This portion of the list features perennial bowl contenders and even some top finishes mixed with down years. Two teams that made their first appearances this decade make the list, but there's still one out there that will finish in the Top 50. I generally consider anything over 50 and under to be a strong season, so these teams just missed out, but on average a team ranked 80th or lower would make a bowl game.
Here's the List:
75.)
Tulsa (Average Rank: 72.5, PD: 62.4)The Golden Hurricane had a strong start to the decade with three straight bowl appearances. They also had three 10+ win seasons and five toal bowls overall. However, hard times have hit Tulsa with three straight losing seasons and six in their last seven.
74.)Liberty (AR: 71.5, PD: N/A)
The only two years the Flames have been in the FBS, they've finished with at least six wins. They're currently playing in their first bowl game. Liberty has had two different coaches, Turner Gill and Hugh Freeze, and four games tallied against New Mexico State (they've played a home-and-home series both years). Gill abruptly retired before the season citing that he wanted to spend more time with his wife after she was diagnosed with a heart condition.
73.)Washington State (AR:70, PD: 66)
The Mike Leach era has been a wild one with six bowl games, two three-win seasons, weird statements, and the legend of the mustached transfer known as Gardner Minshew. Unfortunately, Minshew found himself in the starting role as the expected starting quarterback, Tyler Hilinski, took his own life at age 21, likely in part to the CTE revealed during his autopsy.
72.) Arizona (AR: 69, PD: 77.9)
Rich Rodriguez led the Wildcats to five bowl games and their first ten win season since 1998 when they went 10-4 in 2014. His success would come to an abrupt end when he was fired before the 2018 season when a lawsuit was announced against him, citing a hostile work environment and sexual harassment. Kevin Sumlin took over and has struggled to match the previous results going 9-15 in his two seasons.
71.) USF (AR: 68.7, PD: 39)
The Bulls had an inconsistent decade that has tumbled into a tailspin. Coming off a strong 2000's, USF has failed to keep it going. Despite a 2010 bowl appearance, Skip Holtz was fired in 2012. After two straight bowls from 2015-16, Willie Taggart jumped ship to Oregon, before going to Florida State, and is now at FAU.
They brought in Charlie Strong who had ties to Florida when he was an assistant with the Gators, but after two bowl games in his first two seasons, the Bulls were starting to implode. After starting 7-0 in 2018, USF finished 7-6, then lost three of the first four in 2019 before ultimately finishing 4-8. Strong was fired and now Clemson assistant Jeff Scott will lead the Bulls in 2020.
70.)
Middle Tennessee State (AR: 68.2, PD: 65.4)The Blue Raiders have just 21 years of FBS experience, but this decade was by far their best. Middle Tennessee State made six bowl appearances and four of those came while Rick Stockstill coached his son Brent. The duo finished with a 30-23 record while Brent threw for 106 touchdowns to just 35 interceptions for his career. 2019 was his first year without him on the sidelines since 2013 and it contributed to their first losing season since 2011.
69.) Southern Miss (AR: 68, PD: 45.5)
The Golden Eagles looked like they were going to continue the previous decades success where they went to nine bowl games in ten years and had played in eight consecutive. They extend that streak to ten games, but would miss out the next three seasons. They were able to rebound and closed the decade with four appearances in the last five seasons.
68.) Georgia Tech (AR: 66.9, PD: 38.4)
The Yellow Jackets posted an amazing string of success as they made a bowl from 1997-2014. Paul Johnson continued what Chan Gaily and George O'Leary had started, but after an 11-3 finish in 2014, Georgia Tech went 3-9. From then on it's been every other year with Johnson retiring at the end of the 2018 season. Geoff Collins came over from Temple where he established a new offense that diverts from the tradition triple-option.
67.) Duke (AR: 66.6, PD: 108.7)
Entering the decade, the Blue Devils had made just three bowls in the previous 50 years. The last came in 1994 and the last time they won was in 1960. That all changed in 2012 when Duke made four straight bowl appearances and finally won in 2015. In 2013 their 10 wins were the most in school history and they've even finished the decade on a three-game bowl win streak with two more victories in 2017 and 2018.
66.) Minnesota (AR: 66, 60.8)
It's been a strange decade for the Gophers who have had success with seven bowl appearances, but can't keep a coach. Tim Brewster was fired after a miserable 2010, health issues forced Jerry Kill off the sidelines for good in 2015, while Tracy Claeys supported a player strike that cost him his job after one season.
Enter P.J. Fleck who started with a 5-7 campaign, before flipping it to 7-5 in 2018, and then in 2019 did the unthinkable. After a sluggish start in which they barely beat South Dakota State (FCS), Fresno State, and Georgia Southern, Minnesota ripped through the Big Ten like gangbusters, jumping out to a 9-0 start. They got to 9-0 with an impressive win over Penn State, but had their dream ended with losses to Iowa and Wisconsin.
65.) UCLA (AR: 65.5, 55)
The Bruins accomplished a rare feat of six bowl games, but only four winning seasons. They once finished 6-8 in 2011 after somehow making it to the first ever PAC-12 Championship and losing to Oregon. They followed that up with a loss to Illinois in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. They closed the decade out with four straight losing seasons.
64.) Fresno State (AR: 64.7, PD: 40)
The Bulldogs made six bowl games and finished with three seasons of 10+ wins, reaching as high as No. 15 in 2013 and a MWC Championship in 2018. The WAC era in Fresno State ended in 2011 when they made the jump to the Mountain West. That was also the same season the Pat Hill era came to a close, as he finished 112-80 in his 14 years.
63.) Nevada (AR: 64.6, PD: 65.9)
The Wolfpack began the decade with a bang. Not only did they win more than ten games for the first time in school history, their 13-1 record got them in the Top 25 for the first time since 1948. Oh and they were led by the WAC Player of the Year, some senior named Colin Kaepernick, who probably didn't have any impact on the NFL.
That run was part of a stretch of eight straight bowl appearances that finally snapped in 2012. They still managed to appear in four more bowls for a total of seven in the decade including back-to-back to close out the decade. They also had their eight game streak against UNLV snapped in 2012. Unlike their bowl success the Rebels have had their number winning the Fremont Cannon in four of the last seven years including the last two.
62.) Troy (AR: 64.5, PD: 52.2)
The Trojans appeared in just four bowl games, but finished the decade 4-0 including 3-0 under new West Virginia coach Neal Brown. In those three seasons, Troy finished with three straight 10+ win seasons. However, they could only claim one Sun Belt title in that time frame thanks in part to the arrival of Appalachian State, who has dominated the conference since they joined in 2014. The Trojans did get a big win against the Mountaineers in 2016 that allowed them to become the first Sun Belt team to crack the Top 25.
61.) UNC (AR: 64.2, PD: 74.1)
Butch Davis had the Tar Heels rolling into the decade as they made three straight bowls from 2008-10, but it all came crashing down when UNC was hit with NCAA violations and Davis ended being fired before the 2011 season. Interim coach Everett Withers guided the team to a fourth straight bowl before Larry Fedora took over. Fedora got off to five great years with four bowl appearances and one winning season during a year when they were not bowl eligible. He would be fired two years later after going 5-18 in that timeframe to lead to the rehiring of former coach Mack Brown.
Brown guided UNC to a bowl game in his first year, but they couldn't pull of the upset against Clemson (21-20) and instead were added to the list of Power 5 schools overwhelmed by Appalachian State.
60.)
Western Michigan (AR: 64, PD: 62.8)"Row the Boat", became one of the biggest catchphrases in 2016 when P.J. Fleck had everyone in the whole country cast their sights on Kalamazoo. They started with wins over Northwestern and Illinois before running the gamut in the MAC to go 13-0 which earned them an appearance in the Cotton Bowl where they put up a good fight against Wisconsin before ultimately losing 24-16.
This was a tremendous turn around from Fleck's first season in which WMU went 1-11. Fleck then left for Minnesota and Tim Lester has continued the success with three straight seasons of .500 football or better to close out the decade. Overall the Broncos made six bowl games and had two 6-6 seasons where they missed out.
59.) Pitt (AR: 63.8, PD: 44.7)
The Pitt Panthers made bowl appearances in nine of the ten seasons this decade and at one point appeared in nine straight from 2008-16. While this is certainly impressive, they've done it with less than stellar results. Pitt has gone just 2-6 in their bowls although many expect them to beat EMU in the Quick Lane Bowl. The Panthers have also not had more than eight wins in any season throughout the decade. It probably didn't help that Todd Graham left for Arizona State after just one season, his replacement, Mike Haywood, never coached in a game after domestic violence claims caused Pitt to fire him, and Paul Chryst left for Wisconsin after three seasons.
58.) Memphis (AR: 61.5, PD:70)
From 2010-13 the Tigers were a dumpster fire, going 10-38 during that time. Justin Fuente found the magic in the second year of their transition to the AAC. Memphis was ranked in 2014 and 2015 to give Fuente the opportunity to leave for Virginia Tech. Mike Norvell didn't skip a beat as they finished with four consecutive winning seasons and an appearance in this year's Cotton Bowl as the top ranked Group of 5 team. Norvell won't be the coach of that game as he is now the head man at Florida State. They're hoping for better luck in that bowl game as they are riding a five game losing streak and our 1-5 for the decade.
57.) Texas (AR: 58.4, PD: 8.9)
Mack Brown had guided the Longhorns to bowls every year since he got their in 1998 until 2010 when Texas came crashing down with a 5-7 season. This was after the Longhorns were the best team of the previous decade. Between Brown, Charlie Strong, and Tom Herman, Texas had just one 10 win season all decade to go with seven bowl appearances. The Strong era was the toughest patch for Texas fans as he went 16-21.
Quarterback Sam Ehlinger declared the Longhorns were back after their 2018 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia. That was not the case as they went 7-5 this year and could be 7-6 if they drop their Alamo Bowl appearance to Utah.
56.) Louisiana (AR: 57.9, PD: 84.8)
The Ragin' Cajuns went 9-4 in every season from 2011-14 that were capped by wins in the New Orleans Bowl. Unfortunately a lot of those games were vacated because of NCAA violations and they would appear in just one more bowl game under Mark Hudspeth, a 2016 loss in the New Orleans Bowl this time. Formerly known as Louisiana Lafayette before the 2013 season, they've found success again under Billy Napier, going 17-10 in his first two seasons.
55.) Northwestern (AR: 57.7, PD: 61.2)
I'm almost positive that Pat Fitzgerald has a lifetime contract with the Wildcats at this point. He replaced Randy Walker, after Walker tragically died from heart attack prior to the 2006 season. Fitzgerald found success towards the end of the decade, but really took off when the calendar hit 2010.
That started a run of seven bowl games in nine seasons, including a three bowl win streak. They also had three 10 win seasons after posting just two from 1892-2009. They've also accomplished something Michigan cannot say, which is make an appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game, when they did so in 2018.
54.) NCST (AR: 56.9, PD: 58)
The Wolfpack have been a model of consistency, but haven't accomplished anything major. NCST has made eight bowl games this decade, but didn't post any seasons with more than nine wins. In a conference dominated by Clemson, nine wins hasn't been anywhere close to an ACC Championship.
53.) Utah State (AR: 56.8, PD: 97.2)
Unlike NCST, the Aggies have had three 10+ win seasons and have cracked the Top 25 twice, reaching as high as No. 14. Utah State was one of the many teams to leave the WAC and join the Mountain West and that transition happened in Gary Andersen's final season in 2012. After a successful stint from Matt Wells led to his departure to Texas Tech, Andersen returned in 2019 and led the Aggies to their eighth bowl game, but they became the first team to lose to Kent State in a bowl game.
52.) Georgia Southern (AR: 55.8, PD: N/A)
The Eagles made their debut in the FBS in 2014 and got off to a great start under Willie Fritz. He went 18-7 in the first two years before heading off to Tulane. Tyson Summers did not find the same success missing bowl games in both seasons after going 5-13 before being fired. Chad Lunsford got things turned around the following season and picked up Georgia Southern's tenth win with a victory over EMU in the Camellia Bowl. They capped the decade with a bowl loss to Liberty in the Flames first ever bowl appearance.
51.)
The Hilltoppers made great improvements after a 0-12 season to close the previous decade. Willie Taggart turned the program around and got them to their first ever bowl game in 2012 before he left for USF. Taggart leaving set up a pattern as Bobby Petrino spent one season in Bowling Green before heading north to Louisville. Jeff Brohm brought the program to its pinnacle when he led them to a 31-10 run and three straight bowl wins before he jettisoned to Purdue. In 2015, the Hilltoppers went 12-2 and cracked the Top 25 for the first time. Mike Sanford lasted two seasons with one bowl appearance before WKU selected Tyson Helton to lead the way.
Helton had a dubious start to his coaching career as he lost his first game to Central Arkansas (FCS), but stunned the SEC when they beat the Razorbacks. Three straight wins helped set up a bowl appearance against Western Michigan.
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