Handicapping College Football Bowl Season – Coach’s Win/Loss Records

Handicapping college football during bowl season can be a little tricky. There’s often several weeks between games, and a lot can change during that time. As bettors we try to figure out which teams will be more motivated, and a lot of that starts with the head coach. I decided it would be useful to list the records of all the head coaches for teams ranked in the AP Top 25.

#1 Alabama Crimson Tide

Head coach Nick Saban has been at Alabama since January 4, 2007. During that time the Crimson Tide have appeared in nine bowl games.

Wins: BCS National Championship Game 2009, Capital One Bowl 2010, BCS National Championship Game 2011, BCS National Championship Game 2012, Cotton Bowl 2015, CFP National Championship Game 2015

Losses: Sugar Bowl 2008, Sugar Bowl 2013, Sugar Bowl 2014

#2 Ohio State Buckeyes

Head coach Urban Meyer has been at Ohio State since November 22, 2011. During that time the Buckeyes have appeared in four bowl games.

Wins: Sugar Bowl 2014, National Championship Game 2014, Fiesta Bowl 2015.

Losses: Orange Bowl 2013

#3 Clemson Tigers

Head coach Dabo Swinney has been at Clemson since October 13, 2008. During that time the Tigers have appeared in nine bowl games.

Wins: Music City Bowl 2009, Chick-fil-A Bowl 2012, Orange Bowl 2013, Russell Athletic Bowl 2014, Orange Bowl Bowl 2015.

Losses: Gator Bowl 2008, Meineke Car Care Bowl 2010, Orange Bowl 2011, National Championship Game 2015.

#4 Washington

Head coach Chris Peterson has been at Washington since January 11, 2014. During that time the Huskies have appeared in two bowl games.

Wins: Heart of Dallas Bowl 2015.

Losses: Cactus Bowl 2014

#5: Penn State

Head coach James Franklin has been at Penn State since December 6, 2013. During that time the Nittany Lions have appeared in two bowl games.

Wins: Pinstripe Bowl 2014.

Losses: Tax Slayer Bowl 2015

#6 Michigan

Head coach Jim Harbaugh has been at Michigan since December 30, 2014. During that time the Wolverines have appeared in one bowl game.

Wins: Citrus Bowl 2015.

#7 Oklahoma

Head coach Bob Stoops has been at Oklahoma since December 1, 1998. During that time the Sooners have appeared in 17 bowl games.

Wins: Orange Bowl 2000, Cotton Bowl 2001, Rose Bowl 2002, Holiday Bowl 2005, Sun Bowl 2009, Fiesta Bowl 2010,Insight Bowl 2011, Sugar Bowl 2013.

Losses: Independence Bowl 1999, Sugar Bowl 2003, Orange Bowl 2004, Fiesta Bowl 2006, Fiesta Bowl 2007, National Championship Game 2008, Cotton Bowl 2012, Russell Athletic Bowl 2014, Orange Bowl 2015.

#8 Wisconsin

Head coach Paul Chryst has been at Wisconsin since December 17, 2014. During that time the Badgers have appeared in one bowl game.

Wins: Holiday Bowl Bowl 2015.

#9 USC

Head coach Clay Helton served as interim head coach at USC during the 2013 Las Vegas Bowl after Ed Orgeron quit and again served as interim head coach when Steve Sarkisian was fired in 2015, On November 30th 2015 the “interim” tag was removed and he finished the season with one game remaining which the Trojans lost to Stanford.. During that time the Trojans have appeared in two bowl games.

Wins: Las Vegas Bowl 2015.

Losses: Holiday Bowl 2015.

#10 Florida State

Head coach Jimbo Fisher has been at Florida State since January 7, 2010. During that time the Seminoles have appeared in six bowl games.

Wins: Chick-fil-A Bowl 2010, Champs Sports Bowl 2011, Orange Bowl 2012, National Championship Game 2013

Losses: Rose Bowl 2014, Peach Bowl 2015.

#11 Colorado

Head coach Mike MacIntyre has been at Colorado since December 10, 2012. During that time the Buffaloes haven’t appeared in any bowl games until this year’s Alamo Bowl. He was the head coach at San Jose State from 2010-2012 and won his only bowl appearance.

#12 Western Michigan

Head coach P.J. Fleck has been at Western Michigan since December 17, 2012. During that time the Broncos have appeared in two bowl games.

Wins: Bahamas Bowl Bowl 2015,

Losses: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl 2014.

#13 Oklahoma State

Head coach Mike Gundy has been at Oklahoma State since January 3, 2005. During that time the Cowboys have appeared in 10 bowl games.

Wins: Independence Bowl 2006, insight Bowl 2007, Alamo Bowl 2010, Fiesta Bowl 2011, Heart of Dallas Bowl 2012, Cactus Bowl 2014.

Losses: Holiday Bowl 2008, Cotton Bowl 2009, Cotton Bowl 2013, Sugar Bowl 2015.

#14 West Virginia

Head coach Dana Holgorsen has been at West Virginia since December 22, 2010. He was hired at that time as offensive coordinator but it was also announced he would replace then head coach Bill Stewart in 2012. On June 10th 2011 Stewart resigned and Holgorsen was named head coach immediately.  During that time the Broncos have appeared in four bowl games.

Wins: Orange  Bowl 2011, Cactus Bowl 2015

Losses: Pinstripe Bowl 2012, Liberty Bowl 2014

#15 Louisville

Head coach Bobby Petrino has had two stints as the head coach at Louisville. The first was from 2003-2006. On January 7, 2007 he left Louisville to accept the head coaching position with the NFL Atlanta Falcons. On January 9, 2014, he returned to Louisville and signed a seven year contract. During his time as head coach at Louisville, the Cardinals have appeared in six bowl games.

Wins: Liberty Bowl Bowl 2004, Orange Bowl 2006, Music City Bowl 2015.

Losses: GMAC Bowl 2003, Gator Bowl 2005, Belk Bowl 2014.

#16 Stanford

Head coach David Shaw has been the head coach at Stanford since January 2011 when at the time head coach Jim Harbaugh left to become head coach of the NFL 49ers. During that time the Cardinals have appeared in five bowl games.

Wins: Rose Bowl 2012, Foster Farms Bowl 2014, Rose Bowl 2015.

Losses: Fiesta Bowl 2011, Rose Bowl 2013

#17 Auburn

On December 4, 2012, Malzahn was announced to replace Gene Chizik as the head coach of Auburn University shortly after winning the Sun Belt Championship as head coach at Arkansas State.  He did not coach in the Bowl game that year. During that time the Tigers have appeared in three bowl games.

Wins: Birmingham Bowl Bowl 2015.

Losses: National Championship Game 2013, Outback Bowl 2014.

#18 Virginia Tech

Head coach Justin Fuente has been at Virginia Tech since November 29 2015.  He was in charge at Memphis from 2012-2015 and appeared in one bowl game in 2014 where Memphis was victorious in  the Miami Beach Bowl.

#19 LSU Tigers

Head Coach Ed Orgeron took over in mid season after the firing of Les Miles. He has since had his “interim” label removed, after finishing the season with five wins in seven games. He was in charge at USC in 2013, and Ole Miss from 2005-2007, but didn’t coach in any bowl games with those two teams.

#20 Florida

Head coach Jim McElwain has been at Florida since December 4, 2014. During that time the Gators have appeared in one bowl game.  .

Losses: Citrus Bowl 2014.

#21 Iowa

Head coach Kirk Ferentz has been at Iowa since December 2, 1998. During that time the Hawkeyes have appeared in 13 bowl games.

Wins: Alamo Bowl 2001, Outback Bowl 2003, Capital One Bowl 2004, Outback Bowl 2008, Orange Bowl 2009, Insight Bowl 2010  .

Losses: Orange Bowl 2002, Outback Bowl 2005, Alamo Bowl 2006, Insight Bowl 2011, Outback Bowl 2013, Tax Slayer Bowl 2014. Rose Bowl 2015.

#22 Pittsburgh

Head coach Pat Narduzzi has been at Pittsburgh since December 23, 2014. During that time the Panthers have appeared in one bowl game.

Losses: Military Bowl 2014

#23 Temple

Head coach Matt Rhule was at Temple since December 17, 2012. During that time the Owls have appeared in one bowl game. Rhule has since taken a job at Baylor, and interim coach Ed Foley will fill in at the Military Bowl.

Losses: Boca Raton Bowl 2002.

#24 Nebraska

Head coach Mike Riley has been at Nebraska since December 4, 2014. During that time the Cornhuskers have appeared in one bowl game.

Wins: Foster Farms Bowl 2015.

 #25 South Florida

Charlie Strong was named head coach of South Florida on December 11 2016 after being fired as head coach of Texas on November 26th of the same year. He served as head coach at Florida after Ron Zook was fired midway through the 2004 season and then went on to coach Louisville from 2010-2013 and at Texas from 2014-2016. Louisville appeared in four bowl games while he was the head coach and he won three of them but lost his only bowl appearance in 2014 as head coach at Texas.

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