1984 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 1984. (It might be noted that in light of the fact that the Florida Gator program was put on probation for multiple infranctions of NCAA rules mid-season, these results actually confirm the awarding of the National Championship to the BYU Cougars - which at the time was quite controversial):


1. BYU Cougars (13-0) - 2.2
(tie) Florida Gators (9-1-1) - 2.2
3. Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-2) - 3.0
4. Washington Huskies (11-1) - 3.5
5. Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-2) - 5.1
6. Boston College Eagles (10-2) - 6.0
7. Oklahoma Sooners (9-2-1) - 7.4
8. SMU Mustangs (10-2) - 8.9
9. Florida State Seminoles (7-3-2) - 9.0
10. Maryland Terrapins (9-3) - 11.2
11. South Carolina Gamecocks (10-2) - 11.8
12. Arkansas Razorbacks (7-4-1) - 12.1
13. Auburn Tigers (9-4) - 14.3
14. UNLV Rebels (11-2) - 14.7
15. Miami Hurricanes (8-5) - 15.2
16. West Virginia Mountaineers (8-4) - 16.5
17. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-3) - 16.6
18. Cal State Fullerton Titans (11-1) - 17.0
19. Tennessee Volunteers (7-4-1) - 20.5
20. Virginia Cavaliers (8-2-2) - 20.9
21. USC Trojans (9-3) - 21.3
22. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (7-3) - 21.5
23. Clemson Tigers (7-4) - 22.3
24. LSU Tigers (8-3-1) - 24.8
25. Syracuse Orange (6-5) - 26.8
26. Air Force Falcons (8-4) - 27.0
27. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-4-1) - 27.2
28. Kentucky Wildcats (9-3) - 27.8
29. Iowa Hawkeyes (8-4-1) - 28.6
30. Georgia Bulldogs (7-4-1) - 29.3
31. Army Black Knights (8-3-1) - 29.9
32. Bowling Green Falcons (8-3) - 32.5
33. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-5) - 33.1
34. Arizona Wildcats (7-4) - 35.0
35. Texas Longhorns (7-4-1) - 36.2
36. Central Michigan Chippewas (8-2-1) - 37.1
37. Alabama Crimson Tide (5-6) - 37.2
38. UCLA Bruins (9-3) - 37.8
39. TCU Horned Frogs (8-4) - 37.9
40. Virginia Tech Hokies (8-4) - 38.1
41. Hawaii Warriors (7-4) - 38.7
42. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-5) - 39.8
43. Illinois Fighting Illini (7-4) - 42.2
44. Arizona State Sun Devils (5-6) - 44.4
45. Utah Utes (6-5-1) - 44.8
46. Washington State Cougars (6-5) - 45.6
47. Wisconsin Badgers (7-4-1) - 46.0
48. Temple Owls (6-5) - 47.9
49. Baylor Bears (5-6) - 48.5
50. Michigan Wolverines (6-6) - 49.7
51. Purdue Boilermakers (7-5) - 51.5
52. Houston Cougars (7-5) - 52.5
53. Vanderbilt Commodores (5-6) - 53.6
54. Toledo Rockets (8-3-1) - 53.7
55. Stanford Cardinal (5-6) - 55.4
56. Navy Midshipmen (4-6-1) - 56.2
57. Texas A&M Aggies (6-5) - 56.7
58. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-5) - 56.9
59. San Diego State Aztecs (4-7-1) - 60.2
60. Oregon Ducks (6-5) - 60.9
61. Michigan State Spartans (6-6) - 61.1
62. San Jose State Spartans (6-5) - 61.2
63. North Carolina Tar Heels (5-5-1) - 61.9
64. Indiana State Sycamores (9-3) - 63.5
65. Ole Miss Rebels (4-6-1) - 63.8
66. Fresno State Bulldogs (6-6) - 67.0
67. Pittsburgh Panthers (3-7-1) - 68.2
68. Kansas Jayhawks (5-6) - 69.5
(tie) Wyoming Cowboys (6-6) - 69.5
70. Memphis Tigers (5-5-1) - 69.9
71. Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-7) - 70.8
72. Missouri Tigers (3-7-1) - 71.1
73. Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-7) - 72.0
74. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-5) - 73.8
75. Long Beach State 49ers (4-7) - 74.6
76. Miami University RedHawks (4-7) - 75.0
77. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (6-5) - 77.9
(tie) Western Michigan Broncos (5-6) - 77.9
79. NC State Wolfpack (3-8) - 78.2
80. Tulane Green Wave (3-8) - 80.5
81. Kansas State Wildcats (3-7-1) - 82.2
82. Northern Illinois Huskies (4-6-1) - 82.6
83. Illinois State Redbirds (5-6) - 82.8
84. Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-7) - 82.9
85. Colorado State Rams (3-8) - 83.7
86. Kent State Golden Flashes (4-7) - 87.2
87. Ohio Bobcats (4-6-1) - 87.5
88. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (4-7) - 87.9
89. California Golden Bears (2-9) - 88.2
90. New Mexico Lobos (4-8) - 88.7
91. Oregon State Beavers (2-9) - 92.1
92. Pacific Tigers (4-7) - 92.9
93. ECU Pirates (2-9) - 93.3
94. Eastern Michigan Eagles (2-7-2) - 94.1
95. Duke Blue Devils (2-9) - 94.4
96. Iowa State Cyclones (2-7-2) - 96.1
97. Indiana Hoosiers (0-11) - 98.4
98. Ball State Cardinals (3-8) - 99.0
99. Northwestern Wildcats (2-9) - 99.3
100. Utah State Aggies (1-10) - 99.6
101. Cincinnati Bearcats (2-9) - 102.3
102. Louisville Cardinals (2-9) - 103.4
103. UTEP Miners (2-9) - 103.8
104. Colorado Buffaloes (1-10) - 104.0
105. Southern Illinois Salukis (3-8) - 106.4
106. Rice Owls (1-10) - 106.6
107. New Mexico State Aggies (2-9) - 107.5
108. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (3-8) - 109.5
109. Drake Bulldogs (4-7) - 109.7
110. Wichita State Shockers (2-9) - 110.3

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/