10 defunct college football teams that should be reborn

Despite the soaring cost of doing business in the college football world, more and more teams want to join the top tier of the sport.

In the past five years, no fewer than eight schools (James Madison, Jacksonville State, Sam Houston, Kennesaw State, Delaware, Missouri State, North Dakota State and Sacramento State) have moved up to the Football Bowl Subdivision. That raises the total membership in the sport's highest classification to a whopping 138 teams.

What's a few more?

With that in mind, we suggest 10 defunct college football programs that should be revived below.

Boston University Terriers

In 1997, Boston University's football program, playing in Division I-AA (now known as the Football Championship Subdivision), came to a controversial, ugly end. After university officials announced the program would be shuttered at the end of the season, players wore plain white jerseys during their next game in protest.

"Most of the players wore white socks, used adhesive tape to cover the small B.U. logo near their left hip, and limited the scarlet to their helmets," the New York Times reported.

The next week, following the last home game in program history — a 33-8 win over Massachusetts — campus police pepper-sprayed fans who had congregated near a set of goal posts.

The Terriers had played intercollegiate football for more than a century at the time of the team's dissolution, boasting five Yankee Conference championships in the 1980s and '90s.

Denver Pioneers

Denver's football team existed from 1885 to 1960 before then-chancellor Chester Alter and the school's trustees eliminated it due to prohibitive costs.

"It is not feasible to continue a single intercollegiate athletic activity which produces an annual deficit of about $100,000," Alter said at the time, per the Associated Press.

Angry DU students burned Alter in effigy on the school's football field after the trustees' decision became final.

Denver U. is best known for men's hockey, where it's won a record 11 national titles, including three in the past five seasons as a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

Colorado is home to only three major college football teams (Colorado, Colorado State and Air Force). How about adding a fourth in the state's largest city?

George Washington Colonials

A Southern Conference member from 1941 to 1966, George Washington boasts Pro Football Hall of Famer Tuffy Leemans (we can't go a day without his name coming up in conversations), one of two players in NFL history with at least 3,000 rushing yards, 2,000 passing yards and four interceptions. 

With a wealthy alumni base that includes Washington Nationals owner Mark Lerner, Peloton co-founder Tom Cortese and several lawmakers across the political spectrum, GW has enough people to seek assistance in reconstructing the football team from the ground up.

And years from now, when conference realignment has left the ACC with Air Force and Hawai'i as its only members, the Colonials can bring the league back to its roots along the Eastern seaboard.

Gonzaga Bulldogs

Gonzaga, a men's basketball powerhouse for decades, has been absent from the football field since 1941. The university's most famous NFLer, Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Green Bay Packers running back Tony Canadeo, was just the third player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season (1949).

Already a Pac-12 member, Gonzaga could have instant access to the FBS level. Who knows? One day, Gonzaga may be the best college program without a national title in two sports.

Pacific Tigers

Super Bowl-winning coaches Pete Carroll and Tom Flores played for Pacific, which dropped its storied football program following the 1995 season after seven years in the Big West.

Despite being the springboard to several former NFL pros, including nine Pro Bowlers, two All-Pros and the 1960 draft's No. 2 overall pick, running back Dick Bass, the program fell on hard times beginning in the late 1970s. Over Pacific's final 18 seasons before the team disbanded (1978-95), it posted just one winning record, going 6-5 in 1994.

With a total enrollment of just 4,396 at its Stockton campus, it would be one of the smaller FBS schools, but the University of Tulsa, which competes in the American Conference, is even smaller with 4,154 total students. So, it's doable. And with its impressive array of former NFL stars, it would be great to revive that pipeline in the 21st century.

Sewanee Tigers

This is for all those wanting college football to get back to its roots. Let's bring Sewanee back to the Southeastern Conference. So what if it only has 1,590 students?

After playing as an independent from 1902-21, The University of the South joined the mega 21-team Southern Conference ahead of the 1922 season, and 12 years later, it spun off with 12 others to form the SEC.

There, the Tigers were Vanderbilt before the Commodores became the conference's laughingstock, going 13-46-1 overall and not winning a single SEC game in seven seasons (0-36).

These days, Sewanee competes in Division III as a member of the Southern Athletic Association.

Chicago Maroons

In January 2026, Indiana became the first top-level college football program to win 16 games since the University of Chicago, which did so when the Wright brothers were building kites, not planes. 

Formerly in the Big Ten (when it was called the Western Conference), the Maroons were a juggernaut at the turn of the 20th century, winning 79.5 percent of their games with nine 10-win seasons from 1895-1909.

The Maroons' Jay Berwanger won the first Heisman Trophy in 1935, but the school halted play in 1940. Chicago revived its football program in 1969 and joined the NCAA's Division III four years later. They remain Division III members of the Midwest Conference today.

Tampa Spartans

The Spartans had a brief but productive stint in major college football, winning 10 games and the Tangerine Bowl under future Ohio State coach Earle Bruce in 1972. The following offseason, the Houston Oilers selected Tampa defensive lineman John Matuszak with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft.

The program lasted only one year more before university officials canceled the team ahead of the 1975 season, citing financial strain.

In the years since, Tampa has become the top D-II baseball program. This past season, the Spartans won their record 11th national title while becoming the first D-II team to win three consecutive championships.

Like Denver in hockey, if Tampa could bottle that success into a football revival, it could be one of the hottest tickets in town. Watch out, USF.

UT Arlington Mavericks

Situated in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, UT Arlington's lack of a football program might be surprising for a state that can't get enough pigskin. One can imagine several conferences would be eager to add that large media market to its collection.

UTA is the fifth-largest university in the Lone Star State and already sponsors 16 D-I sports, all as a WAC member. In spring 2027, the university will become the first in the state to offer D-I women's flag football. 

"Football is king in Texas; we all know that," university president Jennifer Cowley said when announcing flag football in May 2025. Next, it's time to bring back Mavericks tackle football for the first time in over 40 years.

Wichita State Shockers

Wichita State is the American Conference's only member without a football program. The Shockers joined the conference in 2017 but haven't fielded a football team since 1986. More recently, it's become better known for men's basketball, receiving seven consecutive NCAA Tournament bids from 2012-18.

But back in the day, the Shockers won five Missouri Valley Conference football titles, and helped launch the coaching career of NFL legend Bill Parcells.

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Yardbarker editor Thomas Neumann contributed to this article.