Does Cal's 1920 Wonder Team Belong in Among the 20 Greatest?

Andy Smith's first great squad fails to make the cut on The Sporting News' ranking of the best teams since 1886

Cal's 1920 national championship team | Courtesy of Cal Athletics

The Sporting News published an intriguing story this week that ranks the 20 greatest college football teams in history. It’s a good list, with all 20 entries having completed undefeated national championship seasons.

Coach Tom Osborne’s 1995 Nebraska team, which beat every opponent by at least 14 points and topped Florida 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl, lands at No. 1.

TSN’s 20 panelists were given freedom to vote for any team dating back to 1886, the era in which Yale routinely was winning mythical national championships — 15 of them from 1874 to 1900.

We’re will to wager that any of those Yale squads would have struggled a bit against 2025 national champion Indiana, which checked in at No. 10 on The Sporting News list.

It’s a far different game now, obviously, and the TSN rankings are dominated by teams from the past 30 years. There are six entries from the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s.

The most ancient team on the list is the 1944 Army squad, featuring All-America running backs Glenn “Mr. Outside: Davis and Doc “Mr. Inside” Blanchard.

A mighty team, without a doubt.

Andy Smith | Courtesy of Cal Athletics

Scroll back another generation and you’ll find the 1920 Cal team that kicked off coach Andy Smith’s five-year run of “Wonder Teams.” The Bears went 44-0-4 and won two retroactive national titles over than span, but the 1920 squad stands out.

How do the Bears and Black Knights compare?

Army was 9-0 and outscored its opponents 56.0 to 3.9 points per game. The Black Knights had four shutouts.

Cal, led by Cort Majors, Pesky Sprott and Duke Morrison, was 9-0 and overwhelmed its opponents by an average of 63.8 to 1.8 points per game. The Bears recorded seven shutouts.

Army’s most decisive outcome was an 83-0 rout of Villanova.

Cal topped that in a 127-0 demolition of Saint Mary’s. The Bears outgained the Gaels 558 yards to 6 and forced 16 punts, according to a report in the Oakland Tribune, which referred to the mismatch as “an alleged football game.”

“The score doesn’t tell the story at that — it could have been run up to 200 just as easy,” the story continued. “The truth of the matter is that Andy Smith tried the hold the score down but it couldn’t be done.”

Army had victories over lightweights Brown, Coast Guard and Penn, but also undressed No. 5 Notre Dame 59-0. 

In addition to expected wins over the Olympic Club and Mare Island Marines, Cal blasted Utah 63-0 and blanked Stanford 38-0.

Each team punctuated its season with an impressive victory.

Army closed out its schedule by toppling twice-beaten but second-ranked rival Navy 23-7.

Brick Muller | Courtesy of Cal Athletics

Cal stunned heavily favored and undefeated Ohio State 28-0 in the Rose Bowl, a game that shined a spotlight on Harold “Brick” Muller, who previously won a silver medal in the high jump at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics and went on to earn All-America honors in 1921 and ’22.

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