For years, Columbia University's football team was among the worst in the NCAA. But now the Columbia Lions are in the middle of an extraordinary turnaround that could result in their first winning season in more than two decades. Our Michael Scotto has the story.

This is Columbia University's football team practicing this week — blocking,  kicking, running plays. For years, nobody on campus cared much about what happens here at Kraft Field. However, this year is different.

"There's a lot of buzz on campus," said Wide Receiver Josh Wainwright. "You'll be walking around in a Columbia football shirt and people will come up to you and congratulate you on the 5-and-0 start and whatnot. What I heard that hasn't happened much here in the past." 

Columbia's football program has long been a doormat. Losing was the rule, not the exception. In 2013 and 2014 the Lions did not win any games at all.

But they've opened this season with five straight victories — their best start in 21 years. 

"Columbia Football is not an historically successful program," said student newspaper sports editor Christopher Lopez. "And yet Bagnoli has almost single-handedly driven this change. And I think that now, going forward, Columbia will be an Ivy League force to be reckoned with. "

Bagnoli is head coach Al Bagnoli, now in his third season at Columbia. Before that, he was at the University of Pennsylvania for 23 years, where he won nine Ivy League titles. So why did he switch to a team that hasn't won it all since 1961?

"This is the ultimate challenge in football," Bagnoli said.

People who follow the Lions say Bagnoli has made the team better by recruiting superior athletes, improving training facilities and changing attitudes.

"Before you can win games, you have to think you can win games," Bagnoli said. "We have plenty of reasons to say oh, geez, because we got behind by 14 points twice against a very good team, so that's kudos to our kid that their mindset is much different. 

Last weekend, a huge homecoming crowd turned out — going wild when the Lions came from behind to beat Bagnoli's old team in overtime, 34-31.

"Before, it was kind of like if we had a close game coming down the stretch, it was like oh, we're in this position, oh, we could win this," said Quarterback Anders Hill. "Now we expect to win."

There are five more games left in the season. This Saturday Columbia faces a big test when it goes up against Dartmouth, a powerhouse team that is also undefeated.