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26 Winningest Programs Yet To Make the College Football Playoff
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- 26 Winningest Programs Yet To Make the College Football Playoff
Last year, the College Football Playoff expanded from a four-team field to a 12-team format, and while many complained and didn't enjoy the change, it turned out to be more fun than expected.
No, the early games weren't great. Still, the expansion kept more schools in the mix until the very end of a thrilling regular season and conference championship weekend.
It also busted open what was a relatively exclusive club. Even with more new schools getting in, though, there are still plenty of big programs that have yet to get the CFP merch.
Below, as we begin our 26 for '26 offseason series, here are the 26 - actually, 27 with a tie at the bottom - winningest programs from 2014 to 2025 that haven't made the College Football Playoff.
Oct 18, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Herky the Hawk leads the Iowa Hawkeyes onto the field before the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Kinnick Stadium.© Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
26 for '26: The Winningest Programs in the CFP Era and No Bid to Show For It
First-timers to the College Football Playoff last season: Indiana , James Madison, Miami, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Tulane.
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T26 Western Michigan
PJ Fleck effectively has two teams on this list - his current gig at Minnesota
, and Western Michigan, thanks to his wonderful 13-1 season in 2016 that would've pushed it into the 12-team field.
CFP Era Win Total:88
Last Year Rank:Not Ranked
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:One (2016)
T26 Navy
With 21 wins in the last two seasons, Navy rocketed past a run of four straight awful losing seasons to put all three military academies on the list.
Last year would've been interesting for the College Football Playoff, but it just missed out on playing for the American championship with the shot at the 12-team field.
CFP Era Win Total:88
Last Year Rank:Not Ranked
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:None
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25 Missouri
Mizzou would've made a four-team College Football Playoff in 2007 and would've come close in 2013 had one existed those two seasons, but in the 12-year era, it would've only made the 12-team format in 2023.
The 29 wins in the last three years under Eli Drinkwitz changed everything.
CFP Era Win Total:88
Last Year Rank:Not Ranked
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:One (2023)
- Missouri Schedule Analysis
T23 Troy
Wonderful after a rough start to the CFP era, Neal Brown dropped 31 wins in three years, new-Florida head coach Jon Sumrall put up 23 in two years, and after Gerard Parker put an 8-6 bounceback year, here are the Trojans.
CFP Era Win Total:88
Last Year Rank:Not Ranked
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:None
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T23 Florida
Really? Florida has four losing seasons in the last five years?!
Dan Mullen was a much, much more successful coach than he received credit for - the Gators
would've made two expanded CFPs under his watch - but after the Billy Napier era, there's a reboot happening under Jon Sumrall.
CFP Era Win Total:88
Last Year Rank:T17
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Three (2020, 2019, 2018)
- Florida 2026 Schedule Analysis
T20 UCF
Still a part of the total until UCF finally does get into a playoff - it would've made it in 2017 under Scott Frost and 2018 under Josh Heupel - is an 0-12 2015. Throw in the nine wins over the last two years, and this has been one wildly inconsistent program.
CFP Era Win Total:89
Last Year Rank:T17
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Two (2018, 2017)
- UCF 2026 Schedule Analysis
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T20 Minnesota
Minnesota has been pressing hard under PJ Fleck. It's a dominant force in bowl games, winning nine in a row, but outside of 2019, it hasn't been within shouting distance of being in the 12-team range.
CFP Era Win Total:89
Last Year Rank:T24
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Zero
- Minnesota 2026 Schedule Analysis
T20 Army
Well, would you look at this.
Army started 6-18 under Jeff Monken, but there's been just one losing season since 2015, and three of the four double-digit seasons in 132 years.
CFP Era Win Total:89
Last Year Rank:23
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Zero
© Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images© Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
T17 Louisville
Jeff Brohm was a home run hire, winning 28 games in his first three seasons. If Duke can win the ACC Championship, and Virginia can get close, then there's no excuse for Louisville not to get there, and into the College Football Playoff.
CFP Era Win Total:90
Last Year Rank:T24
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Zero
- Louisville 2026 Schedule Analysis
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T17 Houston
A crazy hit-or-miss program, over the 12-year CFP era, the Cougars have four seasons with four wins or fewer, three with ten or more, and just enough decent campaigns thrown in to be this high on the list.
The 13-1 team was 18th in the final rankings, but it would've been the top-ranked Group of Five program.
CFP Era Win Total:90
Last Year Rank:Not Ranked
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:One (2015)
- Houston 2026 Schedule Analysis
T17 Air Force
Things have hit a wall with nine wins over the last two years, but before that, the Falcons hit nine wins or more six times in the CFP era.
Things could bounce back fast, but Air Force has ceded its spot as the military program most likely to get into the playoff.
CFP Era Win Total:90
Last Year Rank:T12
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Zero
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16 Kansas State
The Wildcats have been closer than they seem to being among the elite. Last year was a six-win dud, but under Chris Klieman, they won 28 games in three years and would've been in a 12-team playoff in 2022.
In comes Collin Klein to try getting them over the hump.
CFP Era Win Total:91
Last Year Rank:T15
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Two (2022, 2014)
- Kansas State 2026 Schedule Analysis
T14 NC State
NC State has won plenty of games over the last 12 seasons, but it hasn't been remotely close to getting into a College Football Playoff under any format.
Dave Doeren is the master of the 8-9-win season at a place that has just one double-digit win campaign - 2002 - in 120 years.
CFP Era Win Total:92
Last Year Rank:T17
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Zero
- NC State 2026 Schedule Analysis
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T14 Ohio
A quiet Group of Six superpower, Ohio has won 40 games over the last four seasons. What's more amazing is a 2-1 2020 season, and 3-9 in 2021, adding to the total. It hasn't been close to the College Football Playoff, though.
CFP Era Win Total:92
Last Year Rank:T20
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Zero
T12 Louisiana
Billy Napier's Louisiana era has been forgotten after the Florida era, but he was massive in his four seasons with the Ragin' Cajuns.
His 12-1 team of 2021 finished 23rd in the final rankings, and the program hasn't been close to the CFP, but it won six or more games in each of the last eight years.
CFP Era Win Total:93
Last Year Rank:11
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Zero
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T12 Oklahoma State
With three wins in 2024 and just one victory last year, things haven't been fun lately.
There was a time when Oklahoma State was a major factor with three straight ten-win seasons under Mike Gundy from 2015 to 2017. However, there would've been just one CFP trip in a 12-team format.
CFP Era Win Total:93
Last Year Rank:5
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:One (2021)
- Oklahoma State 2026 Schedule Analysis
T9 USC
This is getting ridiculous.
USC is probably the best overall HOW IS IT NOT IN THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF?! program on this list. It's been close, and it would've been in three times since 2016 if the 12-team thing was in place, but this just doesn't seem right.
CFP Era Win Total:95
Last Year Rank:T12
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Three (2022, 2017, 2016)
- USC 2026 Schedule Analysis
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T9 San Diego State
The school is a bigger basketball deal now, but under former head coach Rocky Long, and then Brady Hoke for a few years, the football side went on an amazing run with ten or more wins six times in seven years. A nine-win 2025 turned things back around.
CFP Era Win Total:95
Last Year Rank:T12
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Zero
- San Diego State 2026 Schedule Analysis
T9 Marshall
It would've been so much fun if there had been a College Football Playoff in the late 1990s-early 2000s, when those amazing Herd teams were dominating the MAC.
The program has been fine, but it had two losing seasons over the last three years. But as 2024 showed, Marshall can win the Sun
Belt.
CFP Era Win Total:95
Last Year Rank:8
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Zero
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8 Western Kentucky
The Hilltoppers aren't known as any sort of powerhouse, but under Tyson Helton, they've come up with eight or more wins in six of the last seven seasons.
CFP Era Win Total:97
Last Year Rank:10
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Zero
T6 Wisconsin
For years, Wisconsin owned the honor of Winningest Program To Not Make The CFP, but that stopped with a thud with nine wins over the last two seasons.
The Badgers would've made three 12-team playoffs, had the format existed, but that seems like a long, long time ago.
CFP Era Win Total:99
Last Year Rank:4
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Three (2019, 2017, 2016)
- Wisconsin 2026 Schedule Analysis
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T6 Toledo
It's so hard to be a College Football Playoff team from the MAC - it hasn't been done - but Toledo has been steadily great in the CFP era.
CFP Era Win Total:99
Last Year Rank:6
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Zero
Dec 27, 2025; Orlando, FL, USA; BYU Cougars running back Enoch Nawahine (21) celebrates after running with the ball against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets during the second half at Camping World Stadium. © Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
5 BYU
It should've been in last year.
The Cougars got hosed in the College Football Playoff committee process, but the breakthrough is coming. The 2024 team was close, and there were three times in the CFP era when they would've been in a 12-team format.
By the way, no, the 11-1 team in 2020 wouldn't have made it, finishing 16th in the final rankings.
CFP Era Win Total:101
Last Year Rank:9
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Three (2022, 2017, 2016)
- BYU 2026 Schedule Analysis
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4 Utah
Put the Utes in the Most Overdue Program To Get In category, along with Iowa. They were great during the entire CFP era under Kyle Whittingham, and there's no sign of slowing down under Morgan Scalley.
CFP Era Win Total:102
Last Year Rank:7
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Three (2022, 2021, 2019)
- Utah 2026 Schedule Analysis
T2 Iowa
Iowa has been consistently really good, and that's been solid enough to own the dubious honor of being the top Power Four program that has yet to make the College Football Playoff.
CFP Era Win Total:105
Last Year Rank:3
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:One (2015)
- Iowa 2026 Schedule Analysis
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T2 Appalachian State
After setting an impossibly high standard after joining the FBS when the College Football Playoff era started, there's been a dip over the last two seasons, with two straight losing seasons.
CFP Era Win Total:105
Last Year Rank:1
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:Zero
1 Memphis
Memphis doesn't get the national attention of programs outside of the Power Four, but it's been terrific over the last 12 years.
The Tigers weren't that far out of the CFP hunt in 2024 when the 12-team format started, but they still haven't been able to crack the code.
CFP Era Win Total:107
Last Year Rank:2
Would Have Made a 12-Team CFP:One (2019)
This story was originally published by College Football News on Mar 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add College Football News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
