1986 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 1986:

1. Miami Hurricanes (11-1) - 1.3
2. Oklahoma Sooners (11-1) - 2.1
3. Penn State Nittany Lions (12-0) - 2.6
4. Alabama Crimson Tide (10-3) - 4.4
5. Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-2) - 5.0
6. Auburn Tigers (10-2) - 6.3
7. Arizona State Sun Devils (10-1-1) - 6.6
8. UCLA Bruins (8-3-1) - 8.0
9. Washington Huskies (8-3-1) - 9.3
10. Michigan Wolverines (11-2) - 9.6
11. Ohio State Buckeyes (10-3) - 11.4
12. Arizona Wildcats (9-3) - 11.8
13. LSU Tigers (9-3) - 13.2
14. Arkansas Razorbacks (9-3) - 15.1
15. Florida State Seminoles (7-4-1) - 15.6
16. Stanford Cardinal (8-4) - 15.7
17. Clemson Tigers (8-2-2) - 18.1
18. Florida Gators (6-5) - 18.6
19. Baylor Bears (9-3) - 20.0
20. San Jose State Spartans (10-2) - 20.7
21. Georgia Bulldogs (8-4) - 20.8
22. USC Trojans (7-5) - 21.6
23. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-6) - 22.3
24. Texas A&M Aggies (9-3) - 23.8
25. Iowa Hawkeyes (9-3) - 24.6
26. Boston College Eagles (9-3) - 24.7
27. Ole Miss Rebels (8-3-1) - 27.7
28. Temple Owls (6-5) - 28.2
29. NC State Wolfpack (8-3-1) - 29.6
30. Michigan State Spartans (6-5) - 30.7
31. North Carolina Tar Heels (7-4-1) - 32.5
32. BYU Cougars (8-5) - 33.1
33. Fresno State Bulldogs (9-2) - 33.5
34. Pittsburgh Panthers (5-5-1) - 33.6
35. Colorado Buffaloes (6-6) - 35.0
36. Virginia Tech Hokies (9-2-1) - 37.4
37. Maryland Terrapins (5-5-1) - 37.7
38. Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-5) - 38.0
39. San Diego State Aztecs (8-4) - 38.3
40. Tennessee Volunteers (7-5) - 38.8
41. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-5-1) - 39.2
42. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-5-1) - 41.6
43. SMU Mustangs (6-5) - 42.6
44. Oregon Ducks (5-6) - 43.9
45. Indiana Hoosiers (6-6) - 44.9
46. Kentucky Wildcats (5-5-1) - 46.3
(tie) Miami University RedHawks (8-4) - 46.3
48. Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-6) - 47.7
49. South Carolina Gamecocks (3-6-2) - 48.4
50. Colorado State Rams (6-5) - 49.4
51. Texas Longhorns (5-6) - 50.5
52. Hawaii Warriors (7-5) - 52.8
53. Mississippi State Bulldogs (6-5) - 53.3
54. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (7-4) - 54.2
55. Wyoming Cowboys (6-6) - 54.8
56. Washington State Cougars (3-7-1) - 55.4
57. Iowa State Cyclones (6-5) - 57.1
58. Air Force Falcons (6-5) - 57.4
59. Syracuse Orange (5-6) - 59.0
(tie) Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-6) - 59.0
61. Illinois Fighting Illini (4-7) - 61.3
62. Long Beach State 49ers (6-5) - 63.5
63. Cincinnati Bearcats (5-6) - 64.0
64. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (6-5) - 64.6
65. UNLV Rebels (6-5) - 65.2
66. Toledo Rockets (7-4) - 65.3
67. Army Black Knights (6-5) - 67.6
68. Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-5) - 68.7
69. UTEP Miners (4-8) - 69.9
70. Oregon State Beavers (3-8) - 70.9
(tie) West Virginia Mountaineers (4-7) - 70.9
72. Wisconsin Badgers (3-9) - 71.5
73. Central Michigan Chippewas (5-5) - 72.1
74. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (6-5) - 73.3
75. New Mexico Lobos (4-8) - 75.1
76. Northwestern Wildcats (4-7) - 75.9
77. Ball State Cardinals (6-5) - 76.8
78. Purdue Boilermakers (3-8) - 78.1
79. California Golden Bears (2-9) - 79.5
80. Duke Blue Devils (4-7) - 79.8
81. Pacific Tigers (4-7) - 82.2
82. Eastern Michigan Eagles (6-5) - 83.3
(tie) TCU Horned Frogs (3-8) - 83.3
84. Bowling Green Falcons (5-6) - 84.6
85. Virginia Cavaliers (3-8) - 84.8
86. Western Michigan Broncos (3-8) - 85.9
87. Missouri Tigers (3-8) - 86.2
(tie) Rice Owls (4-7) - 86.2
89. Utah Utes (2-9) - 86.8
90. Kent State Golden Flashes (5-6) - 88.9
91. Louisville Cardinals (3-8) - 90.3
92. Tulane Green Wave (4-7) - 91.7
93. Houston Cougars (1-10) - 93.7
94. Cal State Fullerton Titans (3-9) - 93.8
95. ECU Pirates (2-9) - 94.9
96. Utah State Aggies (3-8) - 95.6
97. Navy Midshipmen (3-8) - 95.9
98. Wichita State Shockers (3-8) - 97.8
99. Kansas State Wildcats (2-9) - 100.1
100. Kansas Jayhawks (3-8) - 101.6
101. Vanderbilt Commodores (1-10) - 101.8
102. Northern Illinois Huskies (2-9) - 102.7
103. Ohio Bobcats (1-10) - 103.5
104. Memphis Tigers (1-10) - 104.9
105. New Mexico State Aggies (1-10) - 106.0

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/