1987 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 1987:


1. Florida State Seminoles (11-1) - 1.2
2. Miami Hurricanes (12-0) - 1.9
3. Oklahoma Sooners (11-1) - 2.9
4. Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-2) - 4.1
5. Syracuse Orange (11-0-1) - 5.3
6. Auburn Tigers (9-1-2) - 5.9
7. LSU Tigers (10-1-1) - 7.5
8. UCLA Bruins (10-2) - 7.7
9. South Carolina Gamecocks (8-4) - 9.1
10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-4) - 10.4
11. Texas A&M Aggies (10-2) - 11.0
12. Michigan State Spartans (9-2-1) - 12.2
13. Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-2) - 12.9
14. Georgia Bulldogs (9-3) - 13.1
15. USC Trojans (8-4) - 15.5
16. Clemson Tigers (10-2) - 16.3
17. Michigan Wolverines (8-4) - 17.2
18. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-5) - 18.6
19. Iowa Hawkeyes (10-3) - 19.1
20. Tennessee Volunteers (10-2-1) - 20.1
21. Arkansas Razorbacks (9-4) - 21.2
22. Florida Gators (6-6) - 21.5
23. Wyoming Cowboys (10-3) - 23.6
24. Pittsburgh Panthers (8-4) - 25.1
25. Arizona State Sun Devils (7-4-1) - 25.4
26. Penn State Nittany Lions (8-4) - 25.6
27. San Jose State Spartans (10-2) - 26.6
28. Indiana Hoosiers (8-4) - 28.3
29. West Virginia Mountaineers (6-6) - 28.4
30. Air Force Falcons (9-4) - 30.4
31. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-4-1) - 31.5
32. Washington Huskies (7-4-1) - 31.8
33. Texas Longhorns (7-5) - 32.7
34. Colorado Buffaloes (7-4) - 33.9
35. Virginia Cavaliers (8-4) - 35.9
36. Eastern Michigan Eagles (10-2) - 36.3
37. BYU Cougars (9-4) - 37.1
38. Boston College Eagles (5-6) - 37.6
39. Kentucky Wildcats (5-6) - 38.2
40. Arizona Wildcats (4-4-3) - 40.0
41. TCU Horned Frogs (5-6) - 41.6
42. Oregon Ducks (6-5) - 41.8
43. Missouri Tigers (5-6) - 41.9
44. Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-4-1) - 43.4
45. Stanford Cardinal (5-6) - 45.7
46. California Golden Bears (3-6-2) - 46.9
47. UTEP Miners (7-4) - 47.1
48. Houston Cougars (4-6-1) - 48.0
49. Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-5) - 48.1
50. North Carolina Tar Heels (5-6) - 51.3
51. Tulane Green Wave (6-6) - 51.5
52. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (7-4) - 52.1
53. Duke Blue Devils (5-6) - 53.9
54. Vanderbilt Commodores (4-7) - 54.4
55. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (6-5) - 55.6
56. Baylor Bears (6-5) - 56.3
57. Washington State Cougars (3-7-1) - 56.7
58. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (6-5) - 56.9
59. Maryland Terrapins (4-7) - 58.4
60. San Diego State Aztecs (5-7) - 60.7
61. Kent State Golden Flashes (7-4) - 62.2
62. Memphis Tigers (5-5-1) - 62.5
63. Fresno State Bulldogs (6-5) - 62.6
64. Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-7) - 64.7
65. Central Michigan Chippewas (5-5-1) - 65.1
66. ECU Pirates (5-6) - 66.4
(tie) NC State Wolfpack (4-7) - 66.4
68. Cal State Fullerton Titans (6-6) - 66.6
69. Ole Miss Rebels (3-8) - 68.6
70. Northern Illinois Huskies (5-5-1) - 69.8
71. Miami University RedHawks (5-6) - 71.5
72. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (6-5) - 71.7
73. Hawaii Warriors (5-7) - 73.1
74. Bowling Green Falcons (5-6) - 73.4
75. Illinois Fighting Illini (3-7-1) - 73.9
76. Purdue Boilermakers (3-7-1) - 76.4
77. Wisconsin Badgers (3-8) - 77.1
78. Temple Owls (3-8) - 78.5
79. Utah State Aggies (5-6) - 79.6
80. Virginia Tech Hokies (2-9) - 79.7
81. Toledo Rockets (3-7-1) - 80.5
82. Pacific Tigers (4-7) - 83.6
83. Northwestern Wildcats (2-8-1) - 83.7
84. Utah Utes (5-7) - 84.9
85. Cincinnati Bearcats (4-7) - 85.8
86. Western Michigan Broncos (5-6) - 86.3
87. UNLV Rebels (5-6) - 86.8
88. Oregon State Beavers (2-9) - 87.3
89. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (3-8) - 87.7
90. Ball State Cardinals (4-7) - 89.3
91. Colorado State Rams (1-11) - 89.7
92. Army Black Knights (5-6) - 89.9
93. Long Beach State 49ers (4-7) - 92.4
94. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-9) - 93.9
95. Akron Zips (4-7) - 94.4
96. Louisville Cardinals (3-7-1) - 94.6
97. Iowa State Cyclones (3-8) - 97.2
98. Ohio Bobcats (1-10) - 98.8
99. Rice Owls (2-9) - 98.9
100. Navy Midshipmen (2-9) - 99.7
101. New Mexico State Aggies (2-9) - 102.4
102. New Mexico Lobos (0-11) - 102.7
103. Kansas Jayhawks (1-9-1) - 103.9
104. Kansas State Wildcats (0-10-1) - 104.9

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/