College Sports Fun Facts
250 wild, true, and roast-worthy facts about every major college sports program. Scroll, filter by team, and share your favorites.
Vanderbilt beat Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina in the same 2024 season. Those three programs have a combined 18 national football championships. Vanderbilt has zero. Vanderbilt finished 6–6.
LSU's Les Miles ate grass off the turf during games as a personal ritual. Not a stunt. He said it made him feel connected to the field. He won a national championship doing this.
Frank Beamer coached Virginia Tech 29 seasons and won 238 games. The program has had four head coaches since his retirement in 2015. None have won a conference championship.
In 2015, Michigan led Michigan State 23–21 with 10 seconds left. The punter fumbled the snap, tried to bicycle-kick it, and it floated into Michigan State's hands for a 38-yard TD as time expired. Michigan players had already started celebrating.
Kentucky basketball has 8 national championships. Their football program has a below-.500 all-time record despite playing in the SEC since it was founded. Both things have been true for nearly 100 years.
Gonzaga has made the NCAA Tournament 26 consecutive years and reached two national championship games. They have won zero national championships.
Miami's booster Nevin Shapiro funded player benefits for eight years using money from his $930 million Ponzi scheme. He was already in federal prison when he reported the violations to the media.
Dawn Staley's South Carolina women's team went 38–0 in 2023–24 and won the national championship. They won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2024. The 2024 undefeated run is only the second in women's basketball history.
Hugh Freeze was fired from Ole Miss for calling escort services on a work phone, then hired as head coach of Liberty University — a Christian school founded by Jerry Falwell.
After Prairie View A&M's 80-game losing streak ended, their running back said: 'One win isn't enough. I don't want people to think it's a fluke.' They went 2–9 the next year.
Virginia won the national basketball championship in 2019 — one year after becoming the first #1 seed in history to lose to a #16 seed. They hold both distinctions.
After scoring the winning 2-point conversion in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, Boise State's Ian Johnson proposed to his girlfriend — a Boise State cheerleader — on live national TV. She said yes.
NC State's Lorenzo Charles caught a missed dunk attempt and tipped it in at the buzzer to beat #1 Houston 54–52 in the 1983 championship. NC State was a 6-seed. Phi Slama Jama had Olajuwon and Drexler. A missed dunk changed college basketball history.
Nick Saban was born in West Virginia, played college ball at Kent State, and won 6 national championships at Alabama. He never played a game there.
Purdue was a #1 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Fairleigh Dickinson beat them 63–58. Purdue's Zach Edey was 7'4" and the consensus national player of the year.
Villanova's Kris Jenkins hit a three at the buzzer to beat UNC 77–74 in the 2016 championship. Jenkins caught the inbounds pass 4.7 seconds before the buzzer, took one dribble, and shot. UNC had been up by 4 with 4.7 seconds remaining.
Bill Snyder went 215–117 at Kansas State after inheriting a program with a 28-game losing streak and a 27% all-time winning percentage. He retired, came back at 75, and retired again.
Louisville's 2013 national basketball championship was vacated after an assistant coach arranged for strippers and escorts to entertain recruits in the team dorms. The assistant later wrote a book about it.
Cam Newton was cleared by the NCAA the day before the 2010 SEC Championship game. He won the SEC title, the Heisman Trophy, and the national championship in sequential weeks.
John Wooden won 10 national championships at UCLA. UCLA has not won a national basketball title since 1995 — the same year the internet became publicly available. The drought and the internet are the same age.
SMU is the only Division I program to receive the NCAA Death Penalty. Their entire 1987 season was canceled. They chose not to play in 1988 either. It happened while they were already on probation for previous violations.
Tim Tebow won the Heisman, won two national championships, graduated early, and left as one of Florida's most decorated players ever. Florida has had six head coaches since Urban Meyer left in 2010.
Penn State has not won a national championship since 1986. James Franklin has been head coach since 2014. The whiteout games are extraordinary. The CFP results have been quarterfinal exits. Both things are accurate.
Memphis had to vacate 38 wins — an NCAA record — because Derrick Rose allegedly paid someone to take his SAT. Rose was already the NBA Rookie of the Year when the punishment was announced.
After the Pac-12 collapsed, Oregon State and Washington State were the only two remaining schools. They played an entire season as a two-school conference in 2024, broadcasting home games on The CW Network.
UConn's men's basketball team was banned from the 2013 NCAA Tournament for poor academic performance. UConn's women's team made the national championship game that same year. They share a campus.
Phil Knight has donated hundreds of millions to Oregon athletics. Oregon changes uniforms nearly every game. They have never won a national football championship.
Caitlin Clark scored more career points than any player in college basketball history — men's or women's — with 3,951. Pete Maravich held the record since 1970. Clark broke it in her junior season and kept playing.
Bobby Petrino was fired from Arkansas after a motorcycle accident revealed an affair with a woman he had secretly hired as a staff member. He initially told police he was alone on the motorcycle. He was not alone on the motorcycle.
Mississippi State rings cowbells at games. The NCAA has banned cowbells at neutral sites. Mississippi State fans smuggle them in. Multiple enforcement attempts have been made. The cowbell remains.
Butler made back-to-back national championship appearances in 2010 and 2011 from the Horizon League. In 2010, Gordon Hayward's half-court buzzer-beater hit the backboard, bounced the rim twice, and fell out. Butler lost by 2.
Arizona's basketball program was caught on FBI wiretap. An assistant coach demanded $100,000 from a sports agent to steer DeAndre Ayton to Arizona. The FBI was listening the entire time.
Texas joined the SEC in 2024 bringing the conference to 16 teams. The SEC now has more money, more TV exposure, and more recruiting territory than any other conference in college sports history. Texas is the newest member. They are not the richest member.
Vanderbilt is a top-15 academic university. They have not won an SEC football championship since 1923. In 2024, they beat Alabama for the first time since 1984, ended Alabama's CFP hopes, and finished 6–6.
George Mason beat Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State, and Connecticut to reach the 2006 Final Four from the Colonial Athletic Association. Most people had never heard of George Mason before that March.
Washington went undefeated in 2023, played in the national championship game, and lost. Six months later, their entire conference ceased to exist. From the title game to conference-less in one calendar year.
TCU went undefeated in the 2022 regular season, made the national championship game, and lost 65–7. Georgia scored 55 straight points after TCU's only touchdown. TCU had 36 total rushing yards all game.
Nebraska's home sellout streak was 375 consecutive games — the longest in college football history. It started during the Kennedy administration and ended in 2016 against Northwestern.
West Virginia produced Nick Saban, Lou Holtz, and Jimbo Fisher — coaches with 12 combined national championships — and has zero national championships of its own.
Houston's Phi Slama Jama teams made three Final Fours from 1982–1984 with Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler and won zero national championships. They lost the 1983 title on a missed dunk that bounced back and was tipped in at the buzzer.
Indiana had never won 10 games in a single football season in program history — until 2024. The program is 137 years old.
UMBC became the first #16 seed to beat a #1 seed in NCAA Tournament history in 2018, beating Virginia 74–54. Before that game, #1 seeds were 135–0 in 33 years. UMBC's margin of victory was 20 points.
Baylor's basketball coach Dave Bliss instructed players to tell police their murdered teammate was a drug dealer — to cover up separate, unrelated NCAA violations. The cover-up made everything worse. Bliss received a 10-year show-cause penalty.
Ohio State's 1926 homecoming queen was a cow. Her name was Maudine Ormsby. She received more votes than any human candidate. The university confirmed the results. She served as homecoming queen.
In 2017, Tennessee nearly announced Greg Schiano as head coach. Fans protested so aggressively that the deal collapsed within hours. He was never officially announced.
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt was 98 years old when she served as team chaplain for Loyola Chicago's 2018 Final Four run. She scouted opponents, wrote pre-game notes, and received a bobblehead doll.
UNLV beat Duke 103–73 in the 1990 national championship — the most lopsided title game in history. The following year, UNLV entered the Final Four undefeated. Duke upset them 79–77, won the title. UNLV has not been back to the Final Four since 1991.
Fairleigh Dickinson's 2023 win over #1 seed Purdue was only the second #16-over-#1 upset in NCAA Tournament history. Their head coach had previously been a Division III coach. Purdue's player of the year stood 7'4".
Rutgers invented college football in 1869. Over 150 years later, they are still looking for their second conference championship. The first program to ever play the sport remains one of the least successful in modern history.
Brian Kelly told his Notre Dame players in a team meeting that he was committed to staying. He accepted the LSU job hours later. He is from Massachusetts. He wore a fake Cajun accent in LSU promotional videos.
UCF went undefeated in 2017, declared themselves national champions, built a banner, and held a parade. Their head coach then left for Nebraska, where he went 16–31. The banner is still up.
Bill Belichick — six Super Bowl rings, the greatest NFL coach ever — went 4–8 in his first season coaching North Carolina in 2025. His opening game was a 48–14 home loss to TCU.
Dabo Swinney went 168–52 from 2009 to 2020 and won two national championships. From 2021 to 2024, he went 36–19.
Michigan's sign-stealing operation involved staffer Connor Stalions buying tickets to opponents' games months in advance and attending in disguise. He was recognized at a Penn State opponent's game. Michigan won the national title that same season.
Texas A&M and Texas did not play each other in football from 2011 through 2023 — 13 consecutive years — after A&M left the Big 12. They reunited in 2024 when Texas joined the SEC.
Mike Krzyzewski's final game as Duke's head coach was a loss to North Carolina 81–77 in the Final Four. His last game on a college court was a loss to his biggest rival.
Bobby Bowden retired in second place on the all-time wins list because wins were vacated in a cheating scandal. The coach who passed him had already retired when those vacations happened. Bowden lost the record sitting at home.
Reggie Bush won the 2005 Heisman Trophy, returned it in 2010, and USC's trophy case had a visible empty shelf for 14 years. His name was removed from their building.
Army and Navy have played every year since 1890 with two exceptions — both during World War II. Both run the triple option. Navy won 14 consecutive games against Army from 2002 to 2015.
Georgia fired Mark Richt in 2015 with a 145–51 record, zero losing seasons, and two SEC championships. He was fired because he hadn't won a national title. Kirby Smart won two in the next seven years.
VCU ran their 'Havoc' defense to reach the 2011 Final Four as an #11 seed from the Colonial Athletic Association. They had to win a First Four play-in game before the bracket even started. They beat four programs significantly more prestigious than theirs.
The Kansas-Missouri 'Border War' ran from 1891 to 2011 — 120 consecutive years. Conference realignment ended it. Kansas fans burned Missouri in effigy. The universities are 40 miles apart. They have not played since.
In 1988, Oklahoma had a rape, a shooting inside the athletic dorm, a QB arrested for cocaine, and an assistant coach under federal indictment — all in the same year. Barry Switzer resigned that season. He won a Super Bowl with the Cowboys six years later.
Kansas football has not won a conference championship since 1968 — over 55 years. Their basketball team won four national championships in that same span. Both programs play in Lawrence, Kansas. One program is discussed nationally. It is not the football team.
Appalachian State was described in pregame coverage as 'sacrificial lambs' before the 2007 Michigan game. They were ranked #1 in the FCS. They won 34–32.
Colorado's football program has had three full roster rebuilds in five years — once under Mike MacIntyre, once under Deion Sanders, and once after Deion left. The facilities are excellent. The roster stability has not been.
The coach of Georgia Tech in the 222–0 game was John Heisman — the man the Heisman Trophy is named after.
Saint Peter's — a school in Jersey City with a gym that holds 3,200 people — beat #2 Kentucky, #10 Murray State, and #3 Purdue as a #15 seed in 2022 and reached the Elite Eight.
The 2022 North Carolina team beat Coach K in his final game, then lost the national championship to Kansas after leading by 15 at halftime. Their biggest win and biggest collapse happened three days apart.
Stanford's endowment is over $36 billion. In 2020 they announced they were cutting 11 varsity sports. Alumni donated enough to reverse it within months.
Iowa State beats top-5 opponents roughly every two years and loses to unranked teams the following week with similar consistency. This is not a coincidence. This is Iowa State football.
Northwestern lost 34 consecutive football games between 1979 and 1982 — the longest streak in Division I-A history. Several of those losses were by single digits.
Ed Orgeron won the most dominant offensive season in college football history with Joe Burrow, won the national title, went 5–5 the next year, and was paid $17 million to leave. He went fishing in Louisiana.
Frank Beamer pioneered special teams as a program identity. Virginia Tech was known nationally for blocked kicks and trick plays on special teams. The program has not had a signature special teams play since Beamer retired in 2015.
Jalen Watts-Jackson scored the winning touchdown on that 2015 fumble return and immediately suffered a broken hip being mobbed by celebrating teammates. He scored the game-winner and was carted off on the same play.
Gonzaga makes the tournament every year, routinely enters ranked in the top 5, and has never won a national championship. Their 26-consecutive-tournament appearance streak is the longest active in the country.
Miami's 2011 booster scandal was funded by a man running a $930 million Ponzi scheme who was already in federal prison when he reported the violations. He had given players cash, jewelry, and yacht trips for eight years.
South Carolina women's basketball went 38–0 in 2023–24 under Dawn Staley. They won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2024, during which they lost just two total games combined across both seasons.
Ole Miss provided their own phone records to the NCAA as part of a football investigation. Those records accidentally revealed their head coach had been calling escort services from his work phone. The escort calls weren't what the NCAA was investigating.
Prairie View A&M lost 80 consecutive football games between 1989 and 1998 — the longest losing streak in college football history. In 1991, they scored 48 total points all season while giving up 56 per game.
Virginia was the #1 overall seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. UMBC — a school of 10,000 undergrads — beat them by 20. Before tip-off, #1 seeds were 135–0 all time against #16 seeds.
Boise State beat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl using three consecutive trick plays on their final three scoring drives: a hook-and-lateral, a halfback pass, and the Statue of Liberty. Oklahoma was a heavy favorite.
NC State was a double-digit seed in the 1983 tournament. They beat #1 Houston — featuring Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler — on a last-second tip-in. Jim Valvano ran the court for 45 seconds looking for someone to hug.
Alabama was offered to Nick Saban because West Virginia native Rich Rodriguez turned it down to stay at West Virginia. Both men are from West Virginia.
Zach Edey won back-to-back Naismith Player of the Year awards in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, Purdue lost in the first round to a #16 seed. In 2024, they made the Elite Eight. Edey was 7'4" for both tournaments.
Villanova trailed UNC by 4 with 4.7 seconds left in the 2016 championship. Kris Jenkins took one dribble and hit a three as the buzzer sounded. 77–74. The ball left his hands before the buzzer.
Bill Snyder took over Kansas State after they had a 28-game losing streak and a 27% all-time winning percentage. He won 215 games and two Big 12 championships, retired, then came out of retirement at age 75 to coach again.
In the 2013 Iron Bowl, Alabama's kicker was explicitly told not to kick the ball into the end zone. He kicked it into the end zone. Auburn's Chris Davis was standing there. Davis returned it 109 yards. Alabama was #1.
John Wooden won 10 championships at UCLA in 12 years, including 7 in a row. UCLA has not won a national basketball championship since 1995 — 30 years in the same building.
SMU's death penalty slush fund paid 13 players $61,000 between 1985 and 1986. The program was already on probation when those payments were made. The NCAA had warned them. They kept paying anyway.
Urban Meyer announced his resignation from Florida citing serious health concerns in December 2010. He was named head coach of Ohio State eight months later.
Penn State's original team colors were black and pink. Nobody from Penn State brings this up voluntarily.
Oregon State and Washington State operated as a two-school Pac-12 in 2024, broadcasting on The CW Network. Their best-watched game drew 695,000 viewers. The prior Pac-12 had a deal worth $31 million per school per year.
UConn women's basketball won 111 consecutive games from 2014 to 2017 — the longest winning streak in the history of American team sports. They have 11 national championships.
Oregon's duck mascot's head fell off during the team's pregame entrance before a 2025 home game. A crew member chased the headless duck toward the tunnel while holding the severed head.
Iowa's 2024 national semifinal between Caitlin Clark and UConn drew more TV viewers than the men's Final Four games that same weekend. Clark had already broken the all-time scoring record before that game.
Mississippi State declined to pay $180,000 to recruit Cam Newton. Cam went to Auburn. Auburn won the national championship. Newton won the Heisman. Mississippi State went 9–4 and will tell this story forever.
Butler made back-to-back national championship appearances in 2010 and 2011 from the Horizon League and won zero. Only the second school since Ohio State in the 1960s to do that.
100,000 Texas fans cheer every Saturday in a stadium named after a man who played for Oklahoma, still holds Oklahoma records, and is in the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. Hook 'em.
Vanderbilt's 2024 win over Alabama was the Commodores' first over the Crimson Tide since 1984 — a 40-year wait. Their head coach, Clark Lea, was fired at the end of that same season after the win.
George Mason's 2006 Final Four run ended with a loss to Florida 73–58 in the national semifinal. Florida won the title. George Mason was one win from the championship game. The Colonial Athletic Association has never had a team in the title game.
Nebraska won national championships in 1994, 1995, and 1997. They joined the Big Ten in 2011. They have not won a conference title since 1999.
Nick Saban, Lou Holtz, and Jimbo Fisher all attended high school in West Virginia. Their combined national championships: 12. West Virginia's own program has zero.
Bob Knight threw a chair in 1985 and stayed at Indiana 15 more years. He was given a zero-tolerance policy, grabbed a student by the arm, and was fired. He never coached college basketball again.
Under Art Briles, Baylor football systematically failed to report sexual assault allegations involving players. Briles was fired in 2016. The program lost its head coach, athletic director, and university president within weeks.
Ryan Day is 81–10 at Ohio State overall. Against Michigan specifically, he is 1–4. He has the same number of losses to Michigan as the previous four Ohio State coaches combined had in 18 years.
Smokey the coonhound has been Tennessee's mascot since 1953. The original Smokey got the job because he howled when his name was announced. There have been multiple Smokeys since. Each one is selected by the Tennessee Athletic Department and given a jersey number.
Fairleigh Dickinson's head coach previously coached Division III before taking the FDU job. At FDU, he beat #1 seed Purdue — whose star was a 7'4" two-time national player of the year — in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Rutgers won the first college football game ever played in 1869. They have since accumulated over 700 all-time losses and one conference championship.
Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend story dominated national sports media for weeks in early 2013. A Notre Dame linebacker was Heisman runner-up while mourning someone who never existed. He was still a second-round NFL pick.
UCF's self-declared 2017 national championship banner is still displayed in their stadium. The coach who won it left for Nebraska, where he went 16–31. The banner stayed. The NCAA does not recognize it.
Bill Belichick's first college game was a 48–14 home loss to TCU. He also lost his first games as Browns head coach in 1991 and as Patriots head coach in 2000. He is now 0–3 in head coaching debuts at new programs.
In 2007, #5 Michigan lost at home to Appalachian State 34–32. The following week they lost to Oregon 39–7. The week after that they beat Notre Dame 38–0. Same roster.
Texas A&M boosters publicly raised $30 million in NIL money in 72 hours before the 2021 season. A&M beat Alabama that year. Saban complained publicly. Texas A&M went 8–4 the following season.
Mike Krzyzewski's last game was a Final Four loss to North Carolina 81–77. His last game on a college court was against his biggest rival. Duke lost. The game was in New Orleans on April 2, 2022.
Florida State went 13–0 in the 2023 regular season. The CFP committee left them out of the playoff. They went 2–10 the following year.
Pete Carroll was USC's coach during the Reggie Bush violations. He left for the Seahawks before the penalties were announced, won a Super Bowl, and watched USC lose 30 scholarships from Seattle.
Georgia's starters left in the third quarter of the 65–7 national championship win. A backup freshman scored twice in the fourth quarter. TCU never scored again after the first.
VCU reached the 2011 Final Four as an #11 seed running a pressure defense called 'Havoc.' To get into the main bracket, they first had to win a play-in game. They beat Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State, and Kansas to get there.
Missouri and Kansas had played football every year since 1891. Conference realignment ended it in 2011 — 120 consecutive years of games, stopped by paperwork. Kansas fans burned Missouri in effigy. They have not played since.
Oklahoma had a rape, a shooting, a cocaine arrest, and a federal indictment involving staff — all in 1988. Barry Switzer resigned. Six years later he won the Super Bowl with the Cowboys.
Kansas was down 15 at halftime in the 2022 championship. No team had ever come back from that large a deficit in a title game. Kansas won 72–69. UNC gave up 47 points in the second half.
Deion Sanders arrived at Colorado in 2023, overhauled the roster, went 4–8 year one and 9–4 year two, then left for the New York Giants. Colorado had to rebuild the roster again — which is exactly what they did when he arrived.
Cumberland's players were reportedly told not to pick up their own fumbles during the 222–0 game because giving Georgia Tech better field position would result in faster scoring. They left the ball on the ground intentionally.
Saint Peter's plays home games in a gym that holds 3,200 people. In March 2022, they beat #2 Kentucky, #10 Murray State, and #3 Purdue as a #15 seed to reach the Elite Eight. The gym holds 3,200 people.
UNC ran fake classes with no content for 18 years. Over 3,000 students enrolled in those courses. The NCAA investigated for years. They issued no penalties. The courses were technically available to all students. That was enough for the NCAA.
Stanford's marching band walked onto the field in 1982 thinking the game was over. The game was not over. Cal returned the ensuing kickoff through the band using five lateral passes for a touchdown. The band lost the game.
Iowa State beats a top-5 team roughly every two years, then loses to someone ranked 80th the next week. The Cyclones have made it an art form. The formula never changes. The results never change. Iowa State fans have accepted this.
Northwestern's basketball program was founded in 1903. They made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2017. It took 114 years.
Joe Burrow threw for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns in 2019. His 60 TDs were the most by any player in college football history at the time. LSU won the national championship 42–25 over Clemson.
Michigan State lost to Michigan in 2023, players attacked Michigan players in the tunnel after the game, multiple players were charged criminally, and Michigan State suspended those players for the following season. Michigan won the national championship that year.
In the 2021 championship game, Gonzaga entered 26–0, undefeated all season. They lost to Baylor by 16.
Dawn Staley's South Carolina won the 2022 and 2024 national championships. Between those two titles, they lost in the 2023 Elite Eight. They went 101–8 in the three seasons from 2022 to 2024.
Lane Kiffin was informed he was being fired from USC via phone call on an airport tarmac after a road game. He later coached at Alabama, Florida Atlantic, and Ole Miss, where he became one of the most respected offensive minds in the SEC.
Prairie View A&M's 80-game losing streak from 1989–1998 is 80 games longer than the Pac-12's final full season had active member schools.
Virginia players received death threats after the UMBC loss and had to be escorted back to their hotel through a side door.
Despite going undefeated in 2006 and winning the Fiesta Bowl, Boise State was not considered for the national championship. TCU went 13–0 in 2010 and was also excluded. Utah went 13–0 in 2008 and was also excluded.
Alabama's 2017 championship comeback required Saban benching his starter at halftime — trailing 13–0 — and inserting true freshman Tua Tagovailoa, who had never started a college game. Alabama won in OT 26–23.
Purdue beats Ohio State roughly every four years out of nowhere. It happens so reliably that it's called the 'Purdue Cannon.' Ohio State never sees it coming. The cannon fires on schedule.
Auburn has had 7 head coaches since 2012. Bryan Harsin lasted 22 months. Boosters were reportedly unhappy within his first three months.
John Wooden retired in 1975 after winning 10 championships. UCLA won their last title in 1995 under Jim Harrick — 20 years after Wooden left. They have not won since. It has now been 30 years since Wooden's last coaching influence produced a title.
Billy Napier was hired at Florida for $9.2 million per year in 2021. Through 2024, he went 26–25. Florida went 8–5 in 2024, which was considered a successful season relative to expectations.
Penn State wore black and pink before switching to blue and white. The current colors have been used for over 100 years. Nobody knows exactly when the pink was removed. Nobody asks.
Pete Carroll returned to college football coaching in 2024 as Oregon's head coach after coaching the Seahawks for 14 years. He was 73 years old. He won the Pac-12 regular season title in his first season.
Iowa's offense ranked last in the Big Ten in scoring during the 2023 season. Head coach Kirk Ferentz's son was the offensive coordinator. Iowa still went to the Big Ten championship game.
Mississippi State fans ring cowbells at games in Starkville. The NCAA banned cowbells at SEC Championship games and bowl games hosted in neutral venues. Mississippi State fans find ways around the ban. The ban has not worked.
Gordon Hayward's half-court shot in the 2010 championship game hit the backboard, then the front rim, then fell away. Butler lost to Duke by 2. The ball contacted two parts of the goal structure. Both failed.
Texas plays home games in a stadium named after Darrell K. Royal — an All-American quarterback who played for the Oklahoma Sooners.
Vanderbilt beat Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina in the same 2024 season. Those three programs have a combined 18 national football championships. Vanderbilt has zero. Vanderbilt finished 6–6.
Nebraska's 375-game sellout streak started during the Kennedy administration and ended in 2016 against Northwestern — the program that holds the record for the longest losing streak in Division I-A history.
Bob Knight won 902 career games and three national championships at Indiana. He was given a zero-tolerance policy after decades of incidents, violated it by grabbing a student by the arm in a hallway, and was fired. He never coached college basketball again.
Baylor's Scott Drew rebuilt the program from scratch in 2003 — the year after a player was murdered and the head coach ran a cover-up. Drew won the national championship in 2021, 18 years after inheriting a program stripped of scholarships and banned from postseason play.
Woody Hayes coached Ohio State for 28 years and won 5 national championships. He punched an opposing player on the sideline in the 1978 Gator Bowl on national TV. He was fired the next morning.
Tennessee's Jeremy Pruitt gave a recruit cash inside a fast food bag. During the investigation he confirmed multiple times the bag was from Chick-fil-A specifically. He was fired.
Notre Dame last won a national title in 1988. Since then they've appeared in the CFP multiple times, never won it, kept their own TV deal, and refused to join a conference.
Bill Belichick was not elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026, his first year of eligibility. He won six Super Bowls as head coach — the most in NFL history — and still didn't get in on the first ballot.
Appalachian State's Corey Lynch blocked Michigan's potential game-winning field goal in the final 26 seconds in 2007. App State won the FCS national championship that same year.
Texas A&M and Texas went 13 years without playing each other in football — 2011 through 2023. When they reunited in 2024 in the SEC, it was treated as a historic occasion. Texas won 17–7.
Duke basketball has 5 national championships. Duke football's last conference title was 1989. Both share a campus in Durham. The football stadium seats 40,004. One venue is always sold out. It is not the football stadium.
Bobby Bowden went 12–1 in 1999, 11–2 in 2000. His final seasons were mediocre. He retired in 2009. The academic cheating scandal vacations cost him the all-time wins record after he was already gone. He watched another coach pass him from his living room.
Pete Carroll left USC right before the NCAA sanctions hit. He won a Super Bowl. USC lost 30 scholarships. Carroll returned to college football decades later — as a head coach at Oregon, not USC.
Georgia's Kirby Smart is 3–1 in national championship game appearances. He lost one as Alabama's defensive coordinator. He won two as Georgia's head coach. His one title game loss came before he was a head coach.
Oklahoma joined the SEC in 2024 alongside Texas. They had won the Big 12 19 times since 1996. In their first SEC season they went 6–7. The conference adjustment was real.
Kansas football hasn't won a conference title since 1968. Their basketball team has won national championships in 1952, 1988, 2008, and 2022. Both programs are in Lawrence. The basketball trophies outnumber the football conference banners 4 to 0.
The 222–0 game lasted approximately two hours. Cumberland's players reportedly agreed to show up because the penalty for canceling was $3,000 — more than what they'd earn from playing. They showed up. Georgia Tech scored 32 touchdowns.
UNC ran fake classes with no instruction or content for 18 years. The NCAA investigated for years and issued no penalties — because the fake classes were technically available to all students, not just athletes.
Stanford's marching band has its own rule in college football. Bands cannot be on the field until play is dead. That rule exists because of what happened on November 20, 1982. The Stanford band created that rule.
In 2017, LSU lost at home to Troy University 24–21. They had 100,000+ fans in Tiger Stadium. Troy has about 20,000 total students.
Michigan State employed gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar for decades while he abused hundreds of athletes. The university reached a $500 million settlement with over 300 survivors.
Nick Saban grew up near Idamay, West Virginia — a community of about 200 people. His father ran a filling station and ice cream shop. Saban helped at both as a child. He became the most successful college football coach in history.
Purdue's 'Cannon' game against Ohio State happens so reliably that it's scheduled into fans' upset calendars. Purdue entered games as significant underdogs and won in 2018, 2021, and 2023. Ohio State was ranked in the top 10 each time.
Bobby Petrino has been fired from the Atlanta Falcons mid-season, left Louisville without telling his players, was fired from Arkansas after the motorcycle scandal, and has had seven head or coordinator jobs in college and pro football. North Carolina hired him in 2026 as Bill Belichick's offensive coordinator.
Penn State's $60 million NCAA fine following the Sandusky scandal is the largest in college athletics history. It was directed entirely toward child abuse prevention programs.
During Caitlin Clark's career, Iowa women's basketball games sold out arenas across the Big Ten — including road venues — where Iowa was the visiting team drawing bigger crowds than the home team's regular season games.
Mississippi State was allegedly offered a chance to sign Cam Newton for $180,000. They declined. Cam went to Auburn. Auburn won the national championship. Mississippi State went 9–4.
Texas has not won a conference football championship since 2009. From 2014 to 2022, they had six different head coaches.
Nebraska's football program won 3 national championships in 4 years in the 1990s, had the longest home sellout streak in college history, and has not won a conference title since 1999. All three facts are about the same program.
Indiana's 1975–76 team went 32–0 and won the national championship — the last undefeated champion in Division I men's basketball. No team has matched it in 49 years.
The 1926 Ohio State homecoming queen received more votes than any human on the ballot. She was a Holstein cow named Maudine Ormsby. Ohio State confirmed the results and honored them.
Pat Summitt won 8 national championships and went 1,098–208 at Tennessee women's basketball. She is the winningest coach in college basketball history, men's or women's.
Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o finished second in Heisman Trophy voting in 2012 while mourning the death of his girlfriend — who had never existed. He was still drafted in the second round of the NFL Draft.
In 2026, Bill Belichick hired Bobby Petrino — the coach famously fired from Arkansas after a motorcycle affair scandal — as his offensive coordinator at North Carolina.
Sherrone Moore went 5–7 in his first season at Michigan in 2024 — the first losing season for the program since 2020. He was Harbaugh's offensive coordinator. The roster transitioned. The results reflected that.
Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher with a $76 million buyout after he went 30–18 in four seasons. It is one of the largest coaching buyouts in sports history.
USC has had 14 different starting quarterbacks since 2017. In that same period, Alabama produced four Heisman Trophy winners.
Georgia's back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022 required beating Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, and TCU — the four winningest programs of the modern era — in back-to-back postseasons.
Bear Bryant was 0–4–1 against Notre Dame in his career. He never beat them. He won six national championships, is considered the greatest coach of his era, and never beat Notre Dame.
Kansas football's last conference championship was 1968 — shared with Oklahoma. They have not won it outright since 1961. Their basketball program has four national championships.
Georgia Tech beat Cumberland College 222–0 in 1916. Cumberland's team had no coach and was mostly fraternity members. Their strategy was to punt on first down to avoid giving Georgia Tech better field position. It did not work.
The Cal player who scored the touchdown through the Stanford band in 1982 — Kevin Moen — knocked a trombone player named Gary Tyrrell to the ground in the end zone. Tyrrell is still asked about it decades later.
Joe Burrow was a backup at Ohio State before transferring to LSU, where he also had to compete for the starting job. He won the Heisman by the largest margin in history, went 15–0, and was the #1 NFL Draft pick. Ohio State let him go.
Saban's Alabama teams produced 18 first-round NFL draft picks from 2016 to 2020. He retired in January 2024. Alabama missed the CFP in 2024. The pipeline takes time to refill.
Auburn has had 7 head coaches since 2012 including Bryan Harsin (22 months), Gus Malzahn (fired after a national championship appearance), Tommy Tuberville (forced out by boosters while going 9–4), and Hugh Freeze (fired mid-contract).
Caitlin Clark broke Pete Maravich's all-time scoring record in February 2024. Maravich's record had stood since 1970 — 54 years. Clark broke it as a junior and played another full season after that.
Texas joined the SEC in 2024 after spending years threatening to leave the Big 12. They had not won a conference championship since 2009. The SEC did not ease them in gently.
Scott Frost was fired at Nebraska mid-season after losing to Georgia Southern — a program that recently moved up from FCS. Nebraska paid him $15 million. Georgia Southern finished that year 7–6.
Indiana's 1975–76 team went 32–0. Bob Knight coached them. No Division I men's basketball team has gone undefeated and won the national championship since. It has been 49 years.
Ohio State won the 2024 national championship, beating Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame in the CFP. Ryan Day was 1–4 against Michigan that same season. Ohio State fans remain conflicted about both facts simultaneously.
Rocky Top plays after every positive Tennessee play. In losing seasons, it echoes into emptying sections of Neyland Stadium. The song remains upbeat at all times. The score does not.
Notre Dame has not won a national football championship since 1988. They have their own NBC TV deal, refuse to join a conference, and have never won the College Football Playoff.
Bill Belichick hired Bobby Petrino as his offensive coordinator at North Carolina in 2026. Petrino had previously been fired from the Atlanta Falcons mid-season, abandoned Tennessee after one year, and was fired from Arkansas after a motorcycle affair scandal. This is Petrino's seventh head or coordinator job in college or pro football.
Michigan's Big House holds 107,601 people. On September 1, 2007, 109,218 of them watched Appalachian State win.
USC's 2004 national championship — won 55–19 over Oklahoma — was later vacated by the NCAA. The AP Poll never vacated it. USC is simultaneously the AP national champion and not the national champion of 2004, depending on which record you check.
Georgia fired Mark Richt in 2015 despite a 145–51 record and zero losing seasons in 15 years. They hired Kirby Smart, who won back-to-back national championships.
Kansas Bill Self was suspended for the first four games of the 2023 season — one year after winning the national championship — for recruiting violations involving cash payments to recruits.
LSU's 2019 championship roster produced 15 NFL Draft picks the following spring. The roster was generational. It lasted one season. Ed Orgeron was paid $17 million to leave two years after winning the title.
Bear Bryant never beat Notre Dame. He went 0–4–1 against the Fighting Irish across his entire career.
The Kick Six happened because Alabama's kicker was told not to kick it deep. He kicked it deep. Auburn's cornerback was only in the end zone because a deep kick was considered unlikely. Davis returned it 109 yards. Alabama was #1.
Kirk Ferentz has been Iowa's head coach since 1999 — 26 years. Zero conference championships. Zero national championships. He is still the coach.
Darrell K. Royal — born in Hollis, Oklahoma, All-American at the University of Oklahoma, holder of Oklahoma's all-time interceptions record, member of the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame — has his name on the stadium where 100,000 Texas Longhorns fans cheer every home Saturday. Boomer Sooner.
Scott Frost was born in Nebraska, played at Nebraska, and won a national championship there as a player. He was hired to coach Nebraska, went 16–31, and was fired mid-season after losing to Georgia Southern. Nebraska paid him $15 million to leave.
Indiana's breakthrough 2024 season came under Curt Cignetti, who had previously coached James Madison, Elon, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. One hire fixed what 137 years couldn't.
Ohio State averages 13 fewer points per game and 52 fewer total yards against Michigan under Ryan Day compared to every other opponent.
Jeremy Pruitt's tenure at Tennessee ended after an investigation found 18 Level I NCAA violations including cash in fast food bags. The program was fined and had scholarships reduced. Pruitt was never hired as a head coach again.
Notre Dame was founded in 1842 and has played football since 1887. They have had their own NBC deal since 1991. In 34 years and hundreds of millions in exclusive TV money, they have won zero College Football Playoff national championships.
Ohio State and Michigan play every November in what is routinely the most watched regular-season college football game of the year. Michigan won 4 of 5 from 2021 to 2024. Ryan Day won the national championship in that same span.
USC produced Marcus Allen, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and Sam Darnold — and has the most high-profile NCAA violations of any program in the Pac-12 era. Phil Knight donated the money to Oregon. USC donated the scandals.
Kirby Smart served as Alabama's defensive coordinator for 7 years before coaching Georgia. He used what he learned from Saban to beat Saban in the 2021 national championship.
Kansas trailed UNC 40–25 at halftime of the 2022 championship — the largest halftime deficit in title game history. They outscored UNC 47–29 in the second half and won 72–69.
LSU went 15–0 and won the national championship in January 2020. The following season they went 5–5. Same program. Same stadium. Twelve months apart.
Before winning 6 titles at Alabama, Nick Saban went 15–17 as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Auburn hired Hugh Freeze — fired from Ole Miss for calling escort services on a work phone — and he went 6–7 in his first season. In year two, Auburn fired him and hired Bobby Petrino, who was fired from Arkansas after a motorcycle affair scandal. Petrino then left Auburn for North Carolina to be Belichick's OC.
Kirk Ferentz signed a contract extension at Iowa in 2021 that runs through 2029. He has been there since 1999. He will potentially coach Iowa into his 31st consecutive season. He has never won a conference championship.
Texas and Oklahoma have played since 1900. Oklahoma became a state in 1907. The rivalry began when Oklahoma was still a territory. Texas was beating a non-state in football for seven years.
Nebraska's sellout streak of 375 games covered 54 years, 9 presidents, and 6 head coaches. It ended against Northwestern — the same program that holds the record for the longest losing streak in Division I-A history.
Indiana played 137 years of football without a 10-win season. Curt Cignetti — previously at James Madison, Elon, and IUP — fixed that in year one.
Ohio State players traded Big Ten championship rings and game-worn jerseys to a tattoo parlor for free tattoos. Jim Tressel knew for nearly a year, said nothing, then signed a compliance form stating he had no knowledge of violations.
Tennessee's mascot Smokey got the job in 1953 because he howled when his name was called during a halftime vote. The crowd went wild. He was selected because he howled at the right moment.
Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman reached the 2024 national championship game — the program's first since 2012. Notre Dame lost to Ohio State. The program's last national title is still 1988.
Jim Harbaugh left Michigan after winning the national championship to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. He won a Super Bowl there in 2025. Michigan then hired Sherrone Moore, who went 5–7 in year one.
Kirby Smart has beaten Nick Saban's Alabama in three of their meetings since Smart was hired at Georgia. Smart was Saban's defensive coordinator for 7 years. The student has beaten the teacher three times.
LSU's 2019 season: Burrow threw 60 touchdowns, went 15–0, won the Heisman by the largest margin in history, and won the national championship. Then 15 of their players were drafted in the next NFL Draft and the whole thing evaporated.
Alabama's Iron Bowl has ended on the final play with dramatic results in 2010 (4 stuffs from the 1-yard line), 2013 (Kick Six), 2019 (4th and 31 TD with 32 seconds left), and 2022 (walk-off FG by Auburn). The Iron Bowl does not end normally.
Darrell Royal is in both the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. He holds Oklahoma records. His name is on Texas's stadium. Both states claim him.
Woody Hayes punched Clemson's Charlie Bauman in the 1978 Gator Bowl after Bauman intercepted a pass. Hayes was fired the next morning. One punch ended 28 years and 238 wins.
Georgia's Stetson Bennett was a walk-on who had started at a junior college. He won two national championships and was MVP of the title game both times. He was 25 years old when he won his second.
Brian Kelly told Notre Dame players he was staying, accepted the LSU job hours later, wore a fake Cajun accent in promotional videos, and is from Massachusetts. He went 11–2 in his first season at LSU.
After Nick Saban retired, Alabama hired Kalen DeBoer from Washington — whose conference, the Pac-12, had just collapsed. DeBoer went from coaching a national championship game to rebuilding Alabama's dynasty.
After agreeing to install the wishbone in 1971, Bear Bryant called Darrell Royal — who played for Oklahoma, whose records still stand in Norman, whose name is on the Texas stadium — to ask how to install it. Bryant went 11–1 that season.
The 2013 Iron Bowl ended on the Kick Six. The 2019 Iron Bowl ended on a 4th-and-31 touchdown with 32 seconds left. The 2010 Iron Bowl ended with Alabama stopped four straight times inside the 1-yard line. The Iron Bowl has ended on the final play roughly every three years.
Darrell Royal's interceptions record at Oklahoma — 18 career picks — has never been broken since 1949. It is still listed in the Oklahoma Sooners' record book. His name is on the stadium where 100,000 Texas fans cheer every Saturday.
'Roll Tide' is used as a greeting, farewell, expletive, affirmation, observation, prayer, and complete standalone sentence by Alabama fans. It is contextually appropriate in every situation, according to the people saying it.
Texas and Oklahoma have played each other in football since 1900. Oklahoma did not become a state until 1907. The rivalry is older than one of the two states involved.
Bear Bryant went 0–4–1 against Notre Dame. He won six national championships. He is considered the greatest college football coach of his era. He never beat Notre Dame.
Darrell Royal holds Oklahoma's all-time career interceptions record with 18, set from 1946–1949. That record still stands in Norman. His name is on Texas's stadium.
Kalen DeBoer's first game at Alabama in 2024 was a 34–13 win over Western Kentucky. His second game was a 42–16 win over South Florida. His sixth game was a 40–35 loss to Vanderbilt. Both the streak and the reality set in quickly.
Kirby Smart worked under Nick Saban at Alabama for 7 years, then beat Saban in a national championship game. Saban trained his own successor. Georgia has won more titles than Alabama in the years since Smart left.
Nick Saban's college roommate at Kent State was Jack Lambert — the Hall of Fame Steelers linebacker who won four Super Bowls.
Bear Bryant got his nickname by wrestling a live bear at a carnival as a teenager for $1. The bear bit his ear. He won. He later became the most successful college football coach of his era.
Alabama was offered to Nick Saban because Rich Rodriguez — also a West Virginia native — turned it down to stay at West Virginia. West Virginia essentially picked Alabama's head coach for them.
Jimbo Fisher learned his trade under Saban at LSU. He won a national championship at Florida State using what he learned. He was fired from Texas A&M with a $76 million buyout. He is currently unemployed.