(Note: This does not include the results of yesterday’s 17-7 win by Texas at Iowa State)
Finally, after four weeks of football, and a lot of schedule reshuffling due to the devastating hurricanes in the South. (A list of ways to pitch in to help that horrific situation in Puerto Rico can be found here). Among the more trivial results of this delay was a long time before each of the college teams played twice – thus allowing for a legitimate strength of schedule metric. Of course, as we learn about the teams, the SoS numbers will get cleaner. Here is a further explainer of the method. So what does the first ranking hold for us? Voila!
W | L | Pts | Scale | SOS | Rank | ||
1 | UCF | 2 | 0 | 0.5476 | 1.000 | 0.5476 | 7 |
2 | Michigan | 4 | 0 | 0.5460 | 0.999 | 0.5460 | 8 |
3 | Oklahoma | 4 | 0 | 0.5238 | 0.982 | 0.5238 | 14 |
4 | TCU | 4 | 0 | 0.5228 | 0.981 | 0.5228 | 15 |
5 | Alabama | 4 | 0 | 0.5172 | 0.977 | 0.5172 | 19 |
6 | Georgia | 4 | 0 | 0.5122 | 0.973 | 0.5122 | 20 |
7 | San Diego State | 4 | 0 | 0.5009 | 0.964 | 0.5009 | 26 |
8 | USC | 4 | 0 | 0.4997 | 0.963 | 0.4997 | 27 |
9 | Navy | 3 | 0 | 0.4790 | 0.948 | 0.4790 | 32 |
10 | Clemson | 4 | 0 | 0.4439 | 0.921 | 0.4439 | 47 |
11 | Texas Tech | 3 | 0 | 0.4329 | 0.912 | 0.4329 | 53 |
12 | Washington | 4 | 0 | 0.4282 | 0.909 | 0.4282 | 56 |
13 | Wake Forest | 4 | 0 | 0.4223 | 0.904 | 0.4223 | 60 |
14 | Wisconsin | 3 | 0 | 0.3871 | 0.877 | 0.3871 | 75 |
15 | Penn State | 4 | 0 | 0.3766 | 0.869 | 0.3766 | 81 |
16 | Duke | 4 | 0 | 0.3545 | 0.853 | 0.3545 | 89 |
17 | UTSA | 3 | 0 | 0.3233 | 0.829 | 0.3233 | 97 |
18 | Ohio State | 3 | 1 | 0.3068 | 0.816 | 0.5568 | 6 |
19 | Utah | 4 | 0 | 0.2979 | 0.809 | 0.2979 | 108 |
20 | Minnesota | 3 | 0 | 0.2938 | 0.806 | 0.2938 | 111 |
21 | Louisville | 3 | 1 | 0.2829 | 0.798 | 0.5329 | 10 |
22 | Maryland | 2 | 1 | 0.2746 | 0.792 | 0.6080 | 4 |
23 | Notre Dame | 3 | 1 | 0.2672 | 0.786 | 0.5172 | 18 |
24 | Memphis | 3 | 0 | 0.2440 | 0.768 | 0.2440 | 124 |
25 | Florida | 2 | 1 | 0.2418 | 0.766 | 0.5751 | 5 |
26 | Miami-FL | 2 | 0 | 0.2283 | 0.756 | 0.2283 | 126 |
27 | Iowa | 3 | 1 | 0.2241 | 0.753 | 0.4741 | 33 |
28 | Virginia Tech | 4 | 0 | 0.2224 | 0.752 | 0.2224 | 127 |
29 | Oklahoma State | 3 | 1 | 0.2107 | 0.743 | 0.4607 | 39 |
30 | Mississippi State | 3 | 1 | 0.2076 | 0.740 | 0.4576 | 40 |
31 | South Florida | 4 | 0 | 0.2037 | 0.737 | 0.2037 | 128 |
32 | Washington State | 4 | 0 | 0.2027 | 0.737 | 0.2027 | 129 |
33 | California | 3 | 1 | 0.1865 | 0.724 | 0.4365 | 50 |
34 | SMU | 3 | 1 | 0.1840 | 0.722 | 0.4340 | 52 |
35 | Vanderbilt | 3 | 1 | 0.1793 | 0.719 | 0.4293 | 54 |
36 | Kentucky | 3 | 1 | 0.1679 | 0.710 | 0.4179 | 64 |
37 | NC State | 3 | 1 | 0.1522 | 0.698 | 0.4022 | 69 |
38 | Indiana | 2 | 1 | 0.1507 | 0.697 | 0.4840 | 31 |
39 | Oregon | 3 | 1 | 0.1478 | 0.695 | 0.3978 | 70 |
40 | Colorado | 3 | 1 | 0.1437 | 0.692 | 0.3937 | 72 |
41 | FIU | 2 | 1 | 0.1382 | 0.687 | 0.4715 | 34 |
42 | South Carolina | 3 | 1 | 0.1378 | 0.687 | 0.3878 | 74 |
43 | LSU | 3 | 1 | 0.1278 | 0.679 | 0.3778 | 79 |
44 | Troy | 3 | 1 | 0.1053 | 0.662 | 0.3553 | 88 |
45 | Houston | 2 | 1 | 0.1050 | 0.662 | 0.4383 | 49 |
46 | Ohio | 3 | 1 | 0.0917 | 0.652 | 0.3417 | 91 |
47 | Auburn | 3 | 1 | 0.0807 | 0.643 | 0.3307 | 94 |
48 | Tennessee | 3 | 1 | 0.0682 | 0.634 | 0.3182 | 100 |
49 | Toledo | 3 | 1 | 0.0676 | 0.633 | 0.3176 | 101 |
50 | Virginia | 3 | 1 | 0.0627 | 0.630 | 0.3127 | 103 |
51 | Texas A&M | 3 | 1 | 0.0599 | 0.628 | 0.3099 | 105 |
52 | Northern Illinois | 2 | 1 | 0.0503 | 0.620 | 0.3836 | 77 |
53 | Michigan State | 2 | 1 | 0.0444 | 0.616 | 0.3777 | 80 |
54 | Marshall | 2 | 1 | 0.0430 | 0.615 | 0.3763 | 82 |
55 | Illinois | 2 | 1 | 0.0392 | 0.612 | 0.3726 | 84 |
56 | Iowa State | 2 | 1 | 0.0372 | 0.610 | 0.3706 | 85 |
57 | Cincinnati | 2 | 2 | 0.0349 | 0.608 | 0.5349 | 9 |
58 | Tulane | 2 | 2 | 0.0261 | 0.602 | 0.5261 | 13 |
59 | Arizona State | 2 | 2 | 0.0219 | 0.598 | 0.5219 | 16 |
60 | Army | 2 | 2 | 0.0100 | 0.589 | 0.5100 | 22 |
61 | Stanford | 2 | 2 | 0.0085 | 0.588 | 0.5085 | 23 |
62 | Purdue | 2 | 2 | 0.0081 | 0.588 | 0.5081 | 24 |
63 | West Virginia | 3 | 1 | -0.0028 | 0.580 | 0.2472 | 122 |
64 | Ole Miss | 2 | 1 | -0.0085 | 0.575 | 0.3248 | 96 |
65 | Appalachian State | 2 | 2 | -0.0290 | 0.560 | 0.4710 | 35 |
66 | Northwestern | 2 | 1 | -0.0377 | 0.553 | 0.2956 | 110 |
67 | Utah State | 2 | 2 | -0.0382 | 0.553 | 0.4618 | 38 |
68 | Southern Miss | 2 | 1 | -0.0427 | 0.549 | 0.2906 | 114 |
69 | Nebraska | 2 | 2 | -0.0430 | 0.549 | 0.4570 | 41 |
70 | Buffalo | 2 | 2 | -0.0458 | 0.547 | 0.4542 | 43 |
71 | Eastern Michigan | 2 | 1 | -0.0480 | 0.545 | 0.2854 | 116 |
72 | Fresno State | 1 | 2 | -0.0550 | 0.540 | 0.6117 | 3 |
73 | North Texas | 2 | 2 | -0.0591 | 0.537 | 0.4409 | 48 |
74 | Georgia Tech | 2 | 1 | -0.0674 | 0.530 | 0.2659 | 120 |
75 | Colorado State | 2 | 2 | -0.0743 | 0.525 | 0.4257 | 57 |
76 | Boston College | 1 | 3 | -0.0751 | 0.524 | 0.6749 | 1 |
77 | Louisiana Tech | 2 | 2 | -0.0786 | 0.522 | 0.4214 | 61 |
78 | UCLA | 2 | 2 | -0.0808 | 0.520 | 0.4192 | 62 |
79 | Western Michigan | 2 | 2 | -0.0820 | 0.519 | 0.4180 | 63 |
80 | Kansas State | 2 | 1 | -0.0865 | 0.516 | 0.2469 | 123 |
81 | MTSU | 2 | 2 | -0.0896 | 0.513 | 0.4104 | 66 |
82 | Temple | 2 | 2 | -0.1044 | 0.502 | 0.3956 | 71 |
83 | Wyoming | 2 | 2 | -0.1115 | 0.497 | 0.3885 | 73 |
84 | Boise State | 2 | 2 | -0.1139 | 0.495 | 0.3861 | 76 |
85 | New Mexico State | 2 | 2 | -0.1363 | 0.478 | 0.3637 | 87 |
86 | New Mexico | 2 | 2 | -0.1465 | 0.470 | 0.3535 | 90 |
87 | Air Force | 1 | 2 | -0.1565 | 0.462 | 0.5101 | 21 |
88 | Texas | 1 | 2 | -0.1610 | 0.459 | 0.5057 | 25 |
89 | Idaho | 2 | 2 | -0.1677 | 0.454 | 0.3323 | 93 |
90 | Miami-OH | 2 | 2 | -0.1724 | 0.450 | 0.3276 | 95 |
91 | Old Dominion | 2 | 2 | -0.1795 | 0.445 | 0.3205 | 99 |
92 | Arkansas State | 1 | 2 | -0.1822 | 0.443 | 0.4845 | 30 |
93 | Ball State | 2 | 2 | -0.1895 | 0.437 | 0.3105 | 104 |
94 | Hawaii | 2 | 2 | -0.1979 | 0.431 | 0.3021 | 106 |
95 | Arizona | 2 | 2 | -0.2031 | 0.427 | 0.2969 | 109 |
96 | Western Kentucky | 2 | 2 | -0.2064 | 0.424 | 0.2936 | 112 |
97 | Central Michigan | 2 | 2 | -0.2077 | 0.423 | 0.2923 | 113 |
98 | UAB | 2 | 2 | -0.2183 | 0.415 | 0.2817 | 117 |
99 | Arkansas | 1 | 2 | -0.2186 | 0.415 | 0.4480 | 46 |
100 | Kent State | 1 | 3 | -0.2201 | 0.414 | 0.5299 | 11 |
101 | Florida Atlantic | 1 | 3 | -0.2235 | 0.411 | 0.5265 | 12 |
102 | Syracuse | 2 | 2 | -0.2271 | 0.408 | 0.2729 | 119 |
103 | Pittsburgh | 1 | 3 | -0.2294 | 0.407 | 0.5206 | 17 |
104 | UNLV | 1 | 2 | -0.2620 | 0.382 | 0.4047 | 68 |
105 | Akron | 1 | 3 | -0.2932 | 0.358 | 0.4568 | 42 |
106 | Oregon State | 1 | 3 | -0.2982 | 0.354 | 0.4518 | 44 |
107 | North Carolina | 1 | 3 | -0.3003 | 0.352 | 0.4497 | 45 |
108 | BYU | 1 | 3 | -0.3137 | 0.342 | 0.4363 | 51 |
109 | Rice | 1 | 3 | -0.3209 | 0.337 | 0.4291 | 55 |
110 | Rutgers | 1 | 3 | -0.3255 | 0.333 | 0.4245 | 58 |
111 | Texas State | 1 | 3 | -0.3329 | 0.328 | 0.4171 | 65 |
112 | Florida State | 0 | 2 | -0.3401 | 0.322 | 0.6599 | 2 |
113 | Tulsa | 1 | 3 | -0.3408 | 0.321 | 0.4092 | 67 |
114 | LA-Monroe | 1 | 2 | -0.3444 | 0.319 | 0.3222 | 98 |
115 | Missouri | 1 | 3 | -0.3665 | 0.302 | 0.3835 | 78 |
116 | South Alabama | 1 | 3 | -0.3760 | 0.295 | 0.3740 | 83 |
117 | San Jose State | 1 | 4 | -0.3773 | 0.294 | 0.4227 | 59 |
118 | Other | 9 | 80 | -0.4048 | 0.273 | 0.4941 | 28 |
119 | Georgia State | 1 | 2 | -0.4137 | 0.266 | 0.2530 | 121 |
120 | LA-Lafayette | 1 | 3 | -0.4346 | 0.250 | 0.3154 | 102 |
121 | East Carolina | 1 | 3 | -0.4496 | 0.238 | 0.3004 | 107 |
122 | Kansas | 1 | 3 | -0.4615 | 0.229 | 0.2885 | 115 |
123 | Connecticut | 1 | 2 | -0.4666 | 0.225 | 0.2001 | 130 |
124 | Coastal Carolina | 1 | 2 | -0.5056 | 0.196 | 0.1611 | 131 |
125 | Baylor | 0 | 4 | -0.5127 | 0.190 | 0.4873 | 29 |
126 | Georgia Southern | 0 | 3 | -0.5338 | 0.174 | 0.4662 | 36 |
127 | UTEP | 0 | 4 | -0.5378 | 0.171 | 0.4622 | 37 |
128 | Bowling Green | 0 | 4 | -0.6361 | 0.096 | 0.3639 | 86 |
129 | Nevada | 0 | 4 | -0.6665 | 0.073 | 0.3335 | 92 |
130 | Charlotte | 0 | 4 | -0.7245 | 0.028 | 0.2755 | 118 |
131 | Massachusetts | 0 | 5 | -0.7618 | 0.000 | 0.2382 | 125 |
Well, clearly we saw THAT coming! How is Central Florida #1 so far? Well, as I will probably note a million times over the season, the rankings only know about this season. The modeling does not know preseason rank – or whether a team should be good? So Central Florida, with a big win at Maryland, who was unbeaten against the rest of its schedule, which included a win at Texas – has done enough to claim the top spot for now. Now, as the season goes along, we will know more about how good the Maryland win really WAS – and Central Florida will continue to have games to win. In reality, they probably do not have enough schedule power in the future to stay here. But for now, yippee!!