Top 30 for 30 Shows in College Football

Since  2009, ESPN’s began a documentary series that has been one of the best documentary series of all time, not just in the sports world. We take a look at the top 30 for 30 shows about college football, whether it’s on a rivalry, a program’s resurgence, recruiting, or rise-and-fall epics.

Not surprisingly, college football has had some of the most impressive stories told in sports.

Agree? Disagree? I think we all can agree that it’s that special time of year when we need to brush up on our CFB stories, ahead of the season kicking off in about a month.

1. The U: The University of Miami 1980s run (2009, Volume 1) and The U Part 2: (2014, Volume 2)

THE SKINNY: In the early to mid-1970s, the University of Miami football program nearly went belly-up, up financially. By the 1980s — ignited by the genius of former Miami Dolphins assistant coach Howard Schnellenberger — the Hurricanes were nearly untouchable in football. One of the big reasons?

Miami recruited the “State of Miami”, which focused primarily on the three monster recruiting hotbed counties in south Florida — Miami-Dade, Broward (Fort Lauderdale), and Palm Beach, extending all the way up to the I-4 corridor encapsulating Orlando, Tampa Bay, and Daytona Beach. That’s just about all the territory the ‘Canes needed to own the 1980s and early 1990s, and again in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

RELATED: Did Steve Spurrier make a deal with the (Blue) Devil while at Florida?

2. Roll Tide/War Eagle: Auburn-Bama (2011, Volume 1)

THE SKINNY: The fans have poisoned trees on the other’s campus, they don’t speak to their own kin — put simply, Alabama-Auburn divides people like no other college football rivalry. Legendary players have participated, players like Auburn’s Bo Jackson and Alabama’s Derrick Thomas. Plays like the “Kick Six” a few years ago, will go down in college football history as some of the greatest ever.

Along with the great plays and players, many of the coaches may even overshadow the amazing players, as Paul “Bear” Bryant and “Shug” Jordan are icons who were so popular in their day that the current on-campus stadiums use their names. And then there are the numerous national championships spanning decades. This is a good one, folks, and it never disappoints.

Also, you may also enjoy You Don’t Know Bo, which is a look at Jackson’s college career at Auburn and his pro career in baseball and football — before a devasting career changed everything.

3. The Best That Never Was: Marcus Dupree (2010, Volume 1)

THE SKINNY: Recruiting is the lifeblood of college football, and because of that — sometimes rules are bent (or worse). Marcus Dupree was a stellar talent from a hidden town in Mississippi, and he had massive forces jockeying for his hand in signage on national signing day.

It was an unbearable pressure on a young man who had no family experience in this sort of situation, and it got out of hand. Enjoy one of the best — if not the best — stories on the sometimes dark side of recruiting.

4. Trojan War: Pete Carroll’s Span (2015, Volume 3)

THE SKINNY: During the 2000s and early 2010s, no program was as consistently dominant as Southern Cal. The Trojans got just about any player they wanted from any corner of the country, and one of the nation’s top recruiting hotbeds — California — was USC’s to own.

Pete Carroll was the biggest reason. The Trojans had been strong before, but now were winning at a blinding pace. They were 97-19 in nine seasons under Carroll, ranked in the top five in his final eight seasons — but it all came crashing down thanks to NCAA violations and Carroll’s departure to the NFL. Check out the rise and fall of USC football.

5. Brian and The Boz (2012, Volume 2)

THE SKINNY: Brian Bosworth was a branding machine at Oklahoma, and later in the NFL. Some people loved him, some people hated him. ESPN tells the story of his career, his second persona as a wild man, and talks about what led up to the legend.

The “Boz” also takes his son through a storage unit that possesses a lot of his memorabilia.

THE REST OF THE BEST

6. Ghosts of Ole Miss: 1962 Civil Rights etc (2012, Volume 2)

THE SKINNY: Famed author Wright Thompson takes a look at the 1962 Ole Miss team, and how the civil rights movement and deep south sentiments clashed while one of the best teams in Rebels’ history kept winning games. Thompson does a masterful job of outlining the contradictions of the time.

7. Pony Excess: SMU (2010, Volume 1)

THE SKINNY: SMU was once a college football powerhouse in the loaded Southwest Conference. And true to Texas form, every school in the conference did everything it could to dominate. Due to internal rule-breaking, The Mustangs were given a one-year death penalty by the NCAA — a penalty that arguably set them back for more than two decades — and the program still hasn’t fully recovered from the days of being a national powerhouse.

8. The Gospel According to Mac: Colorado Bill McCartney (2015, Volume 3)

THE SKINNY: In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bill McCartney came from Michigan — where he was an assistant — and turned Colorado into a national title contender in the Big Eight Conference. He did an impressive job of selling the university, and he also wore his faith on his sleeve.

9. Youngstown Boys: Jim Tressel years, Maurice Clarett (2012, Volume 2)

THE SKINNY: Jim Tressel turns Youngstown State into an I-AA/FCS national powerhouse, and then moves on to turn Ohio State into a power. While heading up the Buckeyes’ program, he also coaches one of the top running backs of the past 20 years in Maurice Clarett, a Youngstown, Ohio native and star.

10. Catholics vs. Convicts: Miami-Notre Dame (2016, Volume 3)

THE SKINNY: A group of Notre Dame students coins the phrase “Catholics vs Convicts” and prints T-shirts for Fighting Irish fans. Then the money flowed. The problem is, Miami isn’t exactly thrilled about having its program labeled as a bunch of convicts. Check out one of the craziest and unexpected rivalries of the 1980s, and the hatred that ensued.