15 College Football Programs That Will Never Win A National Championship

By Geoffrey Knox

15 College Football Programs That Will Never Win A National Championship

Texas Tech — College football just isn't like anything else. Every Saturday, stadiums are packed that sit 100,000 fans. There's pageantry. There's tradition. There are rivalries that will live on long after we all are gone. Loyalties are passed from one generation to the next. Some of those loyalties are rewarded with a tradition of winning, and some programs keep their faithful in agony. Here are 15 that will never win the National Championship.

15. UCF Knights

UCF Knights Football

15. UCF Knights

UCF Knights Football — The UCF Knights have seen 14 of their former players play in a Super Bowl. In a state full of some of the best athletic talent in the country, the Knights have managed to acquire four conference titles and four division titles; but they've only fielded one consensus All-American. I guess Disney World just isn't enough to get kids to Orlando anymore.

14. NC State Wolfpack

NC State Wolpack Football

14. NC State Wolfpack

NC State Wolfpack Football — You have to be some sort of college football junkie to have an in depth conversation about NC State Wolfpack football. There were some great numbers from Philip Rivers, and Russell Wilson was there before transferring to the Wisconsin Badgers. There are 11 conference titles, but none are in the ACC. Unfortunately, that hasn't been enough to lure the recruits that would make this team a yearly factor, so the Wolfpack faithful suffers on.

13. Arizona Wildcats

Arizona Wildcats Football

13. Arizona Wildcats

Arizona Wildcats Football — The Arizona Wildcats have never been to a BCS Bowl. There's no reason to believe that they ever will. There's never been an undefeated season. There's no reason to believe there ever will be. There hasn't been a top ten finish in quite some time. There's no reason to believe that they have any building blocks in place to turn that around any time in the near future.

12. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Rutgers Scarlet Knights Football

12. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Rutgers Scarlet Knights Football — The Rutgers Scarlet Knights actually won a national championship; but that was 1869, and they defeated Princeton in order to do so. That hardly counts. Now that they've joined a conference in which Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State are also members, don't expect the road to the biggest game in college football to get any easier.

11. Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue Boilermakers Football

11. Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue Boilermakers Football — Three former Purdue Boilermakers to have played the quarterback position have won a Super Bowl. Unfortunately, they don't seem to get NFL caliber quarterbacks to play at that level while wearing the Purdue Jersey; so while 12 conference titles and nine bowl wins looks impressive, there are no Heisman Trophy winners and no championships.

10. Houston Cougars

Houston Cougars Football

10. Houston Cougars

Houston Cougars Football — The Houston Cougars have had a tendency to light up the scoreboards throughout their history and even managed to field a Heisman Trophy winner in Andre Ware; but Ware failed at the pro level and proved the best players in college aren't always pro worthy. The Cougars get decent talent. They just don't get talent that's decent enough to push this school to the upper tier of the programs in this country.

9. Texas Tech Red Raiders

Texas Tech Football

9. Texas Tech Red Raiders

Texas Tech Football — The state of Texas lives for football. Unfortunately for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the TCU Horned Frogs and Baylor Bears have seen their programs elevate with their recent success. They also have to battle with more attractive programs like the Texas Longhorns and the Texas A&M Aggies for recruits. The Red Raiders have a long way to go before they're a factor.

8. Mississippi State Bulldogs

Mississippi State Bulldogs Football

8. Mississippi State Bulldogs

Mississippi State Bulldogs Football — Dan Mullen is good, but no one is convinced that he can catapult the Mississippi State Bulldogs over the traditional SEC Powers. They went 10-0-1 in 1940 and didn't win the national championship. With annual games against the LSU Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, Ole Miss Rebels, and Texas A&M Aggies, is there a realistic reason to believe going undefeated in 12 regular season games is realistic?

7. Oregon Ducks

Oregon Ducks Football

7. Oregon Ducks

Oregon Ducks Football — The Oregon Ducks literally built their program on cool jerseys, a high octane offense and superior facilities. It must be nice to have the backing and love of Phil Knight. There are only two problems. Oregon isn't exactly fertile ground for high school talent, and the best coach this team ever had is in the NFL now. If there are a few more steps in the opposite direction, the coolest jerseys in the world won't be enough to lure the talent there.

6. South Carolina Gamecocks

South Carolina Gamecocks Football

6. South Carolina Gamecocks

South Carolina Gamecocks Football — Few teams have a more loving fanbase than the South Carolina Gamecocks. Progression was being made; but after a few disappointing seasons, the greatest coach in the history of the school decided to step down. Truthfully, the best players in the country go to Athens, Gainesville, Tuscaloosa and Baton Rouge; and for some reason, they don't go to Columbia enough for the Gamecocks to compete year in and year out.

5. Missouri Tigers

Missouri Tigers Football

5. Missouri Tigers

Missouri Tigers Football — Now here's a nice resume. There have been 15 conference titles, 5 division titles, 14 Consensus All Americans, and 15 bowl wins; but there's also been 16 bowl losses and no Heisman winners. Once, they were ranked number one in the country; but they responded by getting their doors blown off by Oklahoma in the Big 12 Title Game. They advanced to the SEC Championship and met a similar fate. That's as good as it's been.

4. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Oklahoma State Cowboys Football

4. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Oklahoma State Cowboys Football — The Oklahoma State Cowboys will always play second fiddle to the Oklahoma Sooners for the most talented players in the state. Then there are so many other choices for elite talent to go to in the conference. Oklahoma State will always be relevant. They'll just never be able to overtake the more traditional powerhouses or become a consistent title contender themselves.

3. Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin Badgers Football

3. Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin Badgers Football — In 1942, the No. 6 ranked Wisconsin Badgers defeated the top ranked Ohio State Buckeyes to rise to No. 2 in the country. The following week, they fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes. That's as good as it's been. They've seen two Heisman winners and a ton of success. They're just not at the top of the food chain. They're close, but they're not at the top.

2. West Virginia Mountaineers

West Virginia Mountaineers Football

2. West Virginia Mountaineers

West Virginia Mountaineers Football — Late season losses are more difficult to recover from than losses in the earlier parts of the college football season. That's a fact. In 2007, a late season loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers cost the West Virginia Mountaineers dearly. They had to take their frustrations out on Oklahoma, but they haven't been able to duplicate something close to that year since. The second biggest game in their history was a Fiesta Bowl loss to Notre Dame in 1989.

1. UCLA Bruins

UCLA Bruins Football

1. UCLA Bruins

UCLA Bruins Football — The UCLA Bruins have 112 national championships in college athletics, and 73 of them are in men's sports. None are for football. Their biggest rival is one of the more storied programs in the history of team sports at any level of any sport. Like it or not, when given a choice, the best high school talent will always choose the USC Trojans over the Bruins. UCLA may get the best of them sometimes but they'll always be in the shadow of the Trojans.

Geoffrey Knox is a Writer for ACC Basketball and SEC Football for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @gq_4_eva, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.

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