We had an interesting conversation this morning among our team regarding the best college football team over the last 8 years (since 2000). My immediate answer was Oklahoma, but I am obviously biased. In any case, it was an enlightening discussion with some pretty heated debate. We felt like it was a tie between Oklahoma and USC, with a close runner up being Ohio State. Thanks to our resident college football expert Steven Donnelly for a quick run down on the appropriate stats to help us come up with our final answers! So the second question was why? Why have these teams been so consistently better than other teams in college football over the last 8 years? Here are some of the reasons:

1. Great Head Coach

2. Immediate re-emergence or continuation of a solid tradition; respected program

3. Strength and physical training- worked in the off season to get in shape

4. Know how to win; a desire to compete

5. right players to fit the system (developing players)

6. recruiting the best talent (finding players)

This kind of list has immediate practical application to our worlds of work and ministry, and why some teams succeed and others don't. Also, it was the combination of a great offense and a great defense. This is obvious I know, but think about the teams that are midlevel college programs- Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Michigan State. These teams are usually lopsided towards either offense or defense, and typically have 4 out of the above 6 outlined.

Do you agree with Oklahoma, USC and Ohio State being the top three teams of the decade so far?

What other qualities are key to great teams?