Top Teams with the Longest Winning Streak in College Football

Whether it was Washington in the early stages of the 20th century, Oklahoma in the 1950s, Miami in the 1980s, or, more recently, USC and Georgia, there always seems to be a program ready to distance itself from the pack.

With many of the streaks happening in the pre-Super Bowl era, there isn’t quite as much attention paid to the accomplishments of the teams who couldn’t be beaten and the players responsible for the longest winning streaks in NCAA football history.

Here’s a look at the programs with the most consecutive wins in college football history.

Here Are The Longest CFB Winning Streaks

Oklahoma Sooners

The Bud Wilkinson-coached Oklahoma Sooners finished with the most consecutive wins in college football.

The Oklahoma Sooners had won 31 games in a row earlier in the 1950s before embarking on another streak beginning in the 1953 season with a 19-14 win over Texas. The Sooners would post 23 shutout wins.

There were seven-point wins over Colorado and Maryland in 1953. The 1954 season saw three additional wins by less than 10 points against Colorado in 1957, with the Sooners eeking out a one-point victory. The streak ended with a 7-0 loss to Notre Dame. It seems unlikely that the record for the longest winning streak in college football will ever be broken.

Washington Huskies

Washington not only won 40 games in a row but also had a 64-game unbeaten streak. Gil Dobie’s name doesn’t usually come up when mentioning the best coaches of all time, but it is hard to overlook his 58-0-3 record in nine seasons as the head coach of the Huskies.

After a tie with Washington State, the Huskies outscored Oregon and Oregon State by a combined total of 47-0 to begin the streak. The Huskies didn’t allow a point until the 1909 regular-season finale against Oregon. There were just three games decided by less than 10 points. The Huskies had 29 shutouts during the streak before a 0-0 tie against Oregon State.

The unbeaten streak ended with a 27-0 loss at California in 1917.

Toledo Rockets

This streak flew a bit under the radar before national dominance wasn’t at stake, but it is hard to ignore Toledo’s 35 wins in a row from 1969-71 before a loss to Tampa.

Toledo had a pair of three-point wins in 1971, but close calls were the exception, not the rule. The Rockets led the nation in scoring defense three seasons in a row while quarterback Chuck Ealey led the offense. Six players on Toledo’s all-century team were there during the streak.

Yale Bulldogs

Yale was one of the early college football powerhouses. From 1872 to 1892, the Bulldogs went through nine seasons without allowing a point.

From 1887 to 1889 and again from 1890 to 1893, the Bulldogs won 37 games in a row. Princeton ended both winning streaks. Yale is still in the mix for the most consecutive wins in college football history.

Miami Hurricanes

We move ahead to modern-day football, as Miami won 34 games in a row before losing to Ohio State in 2000-02.

Miami had a chance to win a second consecutive national title before losing to Ohio State in overtime in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. If Miami won that game, the streak could have reached 42 before back-to-back losses to Virginia Tech and Tennessee.

One of the key players for Miami during that time was running back Frank Gore. Gore enjoyed a long NFL career and is in select company with a 100-yard game in the Super Bowl, even if he didn’t make the cut for the longest plays in Super Bowl history.

USC Trojans

Three years after Miami fell in the national title game and squandered the chance to win another title, history repeated when Vince Young and Texas snapped USC’s 34-game winning streak in 2005.

Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart won Heisman Trophies, and the Trojans replaced Miami as the dominant force in college football. Much like the Hurricanes, USC sent plenty of players into the NFL. While Bush had moments of brilliance in the NFL, Marcus Allen was the USC product with the longest run in the Super Bowl.

Best of The Rest

Here are more of the longest NCAA football winning streaks to remember.

Pittsburgh won 31 games in a row from 1914 through 1918. Thirty years later, Oklahoma began a 31-game winning streak that ended with a tie against Kentucky in 1950.

Texas saw its 30-game winning streak end with a loss to Notre Dame in 1970. Michigan won 29 games in a row from 1968-70. Miami matched that streak from 1990-92. More recently, Florida State came away with 29 consecutive victories from 2012-14, and then Georgia won 29 in a row from 2021-23. Check out more college football news on Georgia and the modern-day powerhouses.

Which Team Has The Longest Home Winning Streak?

The Miami Hurricanes won 58 games in a row at home beginning in the 1985 season. The streak lasted nearly 10 seasons before the Hurricanes fell to Washington in 1994.

Jimmy Johnson was the head coach when the streak started. When he left for the NFL, Dennis Erickson took over. Although he wasn’t there when the home winning streak began, Howard Schnellenberger created an environment that his successors capitalized on.

Which Team Lost The Most Games in a Row?

Only some of the streaks are ones worth celebrating.

The Northwestern Wildcats are in the NCAA record on more than one occasion due to their futility. Northwestern lost 34 games in a row before topping Northern Illinois on Sept. 25, 1982. Northwestern also owns the mark with 46 games and a win on the road. That began in 1974 and also ended during the 1982 season.