NDSU and Division I Single Season Wins Record

[NY Crusader 2010]

For all the talk about Bison fans being jaded about all the winning, I have not yet seen it mentioned that NDSU actually has the chance to stand alone in history with two more wins.

Currently, North Dakota State sits at 14-0. With 2 more wins, they will become the first Division I school (FBS or FCS) ever to complete a 16-0 season in modern history.

Trivia question: Only one Division I school has ever entered a final game with a 15-0 record and a chance to clinch the record-breaking 16th win. Who was it and what year?

**I could be wrong but I am fairly certain this would be the all-time NCAA record as well. I don't think any Division II or III team has ever won (or even played) 16 games**

[dewey]

The 1894 Yale team went 16-0.

The 1892 Penn and 1896 Yale teams went 15-1.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2019-01-07/most-wins-season-college-football-history%3famp

This site also lists the 1889 Yale and 1899 Chicago teams as winning 16 games in a single season.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/leaders/wins-coach-season.html

According to the NCAA division 2 page Ferris State played 16 games in 2018 and Wayne State did the same in 2011.

http://www.ncaa.org/championships/statistics/2019-ncaa-football-records

Dewey

[Hammersmith]

I think the answer he was looking for was Colgate in 2003. (I looked it up.)

It's both easier and harder to get to 16-0 in DII vs. FCS. Easier because it can happen every year, whereas it can realistically only happen in FCS during a 12-game season. Harder because it requires a second team to do something, whereas it is completely within the control of the undefeated team in FCS.

DII has a 28-team, highly-regionalized tournament. That means only the top seed in each of the four regions gets a bye. So if you have two undefeated teams from the same region, one of them will play up to four playoff games while the other could play five. That's what happened to Ferris State last year. Ferris went 11-0 during the regular season, but so did Ouachita Baptist. OBU got the 1-seed and the bye, but Ferris beat them in the quarterfinals and advanced to the title game before losing narrowly to Valdosta State. In FCS, the odds of a 11-0 team not getting a seed are so low as to be insignificant.

[Hammersmith]

But here's an odder NDSU factoid. From the 2010 to 2019 seasons, NDSU has compiled a record of 135-13. Only a single FCS school has played more than 135 games, much less won them. SHSU has played 136 games from 2010-2019, so if NDSU wins it all this year, they will have won 137 games which would be more than any FCS school has played during that span. I believe only Mount Union in DIII would exceed that record both ways(138-8).

[NY Crusader 2010]

I think the answer he was looking for was Colgate in 2003. (I looked it up.)

It's both easier and harder to get to 16-0 in DII vs. FCS. Easier because it can happen every year, whereas it can realistically only happen in FCS during a 12-game season. Harder because it requires a second team to do something, whereas it is completely within the control of the undefeated team in FCS.

DII has a 28-team, highly-regionalized tournament. That means only the top seed in each of the four regions gets a bye. So if you have two undefeated teams from the same region, one of them will play up to four playoff games while the other could play five. That's what happened to Ferris State last year. Ferris went 11-0 during the regular season, but so did Ouachita Baptist. OBU got the 1-seed and the bye, but Ferris beat them in the quarterfinals and advanced to the title game before losing narrowly to Valdosta State. In FCS, the odds of a 11-0 team not getting a seed are so low as to be insignificant.

You nailed it. Colgate entered the 2003 National Championship Game against Delaware with a 15-0 record. They wound up losing that game 40-0 to finish 15-1.

I was not counting the 19th Century Yale and Chicago teams, hence why I specified "modern". But 16-0 U. Chicago was coached by none other than Amos Alonzo Stagg, who the FCS National Championship Game is named for.

In theory a 17-0 FCS team is possible but it would require someone to go 12-0 regular season, somehow not get a Top 8 Seed, and still be good enough to win 5 games en route to a title. OR if NDSU had played Hawaii this year, wouldn't they have been eligible to play 13 regular season games, meaning 4 playoff wins would put them at 17-0?

Also without looking it up, did Youngstown State play 17 games the year they lost to JMU (I didn't look it up)? If that was a 12-game year they would have.

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[Professor Chaos]

You nailed it. Colgate entered the 2003 National Championship Game against Delaware with a 15-0 record. They wound up losing that game 40-0 to finish 15-1.

I was not counting the 19th Century Yale and Chicago teams, hence why I specified "modern". But 16-0 U. Chicago was coached by none other than Amos Alonzo Stagg, who the FCS National Championship Game is named for.

In theory a 17-0 FCS team is possible but it would require someone to go 12-0 regular season, somehow not get a Top 8 Seed, and still be good enough to win 5 games en route to a title. OR if NDSU had played Hawaii this year, wouldn't they have been eligible to play 13 regular season games, meaning 4 playoff wins would put them at 17-0?

Also without looking it up, did Youngstown State play 17 games the year they lost to JMU (I didn't look it up)? If that was a 12-game year they would have.

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YSU played 16 games in 2016 (finished 12-4) since it was only an 11 game regular season.

I had looked up the 16 win thing a while back. Stagg's 1899 Chicago U team played 4 or 5 high school teams and that 1894 Yale team played 3 or 4 "Athletic Club" teams... so it would certainly be a historic achievement if they pulled it off that would probably be recognized as the first true 16 win season in college football history.

There will be plenty of time to digest that if it comes to fruition so I'll just leave it there for now.

[ElCid]

Also without looking it up, did Youngstown State play 17 games the year they lost to JMU (I didn't look it up)? If that was a 12-game year they would have.

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16, they went 12-4.

[Derby City Duke]

I was not counting the 19th Century Yale and Chicago teams, hence why I specified "modern". But 16-0 U. Chicago was coached by none other than Amos Alonzo Stagg, who the FCS National Championship Game is named for.
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I believe the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl is actually the DIII national championship game.

[NY Crusader 2010]

I believe the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl is actually the DIII national championship game.

Correct. Sorry it was late at night. Got my championships mixed up.

[TheValleyRaider]

You nailed it. Colgate entered the 2003 National Championship Game against Delaware with a 15-0 record. They wound up losing that game 40-0 to finish 15-1.

You didn't need that part...

[PAllen]

You didn't need that part...

No shame in losing to that very good UD squad when most of your team had the flu.