HOW IT WORKS: Obviously I’m not going to say exactly how it works, but it centers around a few things. First, preseason ratings, the least important factor, that will actually go down to zero after week eight, obviously the more data we have, the less the computer needs to rely on a start rating. Secondly, it relies on margin of victory and Bill Connely’s “Five Factors” of football for each game. Whether you win or not has absolutely ZERO impact on the rating, or at least very little. The difference between a one point win and a one point loss is the same as the difference between a one point win and a three point win. So you may notice Ohio State above Oklahoma and Oklahoma State above TCU.

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Washington
5. Clemson
6. Penn State
7. Wisconsin
8. Auburn
9. Georgia
10. Notre Dame
11. Oklahoma State
12. TCU
13. USC
14. Virginia Tech
15. USF
16. Washington State
17. Michigan
18. NC State
19. Iowa
20. Kansas State
21. UCF
22. Miami
23. Mississippi State
24. Texas A&M
25. Stanford

Conference Power Rankings (Average Rank)

1) ACC – (#38.8)
2) Big Ten – (#39.2)
3) SEC – (#39.7)
4) Big 12 – (#40)
5) Pac-12 – (#41)
6) AAC – (#70)
7) MWC – (#89)
8) MAC – (#93)
9) Conference-USA (#101)
10) Sun Belt (#102)