1980 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 1980:

1. Florida State Seminoles (10-2) - 1.8
2. Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-2) - 2.1
(tie) Pittsburgh Panthers (11-1) - 2.1
4. Alabama Crimson Tide (10-2) - 5.0
5. Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2) - 5.8
6. North Carolina Tar Heels (11-1) - 6.1
7. BYU Cougars (12-1) - 6.7
8. Michigan Wolverines (10-2) - 7.7
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-2-1) - 9.0
10. Oklahoma Sooners (10-2) - 9.4
11. Georgia Bulldogs (12-0) - 10.7
12. USC Trojans (8-2-1) - 12.0
13. UCLA Bruins (9-2) - 12.9
14. Miami Hurricanes (9-3) - 14.0
15. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-3) - 15.5
16. Baylor Bears (10-2) - 15.7
17. Missouri Tigers (8-4) - 18.2
18. SMU Mustangs (8-4) - 18.3
(tie) South Carolina Gamecocks (8-4) - 18.3
20. Mississippi State Bulldogs (9-3) - 20.2
21. McNeese State Cowboys (10-2) - 21.5
22. Washington Huskies (9-3) - 22.2
23. Purdue Boilermakers (9-3) - 24.1
24. Maryland Terrapins (8-4) - 25.1
25. Oregon Ducks (6-3-2) - 25.7
26. Florida Gators (8-4) - 26.2
27. Furman Paladins (9-1-1) - 26.3
(tie) Southern Miss Golden Eagles (9-3) - 26.3
29. Virginia Tech Hokies (8-4) - 28.2
30. Arizona State Sun Devils (7-4) - 30.7
31. Texas Longhorns (7-5) - 31.6
32. Stanford Cardinal (6-5) - 32.0
33. Houston Cougars (7-5) - 33.7
34. LSU Tigers (7-4) - 34.1
35. Boston College Eagles (7-4) - 34.7
36. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-6) - 37.0
37. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (7-4) - 37.9
38. Navy Midshipmen (8-4) - 38.0
39. Tennessee Volunteers (5-6) - 40.1
40. Arkansas Razorbacks (7-5) - 41.1
41. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (8-3) - 42.2
42. Yale Bulldogs (8-2) - 42.5
43. Central Michigan Chippewas (9-2) - 43.7
44. NC State Wolfpack (6-5) - 44.8
45. UNLV Rebels (7-4) - 46.5
46. Clemson Tigers (6-5) - 46.7
47. Citadel Bulldogs (7-4) - 47.9
48. Syracuse Orange (5-6) - 48.6
49. Auburn Tigers (5-6) - 48.8
50. West Virginia Mountaineers (6-6) - 48.9
51. Kansas Jayhawks (4-5-2) - 50.7
52. North Texas Mean Green (6-5) - 51.7
53. Drake Bulldogs (8-3) - 52.3
54. Iowa State Cyclones (6-5) - 52.4
55. San Jose State Spartans (7-4) - 54.2
56. Tulane Green Wave (7-5) - 56.7
57. Appalachian State Mountaineers (6-4-1) - 57.8
58. Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs (8-3) - 58.6
59. Long Beach State 49ers (8-3) - 59.0
60. Louisville Cardinals (5-6) - 62.1
61. Rice Owls (5-6) - 62.7
62. Hawaii Warriors (8-3) - 62.8
63. Ball State Cardinals (6-5) - 63.4
64. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (7-4) - 63.6
65. Northern Illinois Huskies (7-4) - 64.4
66. Texas A&M Aggies (4-7) - 64.8
(tie) Wyoming Cowboys (6-5) - 64.8
68. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (7-4) - 65.8
69. Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-6) - 66.8
70. Western Michigan Broncos (7-4) - 68.1
71. Utah State Aggies (6-5) - 73.0
72. Ole Miss Rebels (3-8) - 73.7
73. Indiana Hoosiers (6-5) - 75.0
(tie) Indiana State Sycamores (6-5) - 75.0
(tie) Washington State Cougars (4-7) - 75.0
76. Utah Utes (5-5-1) - 76.2
77. Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-6) - 78.2
78. Colorado State Rams (6-4-1) - 78.5
79. Miami University RedHawks (5-6) - 80.4
80. Arizona Wildcats (5-6) - 80.7
81. Ohio Bobcats (6-5) - 81.1
82. Wichita State Shockers (5-5-1) - 81.7
83. Michigan State Spartans (3-8) - 82.0
84. Iowa Hawkeyes (4-7) - 83.9
85. Brown Bears (6-4) - 85.6
86. Wisconsin Badgers (4-7) - 85.8
87. Colgate Raiders (5-4-1) - 86.8
88. Cornell Big Red (5-5) - 88.9
89. Villanova Wildcats (6-5) - 89.9
90. Virginia Cavaliers (4-7) - 90.1
91. Illinois Fighting Illini (3-7-1) - 90.5
92. Richmond Spiders (5-6) - 90.8
93. New Mexico Lobos (4-7) - 91.0
94. Kentucky Wildcats (3-8) - 92.4
95. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (5-6) - 93.8
96. Harvard Crimson (7-3) - 94.3
97. California Golden Bears (3-8) - 94.5
98. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (5-6) - 98.5
99. Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-7-1) - 98.7
(tie) Princeton Tigers (6-4) - 98.7
101. New Mexico State Aggies (3-7-1) - 100.7
102. Army Black Knights (3-7-1) - 101.7
103. Bowling Green Falcons (4-7) - 103.8
104. Illinois State Redbirds (4-7) - 104.3
105. Duke Blue Devils (2-9) - 104.5
106. Toledo Rockets (4-7) - 106.2
107. Cal State Fullerton Titans (4-7) - 108.9
108. ECU Pirates (4-7) - 110.2
109. Fresno State Bulldogs (5-6) - 110.3
110. Western Carolina Catamounts (3-7-1) - 110.7
111. TCU Horned Frogs (1-10) - 110.9
112. VMI Keydets (3-7-1) - 111.3
113. Southern Illinois Salukis (3-8) - 111.5
114. Air Force Falcons (2-9-1) - 112.0
115. Dartmouth Big Green (4-6) - 113.7
116. Kansas State Wildcats (3-8) - 114.0
117. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1-9-1) - 116.6
118. Pacific Tigers (4-8) - 118.0
119. William & Mary Tribe (2-9) - 119.0
120. Temple Owls (4-7) - 120.3
121. Kent State Golden Flashes (3-8) - 120.9
122. San Diego State Aztecs (4-8) - 121.4
123. Texas-Arlington Mavericks (3-8) - 122.5
124. Lamar Cardinals (3-8) - 126.0
125. Cincinnati Bearcats (2-9) - 126.1
126. Vanderbilt Commodores (2-9) - 126.4
127. Marshall Thundering Herd (2-8-1) - 128.4
(tie) Memphis Tigers (2-9) - 128.4
129. Colorado Buffaloes (1-10) - 129.7
130. Holy Cross Crusaders (3-8) - 130.6
131. East Tennessee State Buccaneers (2-9) - 131.4
132. Arkansas State Red Wolves (2-9) - 132.8
133. UTEP Miners (1-11) - 134.1
134. Pennsylvania Relays (1-9) - 134.9
135. Eastern Michigan Eagles (1-9) - 135.8
136. Columbia Lions (1-9) - 137.0
137. Northwestern Wildcats (0-11) - 138.3
138. Oregon State Beavers (0-11) - 138.7

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/