What do all 8 CFB Blue Bloods have in common?

I might add PSU.  Might also consider the Florida schools plus maybe Georgia (even if they aren't exactly traditional)

4 in new B1G, 3 in SEC and one independent. B1G is going to be tough.

Looks like a good list. Nebraska may fall off but I don't think we can deny their blood status.

I think this overweights stuff that happened a very long time ago. I don't think Nebraska can still be considered a blueblood when it (1) hasn't won a conference title in 25 years, (2) ranks outside the top 25 in AD revenue*, and (3) doesn't really have a path back to upper echelon (even if I do think Rhule will do a good job there).

*It kinda sucks that revenue is so important, but I think it has to be considered when talking about modern bluebloods. Per this list, 5 of your 8 bluebloods rank in the Top 10, 2 are not listed due to data unavailability (ND+USC are private), and the last one is Nebraska, which ranks 26th.

I'm a staunch believer there are only 7 blue bloods. No Nebraska.

Penn State is a blue blood. I don't like 'em, but it's true. 

That's a good start. Probably Heismans (min 3) and total titles (min 6, pre AP ok), total wins (850+). Conf titles not as important in my book.

Nebraska feels off here. The rest are the 7 blue bloods in my book. 

I agree with your 8, but also agree with others that I would consider Penn State a blueblood.  I don't think any others would really come close to qualifying by any metric.

"New" bloods would be Miami, Florida State, Florida, LSU, and Georgia.  I also feel like Tennessee belongs in the conversation, but perhaps their on-field results don't measure up to their overall perceived significance.

It’s interesting to look at this from a traditional conference perspective.

PAC = USC

B1G = Michigan and OSU

Big 8 /12 / SWC = Oklahoma, Texas, and Nebraska 

SEC = Bama 

Independent = ND

Miami has won 5 AP titles, 3 of them as an independent, and in 34 seasons of being in a league they won 9 league titles (granted all in the Big East - which coincided with 2 of their national titles and includes their 2001 "greatest team ever")

I think the "any major time in a conference" has to be defined. It seems like a ND carve out, which is fair, but then should absolutely include teams who've spent less than 40 years in a conference - winning 75% or more of your league titles is crazy in any era, and especially crazy as conferences have gotten bigger. Miami and Penn State do, I believe, both fit this criteria - but I wouldn't call Miami a "blue blood" because their whole schtick (much like Oregon) is that they're the new kid on the block, loud, brash and unafraid.

I have a blue blood strategy based on performance, historical performance, fan base and television draw and would include the following:

1.  Michigan

2.  OSU - As much we hate them, we need them

3.  ND - Same

4.  Penn State - I don't care about the formula

5.  Bama

6.  Texas

7.  Georgia

8.  Florida

9.  USC

10.  Tennessee

11.  Oklahoma

12.  LSU

I would love to see these 12 schools leave their current situation and form a super conference.  The TV contract would be enormous.

I left Nebraska off the list because I think the circumstances that made them a blue blood have past them by and they are essentially Iowa.

I have no problem leaving Staee out of this and do not think Minnesota fits the bill but think it would make sense to schedule games with these institutions in recognition of historical rivalry.  Staee will fume but then again we didn't want them in the first place.

Being a winning program generation over generation. 
 

I think once you’ve had 2 consecutive generations (40+ years) of winning culture, you’ve become a blue blood. 
 

Obviously I would start the “blue blood” qualifying talk around the time helmets came around, lol. 

The obvious criteria here is consistent and high level success across multiple eras and coaching regimes.  So, USC, Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Texas, Michigan qualify.  But then Minnesota also qualifies there because if the early and mid 1900's.

Have given this a fair amount of thought and research.

The top 10 teams in all time wins and win % are nearly interchangeable:

Wins - Mich, Bama, The Ohio, ND, Texas, OU, PSU, Nebrasker, UGA, Tenn, USC (that's 11)

% - The Ohio, Mich, Bama, ND, OU, Texas, USC, PSU, Nebrasker, Tenn, FSU, UGA (that's 12)

For me there is an upper tier - the creme, and then a 2nd tier.  That is Michigan, Bama, ND, Texas, USC and yeah The Ohio.  OU certainly has an argument to be in there.  At the millenium Nebrasker was actually 3rd in all time wins.  They are now 8th.  If you look through history it's a bit funny but many were calling the Big10 the Big 2.  But that is really what the Big 8 should always be known for.  Neb & OU simply kicked the shit out of everyone in their conf. for 100 years.  That's not as true in the B1G.  Minny, Wisky, Sparty, Illinois, Iowa (and Chicago) all had sustained solid years of success.  If you look at PSU - they were independent forever - they actually played some decent teams over their history, and a whole lot of nobodys.  They've played nearly 400 games against non FBS schools.  Far more than any of the other top dozen mentioned.  Not neccessarily their fault.  There are a shit ton of colleges in Pennsylvania that play football. 

So to me there isn't some major separation but there def is a line on who is in the upper echelon and who is on the next tier.

Tier 1: Michigan, The Ohio, Notre Dame, Texas, Bama, & USC (they get here on Heismans & All-Americans)

Tier 2: PSU, Nebrasker, OU, UGA

Tier 3: FSU, UF, LSU, Tenn

When I look at this list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_football_teams_by_wins

Everyone in the Top 20 (minus the Ivies and D-III) looks like they belong. Clemson might be new to the party. Auburn maybe isn't consistent enough. But the drop off is significant after that.

Hot ass cheerleaders 

All you youngin’s with the recency bias forgot about the big one - University of Chicago! 

If you spent any major amount of time in a conference you must have at least 30 conference titles in your history

This effectively rewards ND for being independent and punishes all the other former independents (Miami, FSU, PSU, et al.) who had the guts to join a conference.

ND is likely going to go at least 50 years without a national title. The one benefit to being part of a conference is at least winning a conference title if the MNC, BCS or CFP title was out of reach. Losing to OSU sucked in 2004, but the guys on the team still got a conference championship ring.

If you spent any major amount of time in a conference you must have at least 30 conference titles in your history

Maybe my history doesn’t go back far enough, but isn’t ND and Independent?  How do they have 30 conference titles?

Also, to hell with Notre Dame

Georgia's blood may not be blue, but it's damn purple.

Wouldn't argue with any of the names on this list as it is.

There are probably more that should be on the list, though I don't know how they stack up with these specific criteria, which seem to be rather arbitrary; there are others we might consider - such as records, revenue, TV ratings, brand name recognition, recruiting rankings.

Given the changing nature and relative strengths the various conferences over the years, the number of conference championships (30) also seems rather arbitrary.
FSU and Penn State might be arguably on this list (or very near) and they were independent for many of their glory years; and leaving out ND from this list (with no conference championships would be absurd. 

As far as the "smell test" Tennessee, LSU, Washington, and Georgia are some of the names that come close

I think this is also well measured by whether a program’s prominence (an admittedly fuzzy term covering recruiting ease, revenue, media coverage, etc.) significantly wanes during program downturns.

By this measure, I might argue that *zero* blue bloods have either been newly upgraded or newly downgraded since the University of Minnesota football program became downgraded after their last NC in 1960.

Man, hopefully no Rutgers fans wander in here and see this level of disrespect. They invented college football, after all!

It might be ancient history, but you did include ND and Nebraska on your list.