1989 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 1989:


1. Colorado Buffaloes (11-1) - 1.3
2. Miami Hurricanes (11-1) - 2.1
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-1) - 2.6
4. Florida State Seminoles (10-2) - 4.3
5. Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-2) - 5.7
6. Clemson Tigers (10-2) - 7.1
7. Michigan Wolverines (10-2) - 7.5
8. Alabama Crimson Tide (10-2) - 8.2
9. Houston Cougars (9-2) - 8.3
10. USC Trojans (9-2-1) - 9.4
11. Auburn Tigers (10-2) - 10.8
12. Illinois Fighting Illini (10-2) - 11.7
13. Tennessee Volunteers (11-1) - 13.0
14. Arkansas Razorbacks (10-2) - 14.0
15. Michigan State Spartans (8-4) - 14.2
16. Virginia Cavaliers (10-3) - 16.1
17. BYU Cougars (10-3) - 17.9
18. Washington Huskies (8-4) - 18.5
19. Penn State Nittany Lions (8-3-1) - 18.7
20. Texas A&M Aggies (8-4) - 19.4
21. Texas Tech Red Raiders (9-3) - 21.5
22. West Virginia Mountaineers (8-3-1) - 22.4
23. Pittsburgh Panthers (8-3-1) - 23.2
24. Oklahoma Sooners (7-4) - 25.0
25. Fresno State Bulldogs (11-1) - 25.8
26. Oregon Ducks (8-4) - 27.5
27. Arizona Wildcats (8-4) - 28.0
28. Washington State Cougars (6-5) - 28.4
29. Duke Blue Devils (8-4) - 28.7
30. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7-4) - 30.6
31. Florida Gators (7-5) - 30.8
32. Air Force Falcons (8-4-1) - 31.4
33. Ohio State Buckeyes (8-4) - 32.4
(tie) Virginia Tech Hokies (6-4-1) - 32.4
35. Hawaii Warriors (9-3-1) - 35.7
36. Georgia Bulldogs (6-6) - 35.9
37. Ole Miss Rebels (8-4) - 37.0
38. LSU Tigers (4-7) - 38.5
39. NC State Wolfpack (7-5) - 38.9
(tie) South Carolina Gamecocks (6-4-1) - 38.9
41. Syracuse Orange (8-4) - 39.4
42. Baylor Bears (5-6) - 42.1
43. Colorado State Rams (5-5-1) - 43.3
44. Texas Longhorns (5-6) - 44.7
45. Louisville Cardinals (6-5) - 46.7
46. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (5-6) - 46.9
47. Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-5) - 48.1
48. Northern Illinois Huskies (9-2) - 48.8
49. UCLA Bruins (3-7-1) - 49.9
50. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (5-4-1) - 50.2
51. Maryland Terrapins (3-7-1) - 50.7
52. ECU Pirates (5-5-1) - 51.9
53. Arizona State Sun Devils (6-4-1) - 53.5
54. Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-6) - 53.7
55. San Diego State Aztecs (6-5-1) - 54.6
56. Indiana Hoosiers (5-6) - 55.2
57. Kentucky Wildcats (6-5) - 57.0
58. Army Black Knights (6-5) - 57.3
59. Wyoming Cowboys (5-6) - 57.5
60. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (7-4) - 59.0
61. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-6) - 62.5
62. San Jose State Spartans (6-5) - 62.9
63. Cal State Fullerton Titans (6-4-1) - 63.3
64. California Golden Bears (4-7) - 64.7
65. Iowa State Cyclones (6-5) - 65.2
66. Oregon State Beavers (4-7-1) - 65.4
67. Eastern Michigan Eagles (7-3-1) - 67.0
68. Iowa Hawkeyes (5-6) - 67.8
69. Akron Zips (6-4-1) - 67.9
70. Stanford Cardinal (3-8) - 68.6
71. Ball State Cardinals (7-3-2) - 68.7
72. TCU Horned Frogs (4-7) - 71.0
73. Tulane Green Wave (4-8) - 73.3
74. Boston College Eagles (2-9) - 74.4
75. Purdue Boilermakers (3-8) - 76.9
76. Central Michigan Chippewas (5-5-1) - 77.0
77. Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-7) - 77.1
78. Utah Utes (4-8) - 77.2
79. Rice Owls (2-8-1) - 78.6
80. New Mexico Lobos (2-10) - 79.8
81. Western Michigan Broncos (5-6) - 80.0
82. Toledo Rockets (6-5) - 80.8
83. Navy Midshipmen (3-8) - 83.2
84. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2-7-2) - 85.7
85. Wisconsin Badgers (2-9) - 86.8
86. UNLV Rebels (4-7) - 86.9
87. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-8-1) - 87.7
88. Utah State Aggies (4-7) - 88.0
89. Bowling Green Falcons (5-6) - 88.1
90. Kansas Jayhawks (4-7) - 88.6
91. North Carolina Tar Heels (1-10) - 89.6
92. Vanderbilt Commodores (1-10) - 91.0
93. Missouri Tigers (2-9) - 92.7
94. UTEP Miners (2-10) - 93.1
95. Memphis Tigers (2-9) - 95.0
96. Long Beach State 49ers (4-8) - 96.0
97. Temple Owls (1-10) - 98.9
98. SMU Mustangs (2-9) - 99.0
99. Cincinnati Bearcats (1-9-1) - 100.6
100. Ohio Bobcats (1-9-1) - 100.9
101. Miami University RedHawks (2-8-1) - 101.0
102. Pacific Tigers (2-10) - 102.0
103. Northwestern Wildcats (0-11) - 104.1
104. Kansas State Wildcats (1-10) - 104.9
105. New Mexico State Aggies (0-11) - 106.4
106. Kent State Golden Flashes (0-11) - 106.5

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/