Every summer since 2007, I have created an intricate set of college football predictions for each upcoming season.  This year is no exception, as I will be using my blog over the next few days to publish my 18th annual college football preview guide.

Without further ado, let’s get things started with my sixth annual facts and tidbits article.  This is a collection of interesting anecdotes and statistics that I have compiled while doing my college football research for the upcoming season. 

10. Arch Rivals Michigan and Ohio State enter 2024 tied for best winning percentage of all-time– As a result of the Wolverines perfect 15-0 season in 2023, they not only became the first college football program to reach the 1,000 win mark but they also reached the top of the list for best all-time winning percentage in college football history. Entering 2023, Ohio State stood alone in first in that category with a .733 all-time mark, but the next three winningest programs were separated by a mere thousandth of a percentage point each: Alabama (.732), Michigan (.731), Notre Dame (.730). Now, Ohio State and Michigan are tied for the all-time lead at .734, and Alabama is right behind them at .733. Michgan’s all-time record is 1004-353 and Ohio State’s is 964-333. It will interesting to see who breaks through as the all-time winningest program in 2024, especially since the eventual national champion this season will be playing 2-3 more games than they ever have before.

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9. There is also a current tie for the lowest winning percentage in FBS College Football history that will be broken in 2024 between Florida International and Charlotte– On the other end of the spectrum, the 49ers of Charlotte and the Golden Panthers of FIU enter 2024 with the exact same .341 all-time winning percentage. The next lowest percentage after these two teams belongs to Georgia State way up at .365, so it is safe to say that this will be a two team race between the forementioned Panthers and 49ers to avoid holding the all-time low mark after this season.

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8.  Wake Forest and Oklahoma State are tied for best Power 4 bowl game win percentage of all-time– This third win percentage tie is probably the most surprising of the bunch. Yes, you read that right, my little ol’ Wake Forest Demon Deacons are tied for the best all-time bowl game win percentage with .647 mark, despite having the second-lowest Power 5 win percentage (.421) in all games played (only Indiana is lower). Think about that for a second, only in college football could a team be one of the all-time worst in the regular season but the all-time best in the postseason. Utah actually had the best bowl win percentage going into 2023 but they dropped all the down to # 5 by virtue of their upset loss to Northwestern in last year’s Las Vegas Bowl. Perennial powers Georgia and Southern Cal narrowly trail the Deacons and Cowboys on this list with .637 and .636 marks respectively.

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7. The Iowa State Cyclones have the longest power 4 conference championship drought (112 years) and the Ohio Bobcats have the longest group of five conference title drought (56 years)– This stat is somewhat complicated by the fact that so many teams have switched conferences in the past decade or so, but nevertheless, the Cyclones last won a conference title in 1912 and Ohio hasn’t won since 1968. Both of these programs have had lengthy periods of success in the past 50+ years but neither has been able to get over the hump. Also, as you might expect, Vandy has the second longest power 5 conference championship drought, as they haven’t won a conference title since 1923. The Cyclones and Bobcats aren’t necessarily predicted to end either of those droughts in 2024, but both of their respective leagues are wide open enough that either squad could make a run at a league title if things broke their way this season.

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6. Iowa State also has the longest drought, by far, amongst all Power 4 Teams for home unbeaten seasons– While the Cyclones may be a longshot to end their conference championship drought in 2024, they have a much better opportunity to end this curious drought. Somehow, Iowa State has not won all of their home games in a college football season since 1936. To put that in perspective, the next longest home unbeaten drought is Minnesota who last completed the feat over 30 years more recently than that in 1967. Every school has one year every now and then where they have a favorable home conference slate coupled with a couple of cupcake non-conference games and their team wins all of their home games. Heck, even the lowly Indiana Hoosiers completed this feat as recently as 2020. Somehow though, the Cyclones have been unable to run the table at Jack Trice Stadium despite having quite a bit of success there over the past couple of decades. This year, however, Iowa State is blessed with a complete slate of winnable home games that includes matchups against: North Dakota, Arkansas State, Baylor, UCF, Texas Tech, Cincinnati, and Kansas State. In fact, the Cyclones should be favored in all of these contests except for their regular season finale against K-State. Can you imagine if ISU ends up playing the Wildcats during rivalry weekend this fall with an opportunity to end this this epic 88 year drought?

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5.  UMass is the only full-fledged FBS team to never have played in a bowl game– Entering 2023, the Minutemen shared this honor with the Texas State Bobcats, but TSU ended their bowl game drought last season with appearance, and subsequent victory, in the Armed Forces Bowl. Can the Minutemen possibly become the final team to breakthrough this glass ceiling in 2024? It is also worth noting that Kennesaw State and Sam Houston State have also never played in an FBS bowl game, but they are all still in FCS transitional status and are not yet eligible to play in one.

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4. Jacksonville State and Texas State are the only two current FBS programs to be unbeaten in bowl games– Entering last season, New Mexico State was actually the only team that could lay claim to a perfect bowl record, but a lot changed in this regard during the 2023 bowl season. First, the forementioned Gamecocks of Jacksonville State and Bobcats of Texas State both played and won their inaugural bowl games. Meanwhile, the Aggies of New Mexico State suffered their first ever bowl game defeat at the hands of the Bulldogs of Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl. On the other side of the ledger, there are three teams that are winless in bowl games, besides the teams mentioned previously that have never played in one. They are: Charlotte (0-1), UL-Monroe (0-1), and James Madison (0-1).

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3. UTEP has by far the longest postseason win drought in the country, as they have not won a bowl game since 1967– Not only have the Miners failed to win a bowl game in past 57 seasons but they have also lost seven straight postseason matchups in the process. This could be their year though, as I am calling for them to flirt with bowl eligibility thanks to a new coach, Scotty Walden (pictured below), that is bringing a newfound energy to the program.

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2. Wake Forest has not beaten a Top 10 team since 1946– I include this factoid about my alma mater in this article every year in hopes that this is the season this epic drought finally ends. In 2022, the Deacs came painstakingly close to ending this streak with an near upset win over fifth ranked Clemson. However, the Deacon defense unfortunately collapsed down the stretch, and the Tigers pulled out an overtime road victory. The Deacs should have an early opportunity to end that streak in 2024 as they host Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels, who will almost assuredly be ranked in the top 10, on September 14th. They are also scheduled to face potential top 10 opponents in NC State (Oct. 5), Clemson (Oct. 12), and Miami-FL (Nov. 23) this season.

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1. Speaking of historical droughts…Indiana football is still full of them– Indiana has has some recent gridiron success over the past decade, but they still have some major history to overcome. First of all, Indiana has by far the longest bowl victory drought in the Power 5 as the Hoosiers haven’t won a postseason game since 1991, which is 13 years longer than the next longest Power 5 postseason drought (Colorado- 2004). In addition, Indiana hasn’t beaten Michigan in Ann Arbors since 1971 and hasn’t beaten Ohio State anywhere since 1988. This year, the Hoosiers will get a shot at ending their winless streak against the Buckeyes, as they travel to Columbus on November 23rd. Could they catch OSU in a letdown spot looking ahead to their finale against Michigan the following Saturday?