Quote:I see the big 3 as being mostly equal when comparing what they've done on the football field. Curious as to what the facts are..
An UF fan comparing their success against FSU is like FSU comparing their success against USF. UF has been around 41 more years than FSU; FSU has been around 50 more years than USF. UF's football program has been in existence for just shy of 110 years. The real comparison should be how UF compares to football programs that have been around for the same period of time. For examples: Alabama's program is 123 years. They have 15 claimed national titles, 4 unclaimed, 1 playoff appearance, 28 conference titles, 34 bowl wins, 851 games won, 57 consensus all-americans. Oklahoma's program is 120 years. They have 7 claimed national titles, 10 unclaimed, 0 playoff appearances, 44 conference titles, 28 bowl wins, 850 games won all time, 5 heisman winners, 75 consensus all-americans.
When compared to programs that have been around as long as UF, one sees how dismal UF has been. 109 years since first season. 3 claimed national titles, none unclaimed. no playoff appearances. only 8 conference titles, 21 bowl wins, 698 games won-all time, 3 heisman winners, 31 consensus all-americans. Put those stats up to FSU, who has been around for half the time, UF's stats still look bad. They both have 3 claimed national championships and 0 unclaimed. FSU has 1 playoff appearance to UF's zero. FSU has 18 conference titles to UF's 8. FSU has 26 bowl wins to UF's 21. UF has the edge in games won 698 over 517. They both have 3 heisman winners. FSU has 42 consensus all-american's to UF's 31.
In all the statistical studies that ranks programs based on their performance, ie. national titles, major bowls, bowl wins, heisman winners, top 10 finishes, draft picks, etc., FSU is always top 10 and ahead in the race of the Florida Big 3. I will give examples. In ESPN's 2007 prestige rankings, BEFORE FSU's dominance where they racked up a national title, a few undefeated seasons, a heisman winner, numerous conference titles and tons of all-american's, ESPN still had FSU way ahead of UF. In this ranking, FSU is 9, Miami 10, UF 15. Athlon Sports recently had a similar statistical study using basically the same criteria. In this, Miami came in 21, UF in 20, FSU in 10. As I said, the FACTS do not lie.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3849468
http://fansided.com/2014/10/18/50-greate...ly-ranked/