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Nobody is close to OSU in overall consistency.  I don't know who might be second.

USC. 


USC is second but Ohio State is so far ahead that #2 USC is about as close to #9 Alabama as they are to #1 Ohio State. 

i might go oklahoma. particularly if we're talking consistency within the ap poll (are we? not sure why i was thinking that).

can't seem to find it now, but ou seemed to edge out bama, mich, nd and usc as the fairly clear second most consistently highly ranked team. bama had the #1, but ou was just behind. osu and ou were almost tied for top 5 consistency, osu dominated the top 10, with ou distant second. same with top 25 overall, but mich and nd came into play. i'm sure usc was in the mix for those as well, just can't remember and can't find the data on quick search.

could probably make a case for all the blue bloods, really. some have few down periods and longer dominance, but down periods last a little longer (mich, nd). some have more down periods, but bounce back quicker (bama, ou). not sure where usc falls in those.

and then there's osu, that just doesn't have a down period. not like the rest of us. don't hit the heights, at least not quite as often, but they're always right there.

Luke Fickell

i might go oklahoma. particularly if we're talking consistency within the ap poll (are we? not sure why i was thinking that).

can't seem to find it now, but ou seemed to edge out bama, mich, nd and usc as the fairly clear second most consistently highly ranked team. bama had the #1, but ou was just behind. osu and ou were almost tied for top 5 consistency, osu dominated the top 10, with ou distant second. same with top 25 overall, but mich and nd came into play. i'm sure usc was in the mix for those as well, just can't remember and can't find the data on quick search.

Here is the site and it is great! Very intuitive and easily searched:
https://collegepollarchive.com/football/index.cfm

You are right, all time #1 appearances:

• 140 Bama
• 105 Ohio State
• 101 Oklahoma
• 98 Notre Dame
• 91 USC
• 72 Florida State
• 70 Nebraska
• 68 Miami, FL
• 45 Texas
• 41 Florida

Top-5 appearances:

• 453 Alabama
• 430 Oklahoma
• 421 Ohio State
• 318 Notre Dame
• 309 Michigan
• 296 Nebraska
• 284 USC
• 267 Texas
• 243 Florida State
• 204 Miami, FL

Top-10 appearances:

• 685 Ohio State
• 626 Oklahoma
• 616 Alabama
• 586 Notre Dame
• 549 Michigan
• 518 Nebraska
• 486 USC
• 453 Texas
• 399 Penn State
• 368 Florida State

All time poll appearances (20 for a lot, 10 for some, 25 recently):

• 966 Ohio State
• 903 Michigan
• 882 Oklahoma
• 857 Alabama
• 857 Notre Dame
• 803 USC
• 757 Texas
• 730 Nebraska
• 678 Penn State
• 649 LSU

osu doesn't miss on coaches. it's remarkable. there's a feedback loop, of course. good team in good location is gonna make a good coach look like a better coach. but osu has avoided the mismatch or mistake of a hc.

It is a Chicken and Egg question. 

I agree that Ohio State has had a run of good luck in coaching hires really dating back to at least Paul Brown (pre WWII).

 OTOH, the "floor" created by Ohio State's location helps. Even a mismatch/mistake of a HC still stumbles into enough talent to keep winning at a pretty good clip.

It is a Chicken and Egg question.

I agree that Ohio State has had a run of good luck in coaching hires really dating back to at least Paul Brown (pre WWII).

 OTOH, the "floor" created by Ohio State's location helps. Even a mismatch/mistake of a HC still stumbles into enough talent to keep winning at a pretty good clip.

Lots of schools in similarly positioned locations have missed on coaches