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What's Included in the CFE?
Detailed yearly team records, bowl summaries, coaching records, team and individual award and trophy winners, top 10 listings. See summary of what is included.

Conferences and Schools Included

Encyclopedia Preface

Introduction: A Brief History of College Football

Abbreviation Keys

Author's Biographical Sketch

CFE Accolades

See sample conference and team entries:


Southeastern Conference


Navy

Encyclopedia Preface

Attachments are formed at a young age, and my fascination with college football dates to 1946, the first year after World War II, when such storied players as Felix "Doc" Blanchard and Glenn Davis of Army, Johnny Lujack of Notre Dame, Charley Trippi of Georgia, Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice of North Carolina, and Bobby Layne of Texas were making headlines. I had already formed a lifelong attachment to my home-state West Virginia University Mountaineers, but also was a fan of the powerful undefeated Army teams that had won national championships in 1944 and 1945.

The sunny autumn afternoon of November 9, 1946, still lives in my memory. That was the day on which Army, once more unbeaten, faced undefeated Notre Dame before more than 74,000 fans in New York's Yankee Stadium in one of those "game of the century" contests that crop up every decade or so. In those pre-television days, millions of fans throughout the nation listened to the game on radio, and I had expected to be one of those eager listeners. However, I spent a good part of the day playing sandlot football, and when I ran home and warmed up the big living room radio set, I found I was in time to hear only the last couple of plays of that classic 0-0 tie. My disappointment was great, but my interest in college football was even more sharply kindled. Over the next four and a half decades I watched thousands of games (live and on TV) on all levels of play, covered a number as a reporter for The Associated Press and several newspapers, read numerous histories of the sport, and immersed myself in statistics.

Many of the questions I had about various teams could not be researched through any one source. To find the answers I needed to check NCAA tables and guides, individual school media guides, old newspaper accounts, and various books and magazines. Many of these turned out to be unreliable because of typographical or other errors. So I began to collate my own set of statistics and to formulate lists, double-checking to make my information as accurate as possible. In the early 1980s I turned these statistical lists into a practical guide to 105 teams representing the majority of NCAA Division I-A schools and some Division I-AA schools (such as Ivy League members) with notable football pasts. In 1984 this was published as the College Football Almanac.

Later, I expanded the original material into the College Football Encyclopedia, published in 1994. Included were records and highlights of 87 teams (reduced from the original 105 because of length), listing schools by conference affiliation, with a section also on independents. The Encyclopedia covered all members of the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big 8, Big 10, Pacific-10, Southeastern, Southwest, and Western Athletic conferences.

In 1995 I began expanding the Encyclopedia to include much information not contained in the first edition, and to reflect changes in conference affiliations. The 2nd edition includes 88 Division I-A schools plus William & Mary and is complete through the 1998 season. It has sections on each conference and independents, with an introduction containing information and anecdotes about various members, and a list of annual conference champions. The 3rd edition updates all material through the 1999 season and adds Alabama-Birmingham and Nevada to the list of schools included.

• all-time scores for every game played by the school, and individual stars for most seasons; complete bowl records;
• conference championships won (with co-championships indicated by an asterisk);
• final Top 25 rankings in The Associated Press and United Press International polls (the latter replaced by USA Today/Cable News Network in 1991, when the coaches' poll switched from UPI);
• won-lost-tied records against opponents met at least 10 times (totals vary in a few instances when the schools disagree on whether some early games were played or whether to count forfeited contests);
• top coaches' records; and
• a miscellanea section that includes results of the first game played by each school, longest winning or unbeaten streaks, longest winless or losing strings, highest point totals for and against--all-time and since World War II--and individual honors, including complete lists of consensus All-Americans, Academic All-Americans, and winners of the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, Outland Trophy, and Lombardi Award.

• annual winners of the Heisman, Maxwell, Camp, Outland, Lombardi, O'Brien, Butkus, Thorpe, Walker, Groza and Biletnikoff awards;
• Coach of the Year winners;
• annual national champions chosen by The Associated Press and by UPI (the latter replaced by the USA Today/CNN poll in 1991);
• records of coaches who won at least 200 games on the major college level; and
• tables listing top-10 team and individual leaders in various statistical categories.

Air Force (U.S. Air Force Academy), University of Alabama, University of Alabama-Birmingham, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, University of Arkansas, Army (U.S. Military Academy), Auburn University, Baylor University, Boston College, Brigham Young University, University of California, University of Cincinnati, Clemson University, University of Colorado, Colorado State University, Duke University, East Carolina University, University of Florida, Florida State University, Fresno State University, University of Georgia, Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology), University of Hawaii, University of Houston, University of Illinois, Indiana University, University of Iowa, Iowa State University, University of Kansas, Kansas State University, University of Kentucky, Louisiana State University, University of Louisville, University of Maryland, Memphis University, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Miami, University of Minnesota, University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, University of Missouri, Navy (U.S. Naval Academy), University of Nebraska, University of Nevada, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, University of New Mexico, University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, Ohio State University, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Pittsburgh, Purdue University, Rice University, Rutgers University, San Diego State University, San Jose State University, University of South Carolina, University of Southern California, Southern Methodist University, University of Southern Mississippi, Stanford University, Syracuse University, Temple University, University of Tennessee, University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Texas Christian University, University of Texas-El Paso, Texas Tech University, Tulane University, University of Tulsa, UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles), University of Utah, Vanderbilt University, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnical Institute and State University), Wake Forest University, University of Washington, Washington State University, West Virginia University, The College of William & Mary, University of Wisconsin, and University of Wyoming.

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