This is the twenty first post in our 25-part Super Squad Series, recognizing the best programs over the last three years in every single Division I FBS & FCS Conference, as well as the upperclassmen & staff who’ve anchored them.
Full updated rankings after last week‘s rundown of the Independent College Football programs:
About Super Squad Rating
Super Squad Ratings range 0-100, heavily-weighed toward zero. A 100.0 rating is only achievable for a team that finishes #1 in College Football all three years, with a 100+ power rating each year. The top three 2020 Super Squads rate in at 78, 57, and 47, respectively.
Best thought of as a notoriety score:
“How many normal people out of 100 should recognize this program’s success the last three years?”
EXAMPLE
Consider an SSR (Super Squad Rating) of 78 to abstractly mean that program deserves 78% of Americans’ attention.
Conversely a program with a 1.1 SSR would be worth the attention of only 11 out of 1,000 Americans.
Our Power 5 and Independent Super Squad winners were mostly-obvious enough that we’ve been asking publicly for the SECOND-best programs a day before list-release.
These were your Top 7 Big 12 choices; before scrolling further, take the quick poll now:
With five in our Top 25 and all but one in our Top 60 recent programs (looking at you, Kansas) the Big 12 has far-away been the strongest conference we’ve covered to-date.
That said, they’re indisputably led by a powerhouse program which holds the last five Big 12 Titles, as well as half of all to have ever been awarded (13).
Congratulations Oklahoma Sooners for being our Big 12 Football 2020 Super Squad Champions! Kudos to your entire program, especially the 41 young men who were on the roster each of these three years – 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20 – listed here:
CONGRATULATIONS Jordan Parker, CeeDee Lamb, Mykel Jones, Connor McGinnis, Trey Sermon, A.D. Miller, Tre Brown, Kenneth Murray, Tanner Schafer, Parnell Motley, Tre Norwood, Charleston Rambo, Caleb Kelly, Robert Barnes, Ryan Jones, Justin Broiles, Kennedy Brooks, Jeremiah Hall, Chanse Sylvie, Levi Draper, Josh Schenck, Bryan Mead, Jon-Michael Terry, Mark Jackson Jr., Reeves Mundschau, Kasey Kelleher, Tyrese Robinson, Marquis Hayes, Kenneth Mann, Creed Humphrey, Adrian Ealy, Erik Swenson, Grant Calcaterra, Nick Basquine, Lee Morris, Neville Gallimore, Dillon Faamatau, Troy James, Isaiah Thomas, Marquise Overton, Zacchaeus McKinney.
Before getting too into their awesomeness, let’s count down their Big 12 runners-up, from worst to first:
10th
#157 Kansas Jayhawks
3.9 Super Squad Rating
Record:
7-29 Overall
2-25 Big 12
Average Power:
46.9
Yearly Finish:
#215, #113, #131
9th
#57 Texas Tech Red Raiders
8.2 SSR
Record:
15-22 Overall
8-19 Big 12
Average Power:
63.1
Yearly Finish:
#61, #49, #67
8th
#55 Baylor Bears
8.3 SSR
Record:
19-20 Overall
13-14 Big 12
Average Power:
62.6
Yearly Finish:
#153, #59, #16
7th
#39 West Virginia Mountaineers
9.9 SSR
Record:
9-27 Overall
14-13 Big 12
Average Power:
66.0
Yearly Finish:
#65, #14, #80
6th
#36 Kansas State Wildcats
10.0 SSR
Record:
21-17 Overall
13-14 Big 12
Average Power:
66.5
Yearly Finish:
#40, #68, #29
5th
#23 TCU Horned Frogs
13.1 SSR
Record:
23-16 Overall
14-13 Big 12
Average Power:
70.9
Yearly Finish:
#14, #38, #43
4th
#22 Oklahoma State Cowboys
13.9 SSR
Record:
25-14 Overall
14-13 Big 12
Average Power:
72.6
Yearly Finish:
#18, #32, #34
3rd
#21 Iowa State Cyclones
13.9 SSR
Record:
23-16 Overall
16-11 Big 12
Average Power:
72.3
Yearly Finish:
#26, #25, #30
2nd
#14 Texas Longhorns
17.2 SSR
Record:
25-15 Overall
17-10 Big 12
Average Power:
75.9
Yearly Finish:
#41, #10, #14
WINNER
[Top 10] Oklahoma Sooners
37.3 Super Squad Rating
Record:
33-6 Overall
24-3 Big 12
Average Power:
84.7
Yearly Finish:
#5, #3, #9
Oklahoma doesn’t only deserve a spot on this list, but also honorable mention among the greatest college football programs, period.
As alluded to in the intro, the Sooners have won 13 of the 26 solo & shared Big 12 Titles in the conference’s 24 seasons, earning all 13 titles just in the last 20 years, or 65% of Big 12 Titles since Jan 1, 2001.
For this inaugural Big 12 Super Squad Title, Oklahoma’s last three seasons have been remarkably similar, including each of the following to be True:
- Unstoppable Offense led by killer QB (Mayfield, Murray, Hurts)
- Mediocre Defense as program’s main weakness
- Undefeated in non-conference schedule
- One upset-loss in Big 12 schedule
- Win Big 12 Title match (with decreasing dominance since 2017)
- CFP Semi-Final Bid (2nd, 4th, 4th-Seed) and First-Round Loss
Will this perennial dominance-play hold but finally flex enough for the Sooners to win another CFP bid, and maybe a National Championship Title?
Sooner Nation can surely hope.
Congratulations all Oklahoma coaches, staff, administrators, players, and especially the 41 young men present on the roster all three years to earn this title!
Super Squad Rankings
These are our up-to-date Division I Super Squad rankings after this week’s announced winner. Follow along as each Sunday we fill in more teams and announce our next Super Squad!
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