Numbers are like marionettes. Pull the right strings and you can make them dance any way you want. After sending this tweet late last month, the hamster inside my brain that eats nothing but football and extra cheese nachos started churning about what that list would look like if I pulled the scope out to 10 games, then 15, then 20, then 25, and so on.

So I looked it up.

With games coming two weeks and change from now that will jumble all these numbers up, I thought I’d put finger to keyboard to chronicle where the sliding scale of excellence stands across various time periods.

First, a few thoughts:

– Ohio State has been, undoubtedly, the most consistent Power Five program over the past decade and a half. The Buckeyes are the only program – period – to rank among the five best in college football across all standards of measure. Going from one Hall of Fame coach (John Cooper) to another (Jim Tressel) to a future Hall of Famer (Urban Meyer) with just a one-year blip in between will do that for you.

– Let’s give a round of applause for what Jimbo Fisher has built at Florida State. The ‘Noles 46-4 mark over their last 50 games is two games better than Alabama, three better than Oregon and five better than Ohio State.

– How hard it is to sustain greatness over a long period of time: USC (68-8 from 2002-08, excluding 2005) and Texas (69-9 from 2004-09) did not make this list. Anywhere.

– You didn’t realize Marshall and Michigan State are each 18-2 over their last 20 games, did you?

Last Five Games

1. Appalachian State – 5-0

Boise State – 5-0

Memphis – 5-0

Ohio State – 5-0

TCU – 5-0

Last Ten Games

1. Ohio State – 10-0

2. Boise State – 9-1

Clemson – 9-1

Florida State – 9-1

Marshall – 9-1

Michigan State – 9-1

Last 15 Games

1. Florida State – 14-1

Marshall – 14-1

Ohio State – 14-1

4. Michigan State – 13-2

Oregon – 13-2

Last 20 Games

1. Florida State – 19-1

2. Marshall – 18-2

Michigan State – 18-2

4. Ohio State – 17-3

5. Alabama – 16-4

Baylor – 16-4

Central Florida – 16-4

Missouri – 16-4

Oregon – 16-4

Last 25 Games

1. Florida State – 24-1

2. Michigan State – 22-3

Ohio State – 22-3

4. Alabama – 21-4

Baylor – 21-4

Marshall – 21-4

Oregon – 21-4

Last 40 Games

1. Florida State – 37-3

Ohio State – 37-3

3. Alabama – 35-5

Oregon 35-5

5. Northern Illinois – 34-6

Last 50 Games

1. Florida State – 46-4

2. Alabama – 44-6

Oregon 44-6

4. Northern Illinois – 43-7

5. Ohio State – 41-9

Last 100 Games

1. Boise State – 86-14

2. Alabama – 85-15

3. Oregon – 83-17

4. Ohio State – 82-18

5. TCU – 77-23

Last 200 Games

1. Boise State – 173-27

2. Oklahoma – 161-39

3. Ohio State – 158-42

4. Oregon – 153-47

5. LSU – 152-48