Who has the most wins without raising a trophy?
Could Vanderbilt coach James Franklin be the first to bring an SEC title to Nashville?
UMass travels to Vanderbilt this week, and the Commodores have never won a league title in their football-playing history.
That got me thinking, where would that rank Vanderbilt all-time among FBS schools that haven't won conference championships?
Well, now we know.
Before we get to the list, let me set down the ground rules to avoid any confusion.
• The school must currently be a member of an FBS conference (So, Notre Dame doesn't qualify.)
• Vacated titles count. Yeah, you cheated, but you still won. No revisionist history here.
• Titles won in conferences other than the one team is currently in count.
• Titles won in conferences that no longer exist count.
• Schools are ordered by total wins, not winning percentage.
OK, let's do this.
5. UAB
17th FBS season | 76-116, .396 W-L%
The Blazers are one of two young programs on this list, so I don't want to spend too much time throwing them under the bus. They joined the FBS in 1996, but played as independent for three seasons before joining Conference USA in 1999. Having Auburn and Alabama in your backyard can't help on the recruiting front, and it's shown, as UAB has just three winning seasons and one bowl appearance.
4. South Florida
13th FBS season | 90-61, .667 W-L%
I feel bad putting the Bulls on this list, since they have barely had a chance to get their feet wet compared to what we're going to see in these next three schools. Like UAB, South Florida played as an independent for three years before joining Conference USA. After just two years, however, the Bulls jumped to the Big East, where they strung together six straight bowl appearances, but never quite got to the top, finishing no higher than tied for third during that stretch.
3. Temple
66th FBS season | 278-367-26, .434 W-L %
To be fair to the Owls (since last time I wrote about Temple football futility I got destroyed in the comments section), though they've played football since 1930, they only joined a conference 21 years ago, when the Big East started its football league in 1991. That said, Temple never won more than three Big East games in a single season. After the Owls got the boot from the Big East, they spent two years on the streets as an indpendent before the MAC came along. Al Golden came in, and Temple came closer to a title than they ever had before — missing out on a berth in the MAC Championship by tiebreaker in 2009 — but still never got over the hump.
2. Rutgers
143rd FBS season | 451-425-22, .514 W-L%
Another team that didn't play in a conference until the Big East started in 1991, but the irony that Rutgers played in the first ever collegiate football game and has yet to win a championship is sort of sad. The Scarlet Knights came ever so close in 2006, when Greg Schiano led them to an 11-2 record, but they came up a game short in the standings, finishing at 6-2 in the league while Louisville was 7-1. Kyle Flood, though, has New Jersey's team poised to get off this list this season with a 7-0 start.
1. Vanderbilt
110th FBS season 505-555-43, .477 W-L%
The Commodores top the list, but can you really blame them, running the gantlet of the SEC since 1933 with their stringent academic standards, small stadium and smaller fan base? Vanderbilt has won seven games one time since 1976, and while James Franklin has the Commodores looking competitive (they beat my alma mater this season in Columbia...), an SEC title still seems like a pipe dream.
But hey, you never know. That's why they play the games.