1996 Final Rankings

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 1996:

1. Florida Gators (12-1) - 1.0
2. Florida State Seminoles (11-1) - 2.2
3. Arizona State Sun Devils (11-1) - 3.6
4. Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1) - 3.9
5. Nebraska Cornhuskers (11-2) - 4.8
6. Penn State Nittany Lions (11-2) - 6.7
7. North Carolina Tar Heels (10-2) - 7.3
8. BYU Cougars (14-1) - 7.5
9. Colorado Buffaloes (10-2) - 9.1
10. Virginia Tech Hokies (10-2) - 10.1
11. Syracuse Orange (9-3) - 11.3
12. Washington Huskies (9-3) - 12.0
13. Tennessee Volunteers (10-2) - 12.1
14. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-3) - 14.1
15. Kansas State Wildcats (9-3) - 15.8
16. Army Black Knights (10-2) - 15.9
17. Alabama Crimson Tide (10-3) - 17.9
18. Miami Hurricanes (9-3) - 18.6
19. Iowa Hawkeyes (9-3) - 19.5
20. Michigan Wolverines (8-4) - 20.4
21. ECU Pirates (8-3) - 21.8
22. Texas Longhorns (8-5) - 22.7
23. Wyoming Cowboys (10-2) - 23.3
24. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (8-3) - 24.0
25. Auburn Tigers (8-4) - 24.6
26. Virginia Cavaliers (7-5) - 25.3
27. LSU Tigers (10-2) - 25.9
28. West Virginia Mountaineers (8-4) - 26.4
29. Wisconsin Badgers (8-5) - 27.8
30. Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-5) - 31.3
31. Rice Owls (7-4) - 31.6
32. USC Trojans (6-6) - 32.2
33. Air Force Falcons (6-5) - 32.8
34. Northwestern Wildcats (9-3) - 33.6
35. San Diego State Aztecs (8-3) - 35.0
36. Michigan State Spartans (6-6) - 36.0
37. Texas A&M Aggies (6-6) - 38.1
38. Navy Midshipmen (9-3) - 38.7
39. UCLA Bruins (5-6) - 39.8
40. Oregon Ducks (6-5) - 40.5
41. Colorado State Rams (7-5) - 41.0
42. Arizona Wildcats (5-6) - 41.7
43. Nevada Wolf Pack (9-3) - 43.9
44. Houston Cougars (7-5) - 44.0
45. South Carolina Gamecocks (6-5) - 45.0
46. Utah Utes (8-4) - 46.0
47. Georgia Bulldogs (5-6) - 46.1
48. Stanford Cardinal (7-5) - 48.1
49. California Golden Bears (6-6) - 48.5
50. Clemson Tigers (7-5) - 50.0
51. Miami University RedHawks (6-5) - 50.2
52. Kansas Jayhawks (4-7) - 51.9
53. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-6) - 53.1
54. Ball State Cardinals (8-4) - 53.5
55. Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-6) - 54.0
56. Washington State Cougars (5-6) - 57.1
57. Louisville Cardinals (5-6) - 57.2
58. Cincinnati Bearcats (6-5) - 57.6
59. SMU Mustangs (5-6) - 60.1
60. Ohio Bobcats (6-6) - 60.5
61. Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-7) - 60.7
62. New Mexico Lobos (6-5) - 61.3
63. Arkansas Razorbacks (4-7) - 61.9
64. Indiana Hoosiers (3-8) - 65.2
65. Tulane Green Wave (2-9) - 65.8
66. Memphis Tigers (4-7) - 66.9
67. Missouri Tigers (5-6) - 67.7
68. Utah State Aggies (6-5) - 68.4
69. Ole Miss Rebels (5-6) - 69.0
70. Purdue Boilermakers (3-8) - 70.8
71. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (5-6) - 71.6
72. Oklahoma State Cowboys (5-6) - 73.1
73. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (6-5) - 73.7
74. Boston College Eagles (5-7) - 73.8
75. Baylor Bears (4-7) - 74.1
76. Toledo Rockets (7-4) - 75.3
77. Iowa State Cyclones (2-9) - 77.6
78. Fresno State Bulldogs (4-7) - 79.8
79. Kentucky Wildcats (4-7) - 80.1
(tie) Maryland Terrapins (5-6) - 80.1
81. Idaho Vandals (6-5) - 80.6
82. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-7) - 81.4
83. Pittsburgh Panthers (4-7) - 81.5
84. Oklahoma Sooners (3-8) - 82.3
85. UCF Knights (5-6) - 82.9
86. Central Michigan Chippewas (5-6) - 83.4
87. Illinois Fighting Illini (2-9) - 87.6
88. TCU Horned Frogs (4-7) - 88.6
89. Bowling Green Falcons (4-7) - 89.1
90. UAB Blazers (5-6) - 89.7
91. Vanderbilt Commodores (2-9) - 90.4
92. NC State Wolfpack (3-8) - 90.5
93. Eastern Michigan Eagles (3-8) - 93.6
(tie) North Texas Mean Green (5-6) - 93.6
95. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (5-6) - 95.5
96. Akron Zips (4-7) - 96.0
97. Temple Owls (1-10) - 96.9
98. Arkansas State Red Wolves (4-7) - 98.5
99. San Jose State Spartans (3-9) - 99.4
(tie) Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-8) - 99.4
101. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2-9) - 100.1
102. UNLV Rebels (1-11) - 101.7
103. Western Michigan Broncos (2-9) - 102.7
104. Oregon State Beavers (2-9) - 104.7
105. Hawaii Warriors (2-10) - 104.9
106. Kent State Golden Flashes (2-9) - 105.2
107. UTEP Miners (2-9) - 106.3
108. Boise State Broncos (2-10) - 108.3
109. Duke Blue Devils (0-11) - 109.1
110. New Mexico State Aggies (1-10) - 110.4
111. Northern Illinois Huskies (1-10) - 111.9

Special acknowledgement and thanks to James Howell who provided the game score data used in this analysis on his website at http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~dwilson/rsfc/history/howell/