Well, recent events certainly changed the dynamic of this article which began several weeks ago.

For the sake of this thorough study I won’t be including any new Power 5 programs, and I’m not sure anyone would even include the likes of Cincinnati, BYU, or Houston in this discussion anyway. You could simply list the all-time worst winning percentages among the Power 5 programs and that would include all of Duke, Kansas, Kansas State, Indiana, Rutgers, Northwestern, Iowa State, Oregon State, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt. Each of those football programs are still under .500 in their history. Yet, we must dig deeper.

I wanted to include a few teams but decided against it, so these are the ‘receiving votes’ programs:

Kansas – Historically they deserve extremely careful consideration but at the same time they are on a nice upward trend now.

Georgia Tech – They are going through struggles but aren’t that far removed from sustained success, plus they have some pieces to make some noise pulling in-state recruits.

Duke – If we’re honest they should make the top 5. However, Old Man Elko has this program improving just enough to keep them out.

Arizona – If we’re chronicling strengths, it doesn’t make a ton of sense why Arizona has been so poor throughout their history. They’ve largely been really bad!

Rutgers – Typically it’s not great if you’re nicknamed Buttgers.

Mississippi State – Way too much success this century to make it but if you’re looking at the SEC this isn’t one of the places you want to be.

The Top 5 Worst Power 5 Conference Programs

#5 Indiana 

Harsh considering they finished 12th in the country only back in 2020. Still, that was a shortened Covid year and it’s really hard to overlook the vast amount of seasons where the Hoosiers have been average to bad throughout their history. I was born in 1982 and there have been just 8 seasons since then where Indiana finished with a winning record. The 2020 season mentioned above is the only time they’ve even finished ranked in the AP Poll since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Are they too overshadowed by the basketball team?

Explain yourself, Indiana. 

Sure, they got stuck in the hard Big Ten division in recent years. However, they have one of the most beautiful campuses in college football in a fairly advantageous location that can pull from a swath of Midwestern suburban areas within reasonable driving distance. It’s a good academic school but it can’t be holding the Hoosiers back like some other places in their position. It seemed like Tom Allen was going to be the guy to finally turn Indiana around and increase their ceiling just enough to what felt should be more appropriate–and it’s not happening.

#4 Washington State

Unfortunately, Washington State didn’t have a lot going for it long-term (although they’ve done a commendable job persevering at times throughout their history despite the odds) and in recent days they may well on their way to being removed from this list as a formality.

Poor Wazzu may be relegated from the Power 5. Maybe Stanford should be on this list, too?

If they are able to stay you could argue there are worst programs to be in the country. The Cougars have 8 seasons where they finished ranked since 1988 which isn’t terrible for a team on this list. Heck, they were 10th and won the Alamo Bowl just a few years ago, RIP Mike Leach. However, with their future so tenuous we’re placing them 4th in today’s countdown.

#3 Boston College

It hasn’t been a super dark decade+ for the Eagles, but it’s been pretty poor and they are arguably as badly positioned as any of the Power 5 programs to continue surviving and being able to increase their profile. They were probably the worst team in the ACC last year and are currently on their 3rd straight coach spinning his wheels unable to make progress in Chestnut Hill.

BC players don’t even want to be at BC.

What is there to like? They are situated in a bad region for college football recruiting and overshadowed from all corners by professional sports. Boston College also hasn’t finished a season ranked since 2007. They really do suck.

#2 Vanderbilt

Good luck to our boy Clark Lea. He did sign a contract extension through 2029 after just 7 wins through 2 seasons in Nashville which tells you enough about how low the bar is set for the school. But hey, they did beat Kentucky and Florida last year.

This job is so incredibly difficult with academic standards and some of the worst history among the Power 5. Most seasons they are simply swallowed up by the SEC. Think about this…Vanderbilt doesn’t have a single top 10 finish ever in their history. They had those back-to-back James Franklin years where the scheduling Gods aligned perfectly–other than that they’ve finished ranked just one other time all the way back in 1948.

Just 2 notable seasons in over 70 years is wild.

#1 Northwestern

A good question would be where Northwestern would’ve landed on this list prior to this summer? Within the Big Ten I believe their lows have been lower than Indiana. However, Northwestern has a much better track record of pulling out a decent-to-good season far more often than the Hoosiers. If Indiana only has 8 winning seasons in my lifetime, Northwestern has 7 seasons where they finished ranked by the AP Poll over that same timespan.

Now, though?

What hath he wrought? 

The school was still up and down befitting their place in the college football orbit but at the same time performing at one of their highest levels in history and have now blown it up after a bizarre and disgusting hazing culture torpedoed the coaching career of one of their most famous football players.

So far, 6 players have decommitted this summer and Northwestern stands at only 9 commits for 2024, 12 spots lower overall than aforementioned Indiana this cycle. Plus, it’ll likely only get much worse before it even begins to get better. We are probably headed to a dark period for Northwestern with on-field results.