1976 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 1976:

1. Pittsburgh Panthers (12-0) - 1.0
2. Michigan Wolverines (10-2) - 2.6
3. Maryland Terrapins (11-1) - 3.9
4. Texas A&M Aggies (10-2) - 4.0
5. USC Trojans (11-1) - 4.1
6. Houston Cougars (10-2) - 6.6
7. Georgia Bulldogs (10-2) - 7.6
8. Texas Tech Red Raiders (10-2) - 7.7
9. Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-3) - 9.6
10. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-2-1) - 11.7
(tie) Oklahoma Sooners (9-2-1) - 11.7
12. UCLA Bruins (9-2-1) - 11.8
13. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-3) - 11.9
14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (11-0) - 13.2
15. Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-3-1) - 14.8
16. Colorado Buffaloes (8-4) - 15.0
17. ECU Pirates (9-2) - 17.4
18. Iowa State Cyclones (8-3) - 18.5
(tie) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-3) - 18.5
20. Missouri Tigers (6-5) - 20.7
21. Yale Bulldogs (8-1) - 21.1
22. Kentucky Wildcats (8-4) - 22.0
23. Mississippi State Bulldogs (9-2) - 23.5
24. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (9-2) - 24.9
25. Cincinnati Bearcats (8-3) - 25.1
26. Florida Gators (8-4) - 26.5
27. San Diego State Aztecs (10-1) - 27.3
28. William & Mary Tribe (7-4) - 27.6
29. LSU Tigers (6-4-1) - 29.7
30. Kansas Jayhawks (6-5) - 30.9
31. Dartmouth Big Green (6-3) - 31.9
32. Penn State Nittany Lions (7-5) - 32.8
33. Brown Bears (8-1) - 32.9
34. BYU Cougars (9-3) - 34.1
35. Baylor Bears (7-3-1) - 34.5
36. McNeese State Cowboys (10-2) - 35.5
37. Virginia Tech Hokies (6-5) - 36.9
38. South Carolina Gamecocks (6-5) - 39.2
39. San Jose State Spartans (7-4) - 41.2
40. Furman Paladins (6-4-1) - 41.6
41. Tennessee Volunteers (6-5) - 41.9
42. Texas Longhorns (5-5-1) - 43.1
43. North Carolina Tar Heels (9-3) - 43.2
44. Arkansas Razorbacks (5-5-1) - 43.5
45. Appalachian State Mountaineers (6-4-1) - 43.9
46. Kent State Golden Flashes (8-4) - 45.1
47. Memphis Tigers (7-4) - 47.6
48. Harvard Crimson (6-3) - 47.9
49. Ole Miss Rebels (5-6) - 50.4
50. Richmond Spiders (5-6) - 51.0
51. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (7-4-1) - 51.1
52. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (6-5) - 52.6
53. Stanford Cardinal (6-5) - 53.0
54. Ball State Cardinals (8-3) - 54.4
55. Boston College Eagles (8-3) - 55.1
56. Duke Blue Devils (5-5-1) - 56.4
(tie) Illinois Fighting Illini (5-6) - 56.4
58. Western Michigan Broncos (7-4) - 57.5
59. North Texas Mean Green (6-5) - 59.0
60. Ohio Bobcats (7-4) - 59.3
61. Colgate Raiders (8-2) - 60.2
62. California Golden Bears (5-6) - 60.8
63. West Virginia Mountaineers (5-6) - 63.0
64. Long Beach State 49ers (8-3) - 63.4
65. Purdue Boilermakers (5-6) - 63.9
66. Washington Huskies (5-6) - 65.6
67. Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-5) - 66.1
68. Navy Midshipmen (4-7) - 67.5
69. Wisconsin Badgers (5-6) - 69.4
70. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4-6-1) - 70.8
71. Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs (6-4-1) - 71.2
72. Bowling Green Falcons (6-5) - 72.0
73. Miami Hurricanes (3-8) - 72.3
74. Clemson Tigers (3-6-2) - 74.8
75. Citadel Bulldogs (6-5) - 75.3
76. Wyoming Cowboys (8-4) - 76.8
77. Villanova Wildcats (6-4-1) - 77.6
78. Fresno State Bulldogs (5-6) - 77.8
79. Florida State Seminoles (5-6) - 78.0
80. Arkansas State Red Wolves (5-6) - 78.1
81. Auburn Tigers (3-8) - 78.4
82. VMI Keydets (5-5) - 80.5
83. New Mexico Lobos (4-7) - 82.7
84. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-6) - 85.8
85. Michigan State Spartans (4-6-1) - 86.2
86. Colorado State Rams (6-5) - 87.5
87. Arizona Wildcats (5-6) - 88.0
88. NC State Wolfpack (3-7-1) - 89.5
89. Central Michigan Chippewas (7-4) - 89.7
90. Southern Illinois Salukis (7-4) - 89.9
91. Louisville Cardinals (4-7) - 90.1
92. Texas-Arlington Mavericks (5-6) - 92.3
93. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (2-9) - 93.3
94. Indiana Hoosiers (5-6) - 93.9
95. Army Black Knights (5-6) - 94.3
96. Oregon Ducks (4-7) - 95.5
97. Iowa Hawkeyes (5-6) - 97.5
98. SMU Mustangs (3-8) - 97.9
99. Arizona State Sun Devils (4-7) - 98.2
100. Miami University RedHawks (3-8) - 99.9
101. Cornell Big Red (2-7) - 100.0
102. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (4-5-2) - 100.7
103. Northwestern State Demons (5-5) - 101.5
104. Washington State Cougars (3-8) - 102.1
105. Air Force Falcons (4-7) - 106.0
(tie) Tulane Green Wave (2-9) - 106.0
107. Temple Owls (4-6) - 106.4
108. Columbia Lions (3-6) - 106.9
109. Wichita State Shockers (4-7) - 109.9
110. Vanderbilt Commodores (2-9) - 110.6
111. Princeton Tigers (2-7) - 111.2
112. Pennsylvania Relays (3-6) - 112.6
113. Kansas State Wildcats (1-10) - 113.5
114. Toledo Rockets (3-8) - 113.9
115. Syracuse Orange (3-8) - 117.2
116. Marshall Thundering Herd (4-7) - 117.8
117. Dayton Flyers (4-7) - 118.5
(tie) Illinois State Redbirds (5-6) - 118.5
119. Utah State Aggies (3-8) - 119.6
120. New Mexico State Aggies (4-6-1) - 120.7
121. Rice Owls (3-8) - 121.8
122. Northwestern Wildcats (1-10) - 123.0
123. Indiana State Sycamores (3-7) - 123.3
124. Cal State Fullerton Titans (3-7-1) - 125.8
125. Oregon State Beavers (2-10) - 126.3
126. Utah Utes (3-8) - 126.7
127. Holy Cross Crusaders (3-8) - 126.9
128. Pacific Tigers (2-9) - 128.6
129. Virginia Cavaliers (2-9) - 128.9
130. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (2-9) - 130.0
131. Eastern Michigan Eagles (2-9) - 131.2
132. Lamar Cardinals (2-9) - 132.3
133. Drake Bulldogs (1-10) - 133.8
134. Hawaii Warriors (3-8) - 135.3
135. UTEP Miners (1-11) - 135.7
136. TCU Horned Frogs (0-11) - 137.2
137. Northern Illinois Huskies (1-10) - 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/