1997 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 1997:

1. Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-0) - 1.0
2. Florida State Seminoles (11-1) - 2.1
3. Michigan Wolverines (12-0) - 3.0
4. Kansas State Wildcats (11-1) - 4.3
5. Florida Gators (10-2) - 5.6
6. Tennessee Volunteers (11-2) - 5.9
7. UCLA Bruins (10-2) - 7.2
8. North Carolina Tar Heels (11-1) - 9.2
(tie) Ohio State Buckeyes (10-3) - 9.2
10. Washington Huskies (8-4) - 9.3
11. Georgia Bulldogs (10-2) - 9.5
12. Washington State Cougars (10-2) - 12.2
13. Auburn Tigers (10-3) - 14.3
14. Colorado State Rams (11-2) - 14.4
15. Arizona State Sun Devils (9-3) - 14.7
(tie) Marshall Thundering Herd (10-3) - 14.7
17. Penn State Nittany Lions (9-3) - 17.2
18. LSU Tigers (9-3) - 18.1
19. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (9-3) - 19.6
20. Ole Miss Rebels (8-4) - 20.3
21. Michigan State Spartans (7-5) - 22.1
22. Texas A&M Aggies (9-4) - 22.3
23. Oregon Ducks (7-5) - 23.9
24. Miami University RedHawks (8-3) - 24.0
25. Iowa Hawkeyes (7-5) - 25.8
26. Purdue Boilermakers (9-3) - 26.0
27. Arizona Wildcats (7-5) - 27.7
(tie) Mississippi State Bulldogs (7-4) - 27.7
29. Syracuse Orange (9-4) - 28.0
30. Clemson Tigers (7-5) - 30.8
31. USC Trojans (6-5) - 31.2
32. Air Force Falcons (10-3) - 34.2
33. Virginia Cavaliers (7-4) - 34.6
34. Colorado Buffaloes (5-6) - 34.7
35. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7-5) - 35.0
36. Ohio Bobcats (8-3) - 36.0
37. Missouri Tigers (7-5) - 36.6
38. NC State Wolfpack (6-5) - 38.3
39. Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-4) - 38.5
40. Toledo Rockets (9-3) - 40.7
41. New Mexico Lobos (9-4) - 40.9
42. Alabama Crimson Tide (4-7) - 41.5
43. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-6) - 42.5
44. West Virginia Mountaineers (7-5) - 42.7
45. Tulane Green Wave (7-4) - 46.0
46. South Carolina Gamecocks (5-6) - 47.2
47. UCF Knights (5-6) - 47.4
48. Wyoming Cowboys (7-6) - 47.5
49. Stanford Cardinal (5-6) - 50.5
50. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (9-2) - 51.5
51. Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-5) - 52.2
52. Cincinnati Bearcats (8-4) - 52.4
53. Navy Midshipmen (7-4) - 52.6
54. Virginia Tech Hokies (7-5) - 54.2
55. Rice Owls (7-4) - 54.4
56. SMU Mustangs (6-5) - 55.0
57. Wisconsin Badgers (8-5) - 55.5
58. Arkansas Razorbacks (4-7) - 55.6
59. Northwestern Wildcats (5-7) - 55.7
60. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-6) - 61.2
61. Kentucky Wildcats (5-6) - 61.5
62. Western Michigan Broncos (8-3) - 61.9
63. BYU Cougars (6-5) - 63.7
64. Nevada Wolf Pack (5-6) - 64.5
65. Utah State Aggies (6-6) - 64.6
66. Fresno State Bulldogs (6-6) - 64.8
67. California Golden Bears (3-8) - 65.5
68. Utah Utes (6-5) - 67.2
69. San Diego State Aztecs (5-7) - 67.9
70. Miami Hurricanes (5-6) - 68.1
71. ECU Pirates (5-6) - 70.5
72. Pittsburgh Panthers (6-6) - 73.1
73. Texas Longhorns (4-7) - 73.8
74. Kansas Jayhawks (5-6) - 74.5
75. Oklahoma Sooners (4-8) - 75.2
76. Vanderbilt Commodores (3-8) - 76.0
77. Oregon State Beavers (3-8) - 77.1
78. Boston College Eagles (4-7) - 77.8
79. Memphis Tigers (4-7) - 79.2
80. Ball State Cardinals (5-6) - 80.2
81. Duke Blue Devils (2-9) - 80.7
82. Eastern Michigan Eagles (4-7) - 82.8
83. Hawaii Warriors (3-9) - 83.2
84. UNLV Rebels (3-8) - 83.6
85. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (5-7) - 85.3
86. Bowling Green Falcons (3-8) - 85.4
87. Idaho Vandals (5-6) - 87.6
88. Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-9) - 87.9
89. UTEP Miners (4-7) - 88.8
90. San Jose State Spartans (4-7) - 89.8
91. Indiana Hoosiers (2-9) - 90.9
92. UAB Blazers (5-6) - 91.3
93. Army Black Knights (4-7) - 93.8
94. Temple Owls (3-8) - 94.2
95. North Texas Mean Green (4-7) - 94.3
96. Maryland Terrapins (2-9) - 95.3
97. Houston Cougars (3-8) - 96.1
98. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (2-9) - 97.8
99. Baylor Bears (2-9) - 98.3
100. Akron Zips (2-9) - 100.2
101. Boise State Broncos (4-7) - 100.3
102. Kent State Golden Flashes (3-8) - 102.6
103. Central Michigan Chippewas (2-9) - 103.8
104. TCU Horned Frogs (1-10) - 103.9
105. Iowa State Cyclones (1-10) - 104.1
106. Louisville Cardinals (1-10) - 105.7
107. New Mexico State Aggies (2-9) - 107.7
108. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (1-10) - 109.0
109. Arkansas State Red Wolves (2-9) - 111.0
110. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (0-11) - 111.1
111. Northern Illinois Huskies (0-11) - 111.3
112. Illinois Fighting Illini (0-11) - 111.4
 
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/