1981 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 1981:


1. Pittsburgh Panthers (11-1) - 1.9
2. Clemson Tigers (12-0) - 2.4
3. Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2) - 2.6
4. SMU Mustangs (10-1) - 3.4
5. Georgia Bulldogs (10-2) - 5.5
(tie) Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-3) - 5.5
7. Arizona State Sun Devils (9-2) - 7.5
8. Texas Longhorns (10-1-1) - 8.0
9. Miami Hurricanes (9-2) - 10.1
10. North Carolina Tar Heels (10-2) - 10.6
11. Michigan Wolverines (9-3) - 11.3
12. BYU Cougars (11-2) - 12.1
13. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-2-1) - 12.4
14. Hawaii Warriors (9-2) - 14.7
15. West Virginia Mountaineers (9-3) - 15.1
16. Washington Huskies (10-2) - 15.5
17. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (9-2-1) - 17.1
18. USC Trojans (9-3) - 17.5
19. UCLA Bruins (7-4-1) - 19.2
20. Oklahoma Sooners (7-4-1) - 19.9
21. Wyoming Cowboys (8-3) - 20.4
22. Yale Bulldogs (9-1) - 20.5
23. Mississippi State Bulldogs (8-4) - 23.9
24. Washington State Cougars (8-3-1) - 24.8
25. Florida Gators (7-5) - 25.2
26. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-3) - 25.8
27. Arkansas Razorbacks (8-4) - 27.0
28. Iowa Hawkeyes (8-4) - 28.7
29. Navy Midshipmen (7-4-1) - 29.8
30. Missouri Tigers (8-4) - 30.1
31. Houston Cougars (7-4-1) - 30.5
32. Utah Utes (8-2-1) - 32.3
33. Texas A&M Aggies (7-5) - 34.3
34. Miami University RedHawks (8-2-1) - 34.9
35. San Jose State Spartans (9-3) - 35.3
36. Citadel Bulldogs (7-3-1) - 36.3
(tie) Drake Bulldogs (10-1) - 36.3
38. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-6) - 36.8
39. Florida State Seminoles (6-5) - 39.4
40. Furman Paladins (8-3) - 40.5
41. Illinois Fighting Illini (7-4) - 41.9
42. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-5) - 42.5
(tie) Virginia Tech Hokies (7-4) - 42.5
44. South Carolina Gamecocks (6-6) - 42.9
45. Kansas Jayhawks (8-4) - 47.1
46. Temple Owls (5-5) - 48.0
47. Toledo Rockets (9-3) - 48.2
48. Wisconsin Badgers (7-5) - 48.9
49. Maryland Terrapins (4-6-1) - 50.4
50. Syracuse Orange (4-6-1) - 51.1
51. Auburn Tigers (5-6) - 52.3
52. Boston College Eagles (5-6) - 52.7
53. Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-5) - 53.4
(tie) San Diego State Aztecs (6-5) - 53.4
55. Central Michigan Chippewas (7-4) - 55.1
56. McNeese State Cowboys (7-3-1) - 55.3
57. Tulane Green Wave (6-5) - 55.6
58. Southern Illinois Salukis (7-4) - 56.5
59. Stanford Cardinal (4-7) - 58.0
60. Colgate Raiders (7-3) - 59.5
61. Arkansas State Red Wolves (6-5) - 61.1
62. Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs (7-3-1) - 62.4
63. Iowa State Cyclones (5-5-1) - 62.9
64. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (7-4) - 63.5
65. Tennessee Volunteers (8-4) - 64.9
66. Duke Blue Devils (6-5) - 66.3
67. Indiana State Sycamores (5-5-1) - 66.7
68. Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-5) - 67.6
69. Baylor Bears (5-6) - 70.0
70. Purdue Boilermakers (5-6) - 70.2
71. Cincinnati Bearcats (6-5) - 71.3
72. Arizona Wildcats (6-5) - 71.6
73. Michigan State Spartans (5-6) - 73.3
74. Dartmouth Big Green (6-4) - 74.5
75. Texas-Arlington Mavericks (6-5) - 74.7
76. Western Michigan Broncos (6-5) - 74.9
77. Utah State Aggies (5-5-1) - 76.0
78. VMI Keydets (6-3-1) - 76.3
79. Bowling Green Falcons (5-5-1) - 80.1
80. TCU Horned Frogs (2-7-2) - 81.7
81. NC State Wolfpack (4-7) - 82.0
(tie) Ole Miss Rebels (4-6-1) - 82.0
83. Wichita State Shockers (4-6-1) - 84.0
84. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-6) - 85.0
85. Vanderbilt Commodores (4-7) - 85.5
86. Louisville Cardinals (5-6) - 85.8
(tie) New Mexico Lobos (4-7-1) - 85.8
88. Holy Cross Crusaders (6-5) - 86.0
89. UNLV Rebels (6-6) - 87.7
90. ECU Pirates (5-6) - 88.5
91. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (5-6) - 90.1
92. Pacific Tigers (5-6) - 91.0
93. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (4-6-1) - 92.4
94. Richmond Spiders (4-7) - 94.6
95. East Tennessee State Buccaneers (6-5) - 94.8
96. Lamar Cardinals (4-6-1) - 95.9
97. William & Mary Tribe (5-6) - 98.9
98. Kent State Golden Flashes (4-7) - 99.1
99. California Golden Bears (2-9) - 101.2
100. Ohio Bobcats (5-6) - 101.5
101. Colorado Buffaloes (3-8) - 102.0
102. Appalachian State Mountaineers (3-7-1) - 103.5
(tie) Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-7) - 103.5
104. Kentucky Wildcats (3-8) - 103.6
105. Harvard Crimson (5-4-1) - 104.6
106. Rice Owls (4-7) - 104.7
107. Army Black Knights (3-7-1) - 104.9
108. Air Force Falcons (4-7) - 107.4
109. Ball State Cardinals (4-7) - 108.6
110. Fresno State Bulldogs (5-6) - 109.5
111. Princeton Tigers (5-4-1) - 110.2
112. Kansas State Wildcats (2-9) - 110.9
113. Western Carolina Catamounts (4-7) - 114.6
114. Texas Tech Red Raiders (1-9-1) - 115.7
115. LSU Tigers (3-7-1) - 116.7
116. Cal State Fullerton Titans (3-8) - 117.1
117. Oregon Ducks (2-9) - 117.8
118. Long Beach State 49ers (2-8) - 119.1
119. Northern Illinois Huskies (3-8) - 120.3
120. Indiana Hoosiers (3-8) - 120.6
(tie) Virginia Cavaliers (1-10) - 120.6
122. Illinois State Redbirds (3-7) - 121.0
123. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1-10) - 123.9
124. North Texas Mean Green (2-9) - 125.0
125. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (1-9-1) - 125.5
126. New Mexico State Aggies (3-8) - 127.8
127. Memphis Tigers (1-10) - 127.9
128. Brown Bears (3-7) - 128.6
129. Cornell Big Red (3-7) - 128.9
130. Marshall Thundering Herd (2-9) - 131.0
131. Columbia Lions (1-9) - 131.9
132. Oregon State Beavers (1-10) - 133.4
133. Pennsylvania Relays (1-9) - 133.7
134. UTEP Miners (1-10) - 135.6
135. Colorado State Rams (0-12) - 135.9
136. Northwestern Wildcats (0-11) - 136.4
137. Eastern Michigan Eagles (0-11) - 137.8

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/