SB Nation

Stanford is the 2nd Best Team of the 2010s (So Far)

Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

Stanford's 66-15 record is good enough to place them at the top of the 2010 decade

Bill Connelly ranked the top 10 FBS programs of each decade, starting with the 1890s. Connelly is a number cruncher, and uses his stats and info to come up with intricate and interesting articles. Well on February 29th, he did it again.

Stanford makes the list only one time and it is in the most recent decade, but not yet finished, of the 2010s. Stanford is ranked as the second best team in the decade in Connelly's S&P+ ratings. Stanford is second to the one and only Alabama and they own the 3rd best record among the teams ranked (Alabama and Oregon have better records).

As for the rest of the teams, Oklahoma, LSU, and Oregon round out the top 5. Then Ohio State, Florida State, Notre Dame, Georgia, and finally Michigan State. Here is some explaining Connelly provides:

Alabama's surge, which began in 2008, has been as good as anything we've ever seen. At 98.4 percent, the Tide's current percentile average is higher than even Bryant's best decade (1970s) and ties what FSU did in the 1990s. Now Saban's squad just has to keep it up. The 2010s still have another four seasons to go.

No. 1 on this list is anything but surprising. No. 2, however? While Urban Meyer's Ohio State, Bob Stoops' Oklahoma, Les Miles' LSU, Chip Kelly's and Mark Helfrich's Oregon, and Jimbo Fisher's FSU have all had elite runs, no team has been as steadily great as Stanford. And that's even with the Cardinal's brief step backward in 2014.

Some other Pac-12 schools that are listed in the top 10 teams of every decade are: USC (1920s [#1], 1970s [#4], 2000s [#5]), UCLA (1950s [#4], 1980s [#8]), Colorado (1990s [#10]), and Utah (1930s [#5]).

With Stanford performing on the recruiting trail, Stanford should remain in the top 10 to finish out the decade.

Team Shop

  • Stanford Cardinal Red Sports Chair
    $109.99 Buy Now navigateright
  • Stanford Cardinal Picnic Table - Cardinal
    $143.95 Buy Now navigateright
  • Stanford Cardinal Black Sports Chair
    $109.99 Buy Now navigateright
X
Log In Sign Up

If you currently have a username with "@" in it, please email support@voxmedia.com.

forgot?
forgot?
Log In Sign Up

Forgot password?

We'll email you a reset link.

If you signed up using a 3rd party account like Facebook or Twitter, please login with it instead.

Forgot username?

We'll email it to you.

If you signed up using a 3rd party account like Facebook or Twitter, please login with it instead.

Forgot password?

If you signed up using a 3rd party account like Facebook or Twitter, please login with it instead.

Try another email?

Forgot username?

If you signed up using a 3rd party account like Facebook or Twitter, please login with it instead.

Try another email?

Almost done,

By becoming a registered user, you are also agreeing to our Terms and confirming that you have read our Privacy Policy.

Join Rule Of Tree

You must be a member of Rule Of Tree to participate.

We have our own Community Guidelines at Rule Of Tree. You should read them.

Join Rule Of Tree

You must be a member of Rule Of Tree to participate.

We have our own Community Guidelines at Rule Of Tree. You should read them.

Authenticating

Great!

Choose an available username to complete sign up.

In order to provide our users with a better overall experience, we ask for more information from Facebook when using it to login so that we can learn more about our audience and provide you with the best possible experience. We do not store specific user data and the sharing of it is not required to login with Facebook.