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ESPN Names College Football’s Most Unbreakable Record

Originally posted on The Spun | By Chris Rosvoglou | Last updated Jun 21, 2025 11:01 AM ET

With the 2025 college football season two months away, ESPN has released a list of the sport's most unbreakable records.

In 1988, legendary running back Barry Sanders set a single-season NCAA record with 2,628 rushing yards. Although that cracked ESPN's list, Ashton Jeanty came awfully close to dethroning Sanders last season. The Heisman finalist ran for 2,601 yards during Boise State's run to the College Football Playoff.

Florida State's incredible run under the late Bobby Bowden also received recognition from ESPN. The Seminoles finished top five in every final AP poll from 1987 to 2000. That type of consistency won't be seen these days.

That being said, ESPN believes the most unbreakable record in college football belongs to Oklahoma.

BRISTOL, TN - SEPTEMBER 10: ESPN's Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit on set during College Gameday prior to the game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Tennessee Volunteers at Bristol Motor Speedway on September 10, 2016 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Shroyer/Getty Images)

Though it sounds too crazy to be true, the Bud Wilkinson-led Oklahoma teams won 47 consecutive games. This winning streak started in 1953 and lasted for nearly five seasons.

"Nearly 70 years later, nobody has come close to that streak. Toledo won 35 straight from 1969 to 1971. Miami (2000-02) and USC (2003-05) each won 34 in a row. Even those star-studded Georgia teams under Kirby Smart failed to seriously challenge the mark. The Bulldogs won 29 in a row during their run to back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022," ESPN's Chris Low wrote.

"With the College Football Playoff era upon us and teams having to play as many as four postseason games to win the national title, not to mention conference championship games, it's difficult to imagine a team going what would amount to three straight seasons unscathed. This is a record teams will be chasing for a long time, maybe forever."

In today's era of NIL, it's tough to envision a program rattling off 47 straight wins. There's too much roster turnover for that to happen.

Do you believe Oklahoma's 47-game winning streak is the most unbreakable record in college football?

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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