It’s been nearly 20 years since major college football introduced overtime and stopped deciding games by the oh-so-unAmerican “tie.” Since then, which Power 5 conference programs have historically done the best? It depends on how you look at it. In terms of sheer number of overtime wins, three SEC teams are at the top here – Missouri (12 overtime wins), Tennessee (11 OT wins) and Arkansas (10 OT wins). They all have winning percentages in the 64%-71% range.
But there are five programs which have won at higher rates while playing less OT games:
| Name | Overtime wins | Overtime losses | Overtime win % | |
| 1 | UCLA | 8 | 1 | 88.89% |
| 2 | Michigan | 10 | 2 | 83.33% |
| 3 | Ohio State | 7 | 2 | 77.78% |
| 4 | Nebraska | 9 | 3 | 75.00% |
| 5 | Iowa | 6 | 2 | 75.00% |
So there you go, UCLA and Michigan fans. I’ll let you decide who among you is King of OT.
In the meantime, I want to point out that Hawkeye and Commodore fans should be hanging their heads in shame right now. Their programs have been the worst in OT:
| Program | Overtime wins | Overtime losses | Overtime win % | |
| 1 | Iowa State | 3 | 9 | 25.00% |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 2 | 5 | 28.57% |
| 3 | Indiana | 2 | 5 | 28.57% |
| 4 | Wake Forest | 3 | 7 | 30.00% |
| 5 | Purdue | 4 | 8 | 33.33% |
Now that we’ve had fun analyzing comprehensive overtime stats, why stop there? Let’s keep the clock ticking by looking at the the best-peforming teams in multi-overtime situations. As I write on SaturdayDownSouth.com, Arkansas takes the cake here:
| Program | 2 thru 7 OT wins | 2 thru 7 OT win % | 2 thru 7 OT losses | |
| 1 | Arkansas | 7 | 87.50% | 1 |
| 2 | Missouri | 6 | 85.71% | 1 |
| 3 | Syracuse | 6 | 60.00% | 4 |
| 4 | California | 5 | 83.33% | 1 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 4 | 57.10% | 3 |
| 6 | Oregon | 4 | 66.67% | 2 |
| 7 | Ohio State | 4 | 100.00% | 0 |
| 8 | Iowa | 4 | 100.00% | 0 |
| 9 | Northwestern | 3 | 60.00% | 2 |
| 10 | Nebraska | 3 | 75.00% | 1 |
| 11 | Pittsburgh | 3 | 33.33% | 6 |
| 12 | TCU | 3 | 60.00% | 2 |
| 13 | West Virginia | 3 | 50.00% | 3 |
| 14 | Minnesota | 3 | 60.00% | 2 |
| 15 | Duke | 3 | 75.00% | 1 |
| 16 | Iowa State | 3 | 50.00% | 3 |
| 17 | Utah | 2 | 66.67% | 1 |
| 18 | Texas A&M | 2 | 50.00% | 2 |
| 19 | Michigan | 2 | 50.00% | 2 |
| 20 | UCLA | 2 | 66.67% | 1 |
| 21 | Washington | 2 | 66.67% | 1 |
| 22 | Washington State | 2 | 66.67% | 1 |
| 23 | Georgia | 2 | 66.67% | 1 |
| 24 | Michigan State | 2 | 40.00% | 3 |
| 25 | Texas Tech | 2 | 100.00% | 0 |
| 26 | Rutgers | 2 | 40.00% | 3 |
| 27 | Boston College | 2 | 66.67% | 1 |
| 28 | Miami | 2 | 66.67% | 1 |
| 29 | Penn State | 2 | 50.00% | 2 |
| 30 | Oklahoma | 2 | 100.00% | 0 |
| 31 | Kansas State | 2 | 66.67% | 1 |
| 32 | Auburn | 1 | 33.33% | 2 |
| 33 | NC State | 1 | 25.00% | 3 |
| 34 | Clemson | 1 | 33.33% | 2 |
| 35 | Virginia Tech | 1 | 25.00% | 3 |
| 36 | Arizona State | 1 | 33.33% | 2 |
| 37 | Notre Dame | 1 | 25.00% | 3 |
| 38 | Baylor | 1 | 33.33% | 2 |
| 39 | Louisville | 1 | 20.00% | 4 |
| 40 | Stanford | 1 | 100.00% | 0 |
| 41 | Maryland | 1 | 100.00% | 0 |
| 42 | Virginia | 1 | 50.00% | 1 |
| 43 | Illinois | 1 | 33.33% | 2 |
| 44 | Wake Forest | 1 | 50.00% | 1 |
| 45 | Kansas | 1 | 25.00% | 3 |
| 46 | Oregon State | 1 | 25.00% | 3 |
| 47 | Kentucky | 1 | 25.00% | 3 |
| 48 | USC | 1 | 16.67% | 5 |
| 49 | Arizona | 1 | 33.33% | 2 |
| 50 | North Carolina | 1 | 50.00% | 1 |
| 51 | Florida | 1 | 100.00% | 0 |
| 52 | Vanderbilt | 1 | 50.00% | 1 |
| 53 | South Carolina | 1 | 100.00% | 0 |
| 54 | Florida State | 1 | 50.00% | 1 |
| 55 | LSU | 0 | 0.00% | 2 |
| 56 | Ole Miss | 0 | 0.00% | 2 |
| 57 | Colorado | 0 | 0.00% | 3 |
| 58 | Alabama | 0 | 0.00% | 3 |
| 59 | Georgia Tech | 0 | 0.00% | 1 |
| 60 | Wisconsin | 0 | 0.00% | 1 |
| 61 | Mississippi State | 0 | 0.00% | 1 |
| 62 | Purdue | 0 | 0.00% | 2 |
| 63 | Oklahoma State | 0 | 0.00% | 3 |
| 64 | Indiana | 0 | 0.00% | 3 |
| 65 | Texas | 0 | 0.00% | 0 |
How about just single overtime performances? That is, who’s toughest when things get clutch but not too clutch? Again, we have SEC teams at the top in LSU (8-4 all-time in single-overtime games) and Auburn (7-5) but also again we see UCLA and Michigan at the top in terms of winning percentage.
UCLA is defeated in six single-overtime games, while Michigan has lost only one in seven.
