College football's most hated teams of all-time: Miami, USC, Florida State squads inspired disdain

Jim Harbaugh said it best during Michigan's 2024 national championship run, using "noise" from detractors as fuel for the Wolverines. Amid cries of "cheating" during the NCAA's investigation into the program, the blueblood assumed its seat at the table with an unbeaten season, culminating with the program's first title in 26 years.

Do you think Harbaugh loses sleep over the 10-year show cause he was assessed by the NCAA as punishment for what happened under his watch? Not a wink after Michigan won on the field as the Big Ten's finest, has hardware to show for it and narrowly missed inclusion in our most hated teams of all-time ranking here at CBS Sports. 

Somewhere in the Bayou, Lane Kiffin is digesting this hate piece, knowing there's a good chance 2026 LSU will find a spot in next spring's update if all goes well for the Tigers this season. Keep in mind, college football's most loathed squads all had a few common themes -- great players and a lot of wins.

College football's winningest teams of the CFP era: Ranking every FBS program's record since 2014

Cody Nagel

10. Alabama (2011)

Blame Nick Saban for much of the hate the SEC received for a decade-plus during his illustrious tenure in Tuscaloosa. Universally hated by just about everyone outside of Alabama during his reign, the Crimson Tide won more games from 2010 to 2020 than any program in the country and churned out more first-round picks as well. Saban collected six national titles and countless conference championships over his 17-year reign, but it was Alabama's rematch opportunity with LSU in the 2011 national title game two months after losing to the Tigers, 9-6, that tossed lighter fluid on the fire aimed at taking computers out of the mix to determine college football's championship matchup. Alabama's 21-0 destruction of LSU equaled the third-lowest TV viewership in the 14-year history of the BCS final.

9. Notre Dame (1993)

Another Fighting Irish team (2012) was considered for this spot, but the late Lou Holtz is recognized here after his 1993 team finished second to Bobby Bowden's Florida State Seminoles in the final rankings despite winning head-to-head in the "Game of the Century" earlier that season. Holtz let poll voters hear it, and his pleas indirectly led to the birth of the Bowl Championship Series, a computer-based rankings system used to determine which two teams would play for the national title. Between 1988 and 1993, Notre Dame won 88% of its games and became one of America's teams as a national television staple. But the Irish had plenty of enemies. And those folks still hate the golden domers.

8. Ohio State (2002)

As college football's second most-winningest program of all-time behind the program that will not be named while attached to the Buckeyes, Ohio State has always been a villain. This inclusion is here due to a bit of personal bias, considering this teenage viewer from North Carolina had no dog in the fight, but was baffled by a critical ruling. There are Miami fans still wanting an explanation from Terry Porter on what exactly he saw after Hurricanes ballhawk Glenn Sharpe blanketed Buckeyes wideout Chris Gamble in the end zone, only to be called for defensive pass interference to extend the national championship game into overtime. 

Ohio State would eventually win the game, beating top-ranked Miami, 31-24, to shock the defending national champions. That controversial finish would alter the trajectory of both programs. The "Luckeyes" seemed to always have a flair for the dramatic during Jim Tressel's only national championship season and benefited from several calls -- including that big one -- to be the last team standing. Freshman Maurice Clarett was Ohio State's star, a trash-talking ballcarrier no one seemed to like in the Big Ten or nationally. 

7. Texas A&M (2012)

When your name carries weight around SEC circles more than a decade after the end of your best playing days, your legacy speaks for itself. Johnny Manziel's stardom came before NIL and profiting off individual brands, but he was one of the game's first true firecrackers in the modern era of social media and hot takes. Frat boy vibes were hard to stomach, and Manziel's brazen attitude seemed to rub opposing fans the wrong way, yet he was appointment viewing. The resounding win at Alabama was his defining moment. He played the game recklessly at times, which is part of what made him such a unique face of the sport. He was the lone bright spot of Kevin Sumlin's tenure in College Station despite following a different set of rules from his teammates. Manziel was polarizing -- you either loved or hated the dual-threat quarterback.

6. Oklahoma (2017)

Baker Mayfield made his way to Ohio State's 50-yard line and pulled the unthinkable, planting Oklahoma's flag at the center of the Buckeyes' home turf to claim his territory. The first of several in-season stunts in 2017 that also included a crotch-grab during a win over Kansas, Mayfield was easy to despise. He was a damn good football player -- and winner -- too. The first former walk-on to ever win the Heisman Trophy, Mayfield earned his second All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year nod in 2017 for the loaded Sooners, who crushed TCU in the conference championship before bowing out to Georgia in a double-overtime classic at the Rose Bowl in the College Football Playoff. This was Lincoln Riley's first season as coach, and he quickly became one of the nation's fastest-rising offensive geniuses, a play-caller with relentless tempo and aggression that opposing defensive staffs did not appreciate.

5. Florida (1996)

Before Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer's hated success at Florida, there was Steve Spurrier. The Fun-N-Gun was his specialty, and just about every quarterback in Gainesville he had could throw it around the yard to what seemed like a conveyor belt of high-end wide receivers during his tenure. This 1996 team was different, though. Spurrier's slick-talking at the microphone was abundant behind the prowess of Heisman-winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel, who guided the Gators to five wins over top-15 teams and a national championship. The Head Ball Coach was due at Florida to get a ring after five previous top-10 finishes without a title, and much to everyone's chagrin, he came through against Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, 52-20.

4. Auburn (2010)

These Tigers stand as one of the SEC's most hated teams ever. In a setting made for reality TV, Cam Newton captivated viewers with his Heisman-level athleticism on the field and his never-ending saga off of it. Kicked out at Florida before starring in the JUCO ranks, Newton landed at Auburn pre-NIL as a transfer and was Gene Chizik's claim to fame. Much like Jameis Winston and Johnny Manziel, Newton was vilified by opposing fans, and many anxiously awaited his moment of failure. But it never came. Newton won the SEC and directed his team to an unblemished national championship season, recording one of the single-most impressive campaigns in the sport's history. Newton earned 729 first-place Heisman votes, a then record-setting margin, with the next closest player being Andrew Luck (78).

3. Florida State (2014)

First came the Heisman Trophy and an unbeaten run to a national championship as a redshirt freshman. Then, "free" crab legs from Publix during spring practice the following season. Jameis Winston was strikingly flamboyant as Florida State's face of the program and was the primary factor in all the hate for the preseason top-ranked Seminoles in 2014. Those anticipating Florida State to be upset weekly didn't find pleasure until an unexpected College Football Playoff implosion inside the Rose Bowl against Oregon that snapped the Seminoles' nation-leading 29-game winning streak. Many of Winston's most epic career quotes came during his NFL tenure. However, he offered up soundbite gold after his turnover-filled outing against the Ducks.

"It hurts badder than whatever you can imagine," Winston said after losing for the first time in his career as a starter. "But the good thing is we live to fight another day. But it ain't over yet."

It was over, actually. Winston declared for the 2015 NFL Draft a few days later and was the eventual No. 1 overall pick.

2. USC (2005)

As this was being put together with input and dialogue with other colleagues, one colleague questioned the level of hate associated with the Trojans during the Pete Carroll era with the Heisman tandem of Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. Hopping in the time machine and circling back to the not-so-distant past, the truth is, every other elite program wanted to be USC, but none had two Heisman winners on their respective rosters capable of taking over games at any moment.

This USC team squashed the competition and featured one of the most explosive offenses of all time, scoring 50 or more points seven times. Everyone knew about the win streak, and East Coasters were often glued to TVs every Saturday for late-night action when the Pac-10 was still a thing! My college football viewing life only spans three decades or so with vivid memories, but USC-Texas had the biggest buildup of any BCS title game, and it delivered as Vince Young and the Longhorns won in the closing seconds, snapping USC's 34-game run at the top.

As you can see from the 2025 season numbers for USC and Texas, that national championship game pit two of college football's most lethal offenses ever, and that final did not disappoint -- ending with Young's heroics near the goal line in the closing seconds.

1. Miami (1986)

The birth of "The U" under Jimmy Johnson is when the Hurricanes truly became college football's bad boys. On a team loaded with future NFL talent, Johnson essentially didn't believe in suspensions and handled all disciplinary action "in-house" -- whatever that meant during a time of little to no NCAA regulation. That included several slap-on-the-wrist penalties for alleged shoplifting and fraud infractions involving his top talent. Miami's swag wasn't enough in the national championship game against Penn State after the Hurricanes infamously stepped off the plane in military fatigues. Heisman-winning Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde threw five interceptions, and the Hurricanes fell, 14-10, for their only loss of the season. Over five seasons with the Hurricanes, Johnson went 52-9 with a national title in 1987 and three top-3 finishes, putting together one of the greatest runs of all-time. The 1986 team, though, was the nastiest group.