Talk:List of NCAA football teams by wins

Yale omitted from total wins
Yale should be #2 in total wins, but has been omitted. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.137.239.44 (talk) 15:03, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Yale is included as of the 2020 NCAA Updates, including games through the 2019 season. Currently tied for #3 in total wins, per the NCAA — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.101.168.83 (talk) 08:35, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

Separate list for NCAA Division I football win-loss records
I wonder if this list should be combined with or obviates the need for NCAA Division I football win-loss records? Jweiss11 (talk) 02:27, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I think they serve distinct purposes. The other article is a comprehensive list of the records of ALL FBS programs.  This one is limited to the winningest teams across all divisions. Cbl62 (talk) 06:26, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe connect the two lists via see also? Jweiss11 (talk) 06:51, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Linking seems like a good idea. I frankly hadn't know the other one existed.  At some point (maybe after the 2010 season in January), someone needs to make sure that the figures match between the two articles. Cbl62 (talk) 16:23, 27 October 2010 (UTC)

Discrepancy in Michigan win-loss record
Also, this list has Michigan at 882–306–38, whereas the program recognizes its record as 882–304–36. I think you may have pulled this record from the College Football Data Warehouse which counts four exhibition games vs. alumni, a loss in 1897, a win in 1898, and ties in 1899 and 1906. Additionally, Michigan claims a 17–5 victory over Stevens Institute in 1883, but CFBDW has this a 5–1 victory for Stevens, hence the net 0–2–2 difference. In all the other relevant Michigan articles, we've gone with the program records, not CFBDW. Jweiss11 (talk) 06:15, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Are you able to identify the four game in question? Also, if there is a missing win over Stevens that is not accounted for in CFBDW, wouldn't the win total increase by 1? Cbl62 (talk) 06:24, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes, I can identify the four exhibition games. They are all noted on the CFBDW and the relevant season pages here.  Both Michigan and the CFBDW count the 1883 Stevens game.  Michigan claims a win, while CFBDW gives them a loss.  Combined with the added 1–1–2 record in those exhibitions games, this all accounts for an added 0–2–2 discrepancy by the CFBDW.

Exhibition games:
 * 1897 Michigan Wolverines football team (October 30, 1897)
 * 1898 Michigan Wolverines football team (October 31, 1898)
 * 1899 Michigan Wolverines football team (October 21, 1899)
 * 1906 Michigan Wolverines football team (November 10, 1906)

The Bentley Library denotes these games with an E rather than W/L/T.

Jweiss11 (talk) 06:53, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I suggest making the changes but including a footnote explaining why the totals have been adjusted from what is reflected on CFbfDW. Cbl62 (talk) 16:10, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I adjusted the win, loss totals as you suggested. I also backed out the points scored in the four exhibition games from the point totals and eliminated the 4 exhibitions from the game total.  However, I am not convinced about the 1883 Stevens Point game.  Beyond CFbDW, The New York Times published an article the day after the game in November 1883 that shows that Stevens Point won the game by a 5-1 score.  See New York Times article here.  Absent something credible to back-up the UM account, I'd be inclined to credit the accuracy of a contemporaneous NYT article over the Bentley site.  Do you know what the basis is for Bentley/UM to dispute the result of the Stevens Point game? Cbl62 (talk) 16:40, 27 October 2010 (UTC)

Michigan record is updated per the 2020 NCAA record book, reflecting data as of the end of the 2019 season, which serves as the reference for this article's data. Any disagreements can be noted via footname, with an appropriate source, but NCAA wins should be defined by the NCAA Record Book — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.101.168.83 (talk) 08:47, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

Discrepancy in Utah Utes win-loss record
CFBDW has some exhibitions counted for Utah as well. See Talk:Utah Utes football. Utah should have 12 fewer wins and one less loss. I'm going to adjust it accordingly. —Ute in DC (talk) 09:22, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Okay, I've adjusted Utah's numbers. PS is reduced by 359. PA is reduced by 11. The 13 games in question come from these seasons: 1892 (2 games), 1901 (2 games), 1902 (1 game), 1906 (2 games), 1907 (3 games), 1908 (1 game), and 1909 (2 games). —Ute in DC (talk) 10:01, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Wow. Those are some pretty dramatic differences from the CFbDW figures.  Should that causes us to be worried that the totals for other teams are also unreliable?  Is there a more reliable or "official" record in some source like an NCAA publication? Also, we should probably have a footnote for Utah indicating where the adjusted totals come from. Cbl62 (talk) 16:14, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Are the "official NCAA records" that you reference in this link accessible on-line? The manner in which some Utah games are deemed official or unofficial in the 1890s makes me wonder what criteria were used.  For example, two games against the Salt Lake City YMCA are deemed unofficial in 1892, but four games against the same YMCA are deemed official in 1894, 1895, 1897 and 1900.  There is also inconsistent treatment of Utah's games against the Collegiate Institute (1897 deemed official, but 1901 unofficial) and against high school football teams (9 games in 1894, 1896, 1898, 1899, 1901, 1902 and 1903 deemed official but 4 games in 1907 and 1909 deemed unofficial).  Cbl62 (talk) 17:03, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * This link will give you the official NCAA records for every school. Unfortunately, there is not a separate url for every school so you have to run the report for each school. To do that, select the university and sport, in this case football, and click search. Then click on the name of the school. In the upper left corner will be a link that says "View [School]'s Year-By-Year W/L Record." Click that you will get the official number of games played each year.
 * As for CFBDW, yeah, I think the older a school is, the more likely they are to have played unofficial games. Since schools with the most wins are likely to be old, some of these number are probably going to differ from CFBDW's numbers. Back in the 1892, we know so little about Utah's games against the YMCA that no one knows where or when the games where played. Hence, the NCAA refused to include them in Utah's official tally. —Ute in DC (talk) 20:32, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I found my way into the year-by-year records.  They don't make that easy to find.  Also, I don't see a total.  Do you have to add up all the years to get the total?  As for the YMCA games, I can understand not counting them, but what I found confusing was that they counted some (1894, 1895, 1897) but not others (1892). Cbl62 (talk) 21:02, 27 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I don't think that website does add up the totals for you. The official NCAA record book will, though: (page 62). These numbers will be accurate as of the start of the 2010 season. —Ute in DC (talk) 21:28, 27 October 2010 (UTC)

If this intends to be list of officially sanctioned wins, then the NCAA Record Book is authoritative. With respect to older programs and games against non-collegiate opponents, the NCAA requires schools to provide proof from various sources to confirm the results of the game as well as the "collegiate" level of the opponent. The CFBDW website arbitrarily disregards results without any genuine examination simply based review of line items in media guides. For example, if a team reports in its media guide that it beat a YMCA opponent, CFBDW is likely to subtract that win from the school's overall total, even though the school has provided sufficient documentation to the NCAA to demonstrate that the game meets NCAA criteria for a sanctioned win. For this reason, CFBDW is not a reliable source. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.220.120.82 (talk) 22:04, 25 July 2012 (UTC)

Fordham Omitted
I have noted the following information above the table of all-time wins. This information should be included within the chart the next time it is updated, so as to assure the accuracy of this page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.220.120.82 (talk) 21:53, 25 July 2012 (UTC)

Fordham has 733 wins prior to the 2011 football season. Source NCAA Record Book. See the 40th page of this pdf:

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/DI/2008/FCS%20Compiled.pdf — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.220.120.82 (talk) 20:53, 25 July 2012 (UTC)

Fordam is shown with 544 wins in the 2020 NCAA record book, as of the end of the 2019 season, which serves as the reference for the page updates (as of the end of the 2019 season). This doesn't qualify for the list of teams with 600 wins

Texas W/L/T records different in each chart
There is a discrepancy of 1-16-22 between the first chart and second in regards to Texas' W/L/T record 24.177.248.32 (talk) 20:48, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

Texas records are consistent as of the update using the 2020 NCAA Records, reflecting data through the 2019 season. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.101.168.83 (talk) 08:45, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

Grand Valley State University
Several Edits had been made to the page suggesting that GVSU had both the most wins by number and by precent (which belong to Michigan and Mary Hardin-Baylor respectively). The issues have been mostly fixed, but there may be a few that were missed.

Evanlh (talk) 14:01, 18 November 2015 (UTC)

LSU vacated wins?
Have the 37 Les Miles vacated wins been removed from their record? 73.131.143.31 (talk) 20:23, 1 December 2023 (UTC)


 * Yes. glman (talk) 21:40, 16 December 2023 (UTC)

Recent edits
Hey @Bellie0626 - where are you sourcing your edits? I see you upped Tennessee's win count, but they had wins vacated this year, bringing their total to 864. My edits are based on the official NCAA stats linked below and the records from 22-23. glman (talk) 21:00, 16 December 2023 (UTC)


 * And I see you reduced Miami to their post-2022 total. I reverted back to the correct edits, let's discuss any other issues to ensure the data is correct! glman (talk) 21:26, 16 December 2023 (UTC)

Methodology used to determine winning percentage
What genius made the decision to use ties as a 50% win and what authority gave him that right? While a tie is a game played and must be added to the denominator of the percentage equation, it clearly is not a game won, or even partially won. There is no way a tie should provide an additive element to a team’s “winning” percentage when the game was clearly not “won”. Winning percentage should be calculated by total number of wins divided by total games played, period. Your Winning Percentage list has schools ranked too high simply because they accumulated many ties (games they did not win). 2600:6C48:747F:3E39:A1B3:AD5D:BA02:F693 (talk) 15:30, 30 December 2023 (UTC)


 * @2600:6C48:747F:3E39:A1B3:AD5D:BA02:F693 This is the official NCAA method and their list. Take it up with them. glman (talk) 23:37, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Got it, thanks. 2600:6C48:747F:3E39:C0D9:4629:BF4:774C (talk) 11:35, 31 December 2023 (UTC)