1985 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 1985:

1. Oklahoma Sooners (11-1) - 1.4
2. Michigan Wolverines (10-1-1) - 2.6
3. Air Force Falcons (12-1) - 2.9
4. Tennessee Volunteers (9-1-2) - 3.9
5. Miami Hurricanes (10-2) - 5.6
6. Fresno State Bulldogs (11-0-1) - 7.2
7. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-2-1) - 7.9
(tie) Florida Gators (9-1-1) - 7.9
9. Texas A&M Aggies (10-2) - 9.2
10. UCLA Bruins (9-2-1) - 9.3
11. Iowa Hawkeyes (10-2) - 10.4
12. Penn State Nittany Lions (11-1) - 11.2
13. Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-3) - 13.4
14. Maryland Terrapins (9-3) - 14.2
15. Auburn Tigers (8-4) - 14.9
16. Baylor Bears (9-3) - 16.7
17. Arkansas Razorbacks (10-2) - 17.1
18. BYU Cougars (11-3) - 17.4
19. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-3) - 18.7
20. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-2-1) - 20.1
21. Bowling Green Falcons (11-1) - 21.0
22. Georgia Bulldogs (7-3-2) - 21.5
23. Florida State Seminoles (9-3) - 22.4
24. LSU Tigers (9-2-1) - 25.1
25. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-6) - 25.2
26. Arizona State Sun Devils (8-4) - 26.1
27. Arizona Wildcats (8-3-1) - 27.0
28. Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-5) - 27.9
29. Texas Longhorns (8-4) - 30.0
30. Michigan State Spartans (7-5) - 30.3
31. Colorado Buffaloes (7-5) - 31.3
32. Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-4) - 31.6
33. SMU Mustangs (6-5) - 32.2
34. Army Black Knights (9-3) - 32.7
35. Purdue Boilermakers (5-6) - 36.0
36. Illinois Fighting Illini (6-5-1) - 36.4
37. USC Trojans (6-6) - 36.9
38. Utah Utes (8-4) - 38.6
39. West Virginia Mountaineers (7-3-1) - 40.2
40. Washington Huskies (7-5) - 41.1
41. Virginia Cavaliers (6-5) - 41.7
42. Syracuse Orange (7-5) - 42.3
43. Miami University RedHawks (8-2-1) - 42.5
(tie) Southern Miss Golden Eagles (7-4) - 42.5
45. Central Michigan Chippewas (7-3) - 44.8
(tie) Clemson Tigers (6-6) - 44.8
47. Kansas Jayhawks (6-6) - 47.2
48. Oregon Ducks (5-6) - 48.7
49. Pittsburgh Panthers (5-5-1) - 49.1
50. Washington State Cougars (4-7) - 49.5
51. Virginia Tech Hokies (6-5) - 50.4
52. Navy Midshipmen (4-7) - 50.5
53. Kentucky Wildcats (5-6) - 53.1
54. Wisconsin Badgers (5-6) - 54.8
55. Hawaii Warriors (4-6-2) - 55.4
56. North Carolina Tar Heels (5-6) - 55.7
(tie) San Diego State Aztecs (5-6-1) - 55.7
58. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-5) - 58.0
59. Colorado State Rams (5-7) - 59.4
60. Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-6) - 60.6
61. Ole Miss Rebels (4-6-1) - 61.0
62. Temple Owls (4-7) - 61.2
63. Cincinnati Bearcats (5-6) - 63.1
64. Boston College Eagles (4-8) - 64.4
65. Stanford Cardinal (4-7) - 65.4
66. California Golden Bears (4-7) - 66.0
67. South Carolina Gamecocks (5-6) - 66.9
68. Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-7) - 68.1
69. Indiana Hoosiers (4-7) - 69.7
70. Pacific Tigers (5-7) - 71.5
71. Duke Blue Devils (4-7) - 72.2
72. Memphis Tigers (2-7-2) - 72.5
73. Iowa State Cyclones (5-6) - 73.4
74. Western Michigan Broncos (4-6-1) - 73.7
75. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-7) - 74.0
76. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2-8-1) - 74.1
77. Long Beach State 49ers (6-6) - 76.5
78. Houston Cougars (4-7) - 78.3
79. Toledo Rockets (4-7) - 79.7
80. Cal State Fullerton Titans (6-5) - 80.5
81. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (6-3-1) - 82.2
82. ECU Pirates (2-9) - 82.4
83. UNLV Rebels (5-5-1) - 82.6
84. Illinois State Redbirds (6-3-2) - 83.2
85. New Mexico Lobos (3-8) - 86.5
86. Northern Illinois Huskies (4-7) - 87.3
87. Wyoming Cowboys (3-8) - 87.6
88. Vanderbilt Commodores (3-7-1) - 88.2
89. Indiana State Sycamores (4-6) - 89.8
90. Southern Illinois Salukis (4-7) - 89.9
91. Oregon State Beavers (3-8) - 90.3
92. Ball State Cardinals (4-7) - 91.3
93. Drake Bulldogs (4-7) - 92.6
(tie) Kent State Golden Flashes (3-8) - 92.6
(tie) Rice Owls (3-8) - 92.6
96. Northwestern Wildcats (3-8) - 95.5
97. Utah State Aggies (3-8) - 96.5
98. Eastern Michigan Eagles (4-7) - 97.3
99. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (4-7) - 99.3
100. NC State Wolfpack (3-8) - 100.6
101. San Jose State Spartans (2-8-1) - 102.5
102. Missouri Tigers (1-10) - 102.6
103. TCU Horned Frogs (3-8) - 102.9
104. Ohio Bobcats (2-9) - 104.5
105. Wichita State Shockers (3-8) - 105.7
106. UTEP Miners (1-10) - 106.7
107. Kansas State Wildcats (1-10) - 108.3
108. Tulane Green Wave (1-10) - 109.0
109. Louisville Cardinals (2-9) - 109.5
110. New Mexico State Aggies (1-10) - 111.0

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/