CFB Most Influential Programs:
#4 Princeton Tigers
School: Princeton Tigers
First Game: November 6th, 1869
Winning Percentage: .665
Appearances in AP/Rank: 29 (95th)
Average AP Ranking: 12.1
National Titles: 28
Claim to Fame: Princeton played in the first ever collegiate football game against Rutgers in 1869.
Why I have them in my Collection: Apart from literally kicking off the sport, Princeton is the only now FCS to be able to claim a national title post AP voting area (1950). Interestingly enough, that makes them the program that has the most claims to Division 1 national football titles. While yes, a lot of those came pre-1906, the program still claimed 7 national titles from 1906 onwards, and remained a staple program as competition got stiffer.
Winning 28 national titles may seem like the only reason Princeton is so high, but like I said, they along with Rutgers literally kicked off the game we know and love today. Were they playing something more akin to soccer? Sure. But, the sentiments were still there.
As mentioned with Harvard and Yale in previous iterations, Princeton was also one of three representatives brought in to fix college football or risk it becoming extinct. There’s no way to adequately stress how important that meeting was for the sport going forward.
With the formation of the Ivy League in 1955, Princeton has remained one of the top programs within the league. As College football moved towards bigger schools, like their Ivy counterparts, Princeton chose to divert resources away from athletics at the highest level, at least on the gridiron. That said, especially recently, Princeton has been one of the most consistent programs in the Ivy League. It is a shame they don’t compete in the FCS playoffs.
Maybe I am putting too much weight on them being one of 2 teams to kickoff American football as a sport, but their counterpart in that game, Rutgers, did not see the same success even in those early years following American football’s inception. Yale has almost as many national titles and was the last Ivy League team to be ranked, but Princeton did edge them in national titles with their 1950 claim. So, I think Princeton, when it comes to being an influencer in college football, is a team that can’t be ignored or understated, especially when compared to peers of their time and beyond.
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