins, Chris Petersen, Bryan Harsin, and Andy Avalos.
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Second-year coach, Spencer Danielson, kept the streak going in 2024 after being evaluated in December 2022, following a three-week stint as interim head coach. Over the three weeks, he guided Boise State to a perfect record and a Mountain West Conference Championship. The Broncos finally reached the College Football Playoff for the first time last season.
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