2004 Final Rankings

In 2004, Utah was never tested. The first BCS Bowl crashers under Urban Meyer beat everyone they played by at least 14 points. None of the games were even close. But no one could tell how good they were, because they did not play against any really good teams. Even their opponent in the Fiesta Bowl (Pittsburgh) only had the 42nd best season and didn't really deserve to be in a BCS bowl themselves. So very few have made the argument that Utah deserved to be National Champion, because nobody really knew. They may have been the best team in the country, but who could tell? Meanwhile, Auburn seemed to have the biggest complaint, going undefeated through a difficult SEC schedule and being left out of the national championship game.

Well, sorry Tigers (and sorry Trojans for that matter). Our analysis shows that even with the penalties for a weak schedule, Utah had the best season of any team in 2004. Their victories were that consistently impressive - not a single shaky moment all season long - which is tough to do, even against a weak schedule.

In the off-season, we will be running our computer analysis of each of the previous seasons of college football moving backward through time as far as it makes sense to do so. Here are the final rankings from 2004:

1. Utah Utes (12-0) - 1.0
2. USC Trojans (13-0) - 2.1
3. Auburn Tigers (13-0) - 3.0
4. Louisville Cardinals (11-1) - 4.2
5. Oklahoma Sooners (12-1) - 5.3
6. California Golden Bears (10-2) - 6.1
7. Boise State Broncos (11-1) - 7.0
8. Texas Longhorns (11-1) - 7.3
9. Virginia Tech Hokies (10-3) - 9.4
10. Miami Hurricanes (9-3) - 10.3
11. Virginia Cavaliers (8-4) - 11.8
12. Florida State Seminoles (9-3) - 11.9
13. Iowa Hawkeyes (10-2) - 13.4
14. Georgia Bulldogs (10-2) - 14.4
15. Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-4) - 15.2
16. Tennessee Volunteers (10-3) - 16.7
17. Arizona State Sun Devils (9-3) - 17.4
18. LSU Tigers (9-3) - 18.9
19. Ohio State Buckeyes (8-4) - 19.9
20. Fresno State Bulldogs (9-3) - 20.3
21. Michigan Wolverines (9-3) - 20.5
22. Bowling Green Falcons (9-3) - 21.5
23. Purdue Boilermakers (7-5) - 22.0
24. Oregon State Beavers (7-5) - 22.9
25. Florida Gators (7-5) - 25.3
26. Wisconsin Badgers (9-3) - 26.6
27. Texas A&M Aggies (7-5) - 27.4
28. West Virginia Mountaineers (8-4) - 28.9
29. Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-5) - 29.1
30. Boston College Eagles (9-3) - 29.2
31. North Carolina Tar Heels (6-6) - 32.4
32. UTEP Miners (8-4) - 32.5
33. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7-5) - 34.4
34. Northern Illinois Huskies (9-3) - 34.7
35. Arkansas Razorbacks (5-6) - 36.2
36. Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-5) - 36.6
37. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-6) - 36.7
38. UCLA Bruins (6-6) - 38.7
39. Maryland Terrapins (5-6) - 39.6
40. Alabama Crimson Tide (6-6) - 39.9
(tie) NC State Wolfpack (5-6) - 39.9
42. Pittsburgh Panthers (8-4) - 43.2
43. Kansas Jayhawks (4-7) - 43.4
44. Cincinnati Bearcats (7-5) - 44.3
45. Colorado Buffaloes (8-5) - 44.7
46. Clemson Tigers (6-5) - 47.8
47. Penn State Nittany Lions (4-7) - 49.1
48. Stanford Cardinal (4-7) - 49.6
49. Memphis Tigers (8-4) - 49.9
(tie) South Carolina Gamecocks (6-5) - 49.9
51. Toledo Rockets (9-4) - 50.5
52. Iowa State Cyclones (7-5) - 51.2
53. New Mexico Lobos (7-5) - 51.3
54. Syracuse Orange (6-6) - 54.9
55. Miami University RedHawks (8-5) - 56.5
56. Navy Midshipmen (10-2) - 57.2
57. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-7) - 58.0
58. Michigan State Spartans (5-7) - 58.6
59. Connecticut Huskies (8-4) - 58.7
60. Northwestern Wildcats (6-6) - 59.5
61. BYU Cougars (5-6) - 59.9
62. Hawaii Warriors (8-5) - 60.2
63. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (6-6) - 60.5
64. Troy Trojans (7-5) - 61.8
65. Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-6) - 62.9
66. Kansas State Wildcats (4-7) - 63.9
67. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (7-5) - 66.9
68. Missouri Tigers (5-6) - 68.5
69. Washington State Cougars (5-6) - 68.8
70. Oregon Ducks (5-6) - 69.0
71. Marshall Thundering Herd (6-6) - 69.9
72. UAB Blazers (7-5) - 71.4
73. Wyoming Cowboys (7-5) - 72.5
74. Air Force Falcons (5-6) - 73.8
75. Florida Atlantic Owls (9-3) - 74.6
76. TCU Horned Frogs (5-6) - 76.7
77. Ole Miss Rebels (4-7) - 77.1
78. Colorado State Rams (4-7) - 77.2
79. North Texas Mean Green (7-5) - 80.6
80. Arizona Wildcats (3-8) - 81.0
(tie) San Diego State Aztecs (4-7) - 81.0
82. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (5-6) - 82.0
(tie) New Mexico State Aggies (5-6) - 82.0
84. Akron Zips (6-5) - 82.7
85. Indiana Hoosiers (3-8) - 84.1
86. South Florida Bulls (4-7) - 86.1
87. Kent State Golden Flashes (5-6) - 87.6
88. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-8) - 88.0
89. Tulane Green Wave (5-6) - 88.7
90. Illinois Fighting Illini (3-8) - 89.0
91. Baylor Bears (3-8) - 91.1
92. Houston Cougars (3-8) - 91.7
93. Vanderbilt Commodores (2-9) - 95.1
94. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-7) - 95.5
95. Duke Blue Devils (2-9) - 95.7
96. Rice Owls (3-8) - 97.1
97. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (5-6) - 98.5
98. Nevada Wolf Pack (5-7) - 98.6
99. Mississippi State Bulldogs (3-8) - 98.8
100. UNLV Rebels (2-9) - 100.1
101. Kentucky Wildcats (2-9) - 100.4
102. Army Black Knights (2-9) - 100.6
103. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (4-7) - 100.7
104. Ohio Bobcats (4-7) - 103.4
105. Utah State Aggies (3-8) - 105.3
106. SMU Mustangs (3-8) - 106.0
107. Temple Owls (2-9) - 107.1
108. ECU Pirates (2-9) - 107.5
109. Arkansas State Red Wolves (3-8) - 107.7
110. Washington Huskies (1-10) - 109.7
111. Ball State Cardinals (2-9) - 110.6
112. Idaho Vandals (3-9) - 111.2
113. Central Michigan Chippewas (4-7) - 111.5
114. Eastern Michigan Eagles (4-7) - 114.9
(tie) San Jose State Spartans (2-9) - 114.9
116. Buffalo Bulls (2-9) - 115.2
117. Western Michigan Broncos (1-10) - 116.8
118. UCF Knights (0-11) - 118.0