1983 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 1983:

1. Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-1) - 1.0
2. Auburn Tigers (11-1) - 2.9
3. Miami Hurricanes (11-1) - 3.0
4. Florida Gators (9-2-1) - 4.2
5. Texas Longhorns (11-1) - 4.8
6. BYU Cougars (11-1) - 5.9
7. Georgia Bulldogs (10-1-1) - 6.4
8. Michigan Wolverines (9-3) - 8.3
9. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-4) - 9.2
10. Clemson Tigers (9-1-1) - 10.9
11. Illinois Fighting Illini (10-2) - 11.0
12. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-3) - 11.6
13. Iowa Hawkeyes (9-3) - 12.7
14. Boston College Eagles (9-3) - 15.0
15. UCLA Bruins (7-4-1) - 15.4
16. Pittsburgh Panthers (8-3-1) - 17.9
17. West Virginia Mountaineers (9-3) - 18.1
18. Florida State Seminoles (7-5) - 18.9
19. Oklahoma Sooners (8-4) - 20.3
20. SMU Mustangs (10-2) - 20.4
21. ECU Pirates (8-3) - 22.1
22. Virginia Tech Hokies (9-2) - 22.3
23. Northern Illinois Huskies (10-2) - 22.6
24. Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-4) - 23.5
25. Maryland Terrapins (8-4) - 24.1
26. Air Force Falcons (10-2) - 26.7
27. North Carolina Tar Heels (8-4) - 27.6
28. Tennessee Volunteers (9-3) - 29.2
29. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-5) - 30.2
30. Missouri Tigers (7-5) - 30.6
31. Penn State Nittany Lions (8-4-1) - 31.3
32. Southern Illinois Salukis (13-1) - 31.4
33. Central Michigan Chippewas (8-3) - 32.3
34. Arizona State Sun Devils (6-4-1) - 34.3
35. Washington Huskies (8-4) - 34.8
36. Washington State Cougars (7-4) - 35.1
37. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (7-4) - 35.7
38. Wisconsin Badgers (7-4) - 35.9
39. Baylor Bears (7-4-1) - 38.6
40. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (8-3) - 39.4
41. Toledo Rockets (9-2) - 40.3
42. Arizona Wildcats (7-3-1) - 40.8
43. Memphis Tigers (6-4-1) - 42.4
44. Kentucky Wildcats (6-5-1) - 43.1
45. Bowling Green Falcons (8-3) - 45.5
46. Syracuse Orange (6-5) - 46.5
47. Arkansas Razorbacks (6-5) - 47.6
(tie) Texas A&M Aggies (5-5-1) - 47.6
49. Indiana State Sycamores (9-4) - 48.4
50. Wyoming Cowboys (7-5) - 49.5
51. California Golden Bears (5-5-1) - 50.9
52. LSU Tigers (4-7) - 52.1
53. South Carolina Gamecocks (5-6) - 52.8
54. UNLV Rebels (7-4) - 54.5
55. USC Trojans (4-6-1) - 55.2
56. Ole Miss Rebels (6-6) - 56.1
57. Utah Utes (5-6) - 57.0
58. Kansas Jayhawks (4-6-1) - 58.8
59. Cal State Fullerton Titans (7-5) - 61.2
60. Mississippi State Bulldogs (3-8) - 61.8
61. Hawaii Warriors (5-5-1) - 62.7
62. Virginia Cavaliers (6-5) - 63.3
63. Cincinnati Bearcats (4-6-1) - 63.5
64. Utah State Aggies (5-6) - 63.8
65. New Mexico Lobos (6-6) - 63.9
66. Illinois State Redbirds (6-4-1) - 65.1
67. Tulane Green Wave (4-7) - 68.0
68. Temple Owls (4-7) - 68.1
69. Long Beach State 49ers (8-4) - 69.0
70. Miami University RedHawks (4-7) - 69.6
71. Western Michigan Broncos (6-5) - 69.7
72. Michigan State Spartans (4-6-1) - 72.0
73. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-8) - 72.6
74. Colorado Buffaloes (4-7) - 74.0
75. Ball State Cardinals (6-5) - 74.8
76. Fresno State Bulldogs (6-5) - 76.1
77. San Jose State Spartans (5-6) - 76.4
78. Iowa State Cyclones (4-7) - 78.6
79. Duke Blue Devils (3-8) - 79.0
80. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-7) - 79.1
81. Vanderbilt Commodores (2-9) - 79.2
82. NC State Wolfpack (3-8) - 80.8
83. Purdue Boilermakers (3-7-1) - 82.8
84. Oregon Ducks (4-6-1) - 83.4
85. Ohio Bobcats (4-7) - 84.2
86. Texas Tech Red Raiders (3-7-1) - 85.1
87. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-8) - 87.9
88. Houston Cougars (4-7) - 88.3
89. Kansas State Wildcats (3-8) - 89.3
90. William & Mary Tribe (6-5) - 92.2
91. Navy Midshipmen (3-8) - 92.7
92. Colorado State Rams (5-7) - 93.2
93. San Diego State Aztecs (2-9-1) - 93.4
94. Kent State Golden Flashes (1-10) - 93.5
95. Louisville Cardinals (3-8) - 93.7
96. Wichita State Shockers (3-8) - 94.8
97. Indiana Hoosiers (3-8) - 95.2
98. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (4-6) - 96.8
99. TCU Horned Frogs (1-8-2) - 97.5
100. New Mexico State Aggies (5-6) - 100.7
101. Stanford Cardinal (1-10) - 101.2
102. Oregon State Beavers (2-8-1) - 101.3
103. Pacific Tigers (3-9) - 102.8
104. UTEP Miners (2-10) - 103.8
105. Eastern Michigan Eagles (1-10) - 105.7
106. Richmond Spiders (3-8) - 106.3
107. Northwestern Wildcats (2-9) - 107.1
108. Army Black Knights (2-9) - 108.7
109. Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-10) - 110.4
110. Rice Owls (1-10) - 110.5
111. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (0-10-1) - 112.0
112. Drake Bulldogs (1-10) - 112.9

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/