Who are your Blue Bloods of CFB?

ULTIMATE BLUE BLOODS:
- Alabama

BLUE BLOODS
- Notre Dame
- USC
- Oklahoma
- OHIO STATE

BORDERLINE BLUE BLOODS:
- Penn State
- Florida State
- Louisiana State
- Florida
- Texas

FORMER BLUE BLOODS WITH A CURRENT IDENTITY CRISIS:

- Tennessee
- Miami
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Michigan

AWAITING TO BE BORDERLINE BLUE BLOOD:
- Georgia
- Clemson
- Auburn
- Washington
- Michigan State
- Pittsburgh

Interesting to include Clemmy, FSU, and UF, but no Miami.

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Clemson

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The whole Blue Blood concept is dumb as any program is at any moment teetering on multi-decade funks.

You run this analysis in 2010 and USC would absolutely be included and Clemson being a member of the club would seem bizarre.

I can't put a team that didn't win a single conference title until 1996 as a blue-blood. 60 years without winning a conference title should disqualify you.

It’s not meant to be disrespectful. LSU didn’t see much success from the 60s-90s compared to 2001-present. Blue Bloods have to see a level of consistency for a large period of time with very little interruption. Oklahoma, Alabama, Notre Dame, USC all have had down periods but for the most part they have made up for it in big bowl appearances, national award winners, 10+ win seasons, championship contention. Ohio State has experienced great success in most decades with the exception for the 80s compared to their standards.

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Why is Michigan undeniable? Because they beat a bunch of boys clubs in 1899? Not a blue blood.

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Michigan pre-Rich Rod was pretty darned consistent. They had Heismans, Nattys, Conference Titles, 1st Round Draft picks.

It is amazing how quickly they fell apart.

LINK

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Oklahoma
4. USC
5. Michigan
6. Notre Dame
7. Texas
8. Nebraska
9. Tennessee
10. Penn State
11. LSU
12. Georgia
13. Miami
14. Florida State
15. Clemson
16. Auburn
17. Pittsburgh
18. Florida
19. Texas A&M
20. Washington
21. Georgia Tech
22. Minnesota
23. Wisconsin
24. Michigan St.
25. UCLA

I agree with the top ten.

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AWAITING TO BE BORDERLINE BLUE BLOOD:
- Georgia
- Clemson
- Auburn
- Washington
- Michigan State
- Pittsburgh

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You must be talking about the Steelers?

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Why is Michigan undeniable? Because they beat a bunch of boys clubs in 1899? Not a blue blood.

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Blue blood isn't who's good right now, it's about body of work over a long, established period of time.

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In your opinion, who are the blue bloods of CFB? What three or four metrics are weighted most importantly to you in your rankings?

Most important metrics IMO in order:
1) Natties
2) All time win percentage
3) Total players drafted

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Definition of "Blue Blood"- aristocracy or socially elite. Since we don't have that officially in the US, people sometimes struggle with the concept... current success doesn't matter as much. If you're nobility in Europe, you can be bankrupt and still be nobility.

So you need to move Nebraska, Texas and probably Penn State into the top tier.

National titles aren't the issue, it's more about conference (or regional) dominance. Going back forever. These teams owned the ponds they were in, but rarely played each other (except a few rivals), so when they DID match up, it was exciting nationally to see who would win.

Alabama in the South (SEC). Penn State in the East. Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten (the Heartland). Nebraska and Oklahoma in the Midwest (Big 8). Texas in Texas (the SWC). USC in the West (Pac 10). Notre Dame nationally.

Miami and Florida State don't qualify in this group, they're more like New Money. Like the wealthy Industrialists (Carnegie, Morgan, Ford) would be, as compared to the European Earls and Barons. Might be as rich or richer, but doesn't have the lineage and history. At this point, LSU, Florida and Clemson have pushed into the "New Money" group, with Oregon and maybe Wisconsin on the edge.

There's another tier, legit powers but not full-fledged elites; you'd put the rest of the SEC's Big 6 (LSU, UGA, Auburn, Tennessee, Fla) in here. Also Arkansas and probably Texas A&M (SWC days), Washington, UCLA and Oregon (Pac 10), etc. Clemson probably falls into this group, as they ran the ACC but could never challenge the SEC for Southern dominance. It's pretty broad pool; at the broadest range it's teams you recognize on a schedule and say "ok, that's a good game I want to see".

I guess, if you wanted to, there's a Cinderella tier, too. BYU, Boise, TCU (before joining the Big 12), Louisville (before joining the ACC), UCF now, probably Southern Miss decades ago. No prestige to speak of at all, but trying like hell to crash the party. Nobody really wants to play them, because it's a no-win situation. If you beat them, you should have, if they beat you it's embarrassing and gives them more credibility.