Which teams have consistently managed to rise above the rest in the 12 years since the College Football Playoff began?
By Cody Nagel Mar 19, 2026 at 9:59 am ET • 2 min read 
Getty Images The College Football Playoff era has always been about crowning a champion. But over the past 12 seasons, it has also quietly revealed something else: which programs can actually sustain success in a sport that rarely sits still.
From the four-team format's inception to now, college football has undergone a full-scale transformation. The introduction of the transfer portal reshaped roster building, while NIL deals and revenue sharing turned recruiting into something closer to free agency.
The sport looks and operates very differently than it did before 2014.
And yet, at the top, a familiar group has largely held its ground. Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia and Clemson -- the winningest programs of the CFP era -- have separated themselves not just with championships, but with consistency. What separates them isn't just peak seasons, but the ability to stack wins year after year.
For most programs, maintaining that level of consistency has been nearly impossible.
Recent seasons illustrate just how volatile the CFP era can be. Indiana, for example, surged under Curt Cignetti to become the winningest FBS program over the past two seasons and captured a national title -- yet over the full era, the Hoosiers sit at 76-72 (.514) -- 75th nationally. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State ranked inside the top 20 in winning percentage after 2023, but after posting just four victories over the past two seasons, it has fallen to 36th in the FBS.
That shows just how difficult sustained success has been in this era -- and how quickly programs can rise and fall in the modern game.
At the other end of the spectrum, teams like Charlotte, Kent State, UTEP, Kansas and UMass have struggled to find traction across the CFP era, ranking as the five worst programs in the FBS during that span.
Here is a look at the winning percentage for all of last year's 136 FBS teams since 2014, ranked from best to worst.
Which FBS teams have the best winning percentage since 2014?
* denotes team became FBS member after 2014
Rank TeamWinsLossesWin %1
Ohio State
141
19
.881
2
Alabama
147
22
.870
3
Georgia
137
27
.835
4
Clemson
136
30
.819
5
James Madison*
40
11
.784
6
119
37
.763
7
118
39
.752
8
116
41
.739
9
115
42
.732
10
111
41
.730
11
108
48
.692
12
107
48
.690
13
106
48
.688
14
105
49
.682
14
105
49
.682
16
102
49
.675
16
102
49
.675
18
99
51
.660
19
Jacksonville State*
27
14
.659
20
101
54
.652
21
99
53
.651
22
65
35
.650
23
99
54
.647
24
96
55
.636
24
96
55
.636
26
95
55
.633
27
92
55
.626
28
95
57
.625
28
95
57
.625
30
96
59
.619
30
96
59
.619
32
90
56
.616
33
97
62
.610
34
92
59
.609
35
90
59
.604
36
Oklahoma State
93
61
.604
37
92
61
.601
38
91
61
.599
39
89
60
.597
40
93
63
.596
41
90
61
.596
42
89
61
.593
43
89
62
.589
43
89
62
.589
45
90
64
.584
46
88
63
.583
47
86
62
.581
48
88
64
.579
49
87
64
.576
50
86
65
.570
51
64
49
.566
52
81
64
.559
53
86
68
.558
54
81
65
.555
55
83
67
.553
55
83
67
.553
57
83
68
.550
58
83
69
.546
59
81
68
.544
60
67
57
.540
61
Delaware*
7
6
.538
61
Missouri State*
7
6
.538
63
78
67
.538
64
80
70
.533
65
81
71
.533
66
80
72
.526
66
80
72
.526
68
79
72
.523
69
79
73
.520
70
80
74
.519
71
77
72
.517
72
Indiana
76
72
.514
73
77
73
.513
74
76
73
.510
75
77
74
.510
75
77
74
.510
77
78
75
.510
78
77
75
.507
79
75
74
.503
80
74
74
.500
81
72
73
.497
82
Miami (Ohio)
72
74
.493
83
71
73
.493
84
70
73
.490
85
72
76
.486
86
USF
71
76
.483
87
71
78
.477
88
72
80
.474
89
69
77
.473
90
67
75
.472
91
68
77
.469
92
Kennesaw State*
12
14
.462
93
69
81
.460
94
68
80
.459
95
67
79
.459
95
67
79
.459
97
66
79
.455
98
65
78
.455
99
61
75
.449
100
65
80
.448
101
68
86
.442
102
63
82
.434
103
64
84
.432
104
61
81
.430
105
62
83
.428
106
63
85
.426
107
60
81
.426
108
61
83
.424
109
62
85
.422
110
62
85
.422
111
62
86
.419
112
59
86
.407
113
15
22
.405
114
58
86
.403
115
56
85
.397
116
57
87
.396
117
56
86
.394
118
56
88
.389
119
55
91
.377
120
53
89
.373
120
53
89
.373
122
52
89
.369
123
53
92
.366
124
53
94
.361
125
52
93
.359
126
51
92
.357
127
47
92
.338
128
48
94
.338
129
45
91
.331
130
45
96
.319
131
43
100
.301
132
Charlotte
38
89
.299
133
Kent State
40
98
.290
134
UTEP
41
101
.289
135
Kansas
39
104
.273
136
UMass
24
112
.176
Join the Conversation comments
