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The 2018 college football season is just over one month away and fans are getting excited for the new season and storylines to take over our TVs. So while we wait for some new football to talk about, analysts are taking a walk through memory lane and looking back at the history of the game. Enter the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
On Thursday, July 26, ESPN unveiled its rankings of the best college football teams of the last two decades and ultimately decided on their No. 1 choice.
“ESPN Analytics calculated overall, offensive and defensive ratings to find the true strength of a champion through a comparison of top college football programs across seasons,” the ESPN article states.
So who does ESPN think was the best team? The 2005-06 Texas Longhorns, led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Vince Young.
From the article:
The 2005 Longhorns are the top championship team of the last 20 years in large part because they claim the best player of the last 20 years. Quarterback Vince Young, remarkably, didn’t win the Heisman Trophy that season, but he produced one of the greatest individual seasons in recent college football history, culminating with one of the greatest individual game performances the sport has ever seen. In the Rose Bowl against heavily favored USC, Young completed 30 of 40 passes, rushed for 200 yards and delivered the game-winning play, an 8-yard touchdown dash on fourth down with 19 seconds remaining. That play defined the BCS era. And turned Young into a legend. Young wasn’t the only star for Texas, which also boasted a top-10 defense. Michael Huff was the Jim Thorpe Award winner and, like Young, became a top 10 NFL draft pick. Linemen Jonathan Scott and Rodrique Wright were consensus All-Americans, as well. The ’05 Longhorns never lost. And saved their best for the biggest stage. — Jake Trotter
It is pretty hard to argue that. The Longhorns went 13-0, won the Big 12 Championship, and capped off the year in the best national championship game ever played with a 41-38 win over the USC Trojans.
The Longhorns kickoff their 2018 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 1 against the Maryland Terrapins.
