1982 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 1982:

1. Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-1) - 1.2
2. Penn State Nittany Lions (11-1) - 2.0
3. Georgia Bulldogs (11-1) - 3.2
4. UCLA Bruins (10-1-1) - 4.9
5. USC Trojans (8-3) - 6.1
6. Pittsburgh Panthers (9-3) - 6.2
7. SMU Mustangs (11-0-1) - 7.1
8. Arizona State Sun Devils (10-2) - 8.0
9. North Carolina Tar Heels (8-4) - 10.4
10. Florida State Seminoles (9-3) - 10.5
11. Clemson Tigers (9-1-1) - 11.1
12. Maryland Terrapins (8-4) - 11.5
13. Texas Longhorns (9-3) - 12.2
14. West Virginia Mountaineers (9-3) - 13.1
15. Washington Huskies (10-2) - 17.3
16. Auburn Tigers (9-3) - 17.6
17. LSU Tigers (8-3-1) - 17.7
(tie) Oklahoma Sooners (8-4) - 17.7
19. Arkansas Razorbacks (9-2-1) - 18.3
20. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (10-1) - 19.1
21. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-3) - 21.0
22. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-4) - 22.1
(tie) Florida Gators (8-4) - 22.1
24. Michigan Wolverines (8-4) - 22.9
25. New Mexico Lobos (10-1) - 26.1
26. Arizona Wildcats (6-4-1) - 26.6
27. Miami Hurricanes (7-4) - 26.9
(tie) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-4-1) - 26.9
29. Boston College Eagles (8-3-1) - 27.5
30. BYU Cougars (8-4) - 30.3
31. Fresno State Bulldogs (11-1) - 31.6
32. Stanford Cardinal (5-6) - 31.8
33. California Golden Bears (7-4) - 32.1
34. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (7-4) - 33.2
35. Illinois Fighting Illini (7-5) - 34.8
36. Vanderbilt Commodores (8-4) - 36.3
37. Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-6) - 37.3
38. Duke Blue Devils (6-5) - 38.2
39. Wisconsin Badgers (7-5) - 40.2
40. Kansas State Wildcats (6-5-1) - 40.4
41. Tennessee Volunteers (6-5-1) - 41.4
42. NC State Wolfpack (6-5) - 43.3
43. San Jose State Spartans (8-3) - 43.6
44. Iowa Hawkeyes (8-4) - 44.4
45. San Diego State Aztecs (7-5) - 45.2
46. Air Force Falcons (8-5) - 46.1
47. Western Michigan Broncos (7-2-2) - 47.3
48. Utah Utes (5-6) - 47.4
49. Miami University RedHawks (7-4) - 49.4
50. Missouri Tigers (5-4-2) - 50.1
51. Bowling Green Falcons (7-5) - 51.4
52. Ole Miss Rebels (4-7) - 51.9
53. ECU Pirates (7-4) - 52.6
54. Navy Midshipmen (6-5) - 52.9
55. Hawaii Warriors (6-5) - 55.7
56. South Carolina Gamecocks (4-7) - 56.2
57. Cincinnati Bearcats (6-5) - 58.1
58. Houston Cougars (5-5-1) - 59.0
59. Virginia Tech Hokies (7-4) - 59.3
60. Central Michigan Chippewas (6-4-1) - 60.8
61. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-5) - 61.7
62. Iowa State Cyclones (4-6-1) - 61.9
63. Toledo Rockets (6-5) - 62.1
64. Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-5-2) - 62.3
65. Indiana Hoosiers (5-6) - 63.6
66. Tulane Green Wave (4-7) - 65.6
67. Wichita State Shockers (8-3) - 66.3
68. Baylor Bears (4-6-1) - 68.5
69. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (7-3-1) - 68.7
70. Oregon Ducks (2-8-1) - 70.7
71. Michigan State Spartans (2-9) - 71.2
72. Long Beach State 49ers (6-5) - 71.5
73. Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-7) - 72.6
74. Texas A&M Aggies (5-6) - 73.0
75. Temple Owls (4-7) - 74.5
76. Wyoming Cowboys (5-7) - 75.0
77. Washington State Cougars (3-7-1) - 78.0
78. Colorado State Rams (4-7) - 78.6
79. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-6) - 80.0
80. Northern Illinois Huskies (5-5) - 80.2
81. Purdue Boilermakers (3-8) - 80.6
82. Syracuse Orange (2-9) - 81.7
83. Ohio Bobcats (6-5) - 83.7
84. UNLV Rebels (3-8) - 85.4
85. Ball State Cardinals (5-6) - 85.6
86. Louisville Cardinals (5-6) - 86.2
87. Oregon State Beavers (1-9-1) - 86.6
88. Indiana State Sycamores (5-6) - 87.9
89. TCU Horned Frogs (3-8) - 88.2
90. Kansas Jayhawks (2-7-2) - 88.7
91. Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-8) - 90.7
(tie) Northwestern Wildcats (3-8) - 90.7
93. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-8) - 93.6
94. Southern Illinois Salukis (6-5) - 93.8
95. Virginia Cavaliers (2-9) - 94.3
96. Utah State Aggies (5-6) - 94.5
97. Colorado Buffaloes (2-8-1) - 95.6
98. Army Black Knights (4-7) - 99.2
99. UTEP Miners (2-10) - 99.6
100. Drake Bulldogs (4-7) - 99.8
101. William & Mary Tribe (3-8) - 100.3
102. New Mexico State Aggies (3-8) - 102.0
103. Pacific Tigers (2-9) - 102.9
104. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (3-8) - 104.4
105. Kentucky Wildcats (0-10-1) - 105.7
106. Memphis Tigers (1-10) - 106.4
107. North Texas Mean Green (2-9) - 108.0
108. Cal State Fullerton Titans (3-9) - 109.0
109. Eastern Michigan Eagles (1-9-1) - 109.3
110. Kent State Golden Flashes (0-11) - 111.3
111. Rice Owls (0-11) - 111.4
112. Illinois State Redbirds (2-9) - 112.3
113. Richmond Spiders (0-10) - 113.9

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/