1978 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 1978:

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1) - 1.1
2. Oklahoma Sooners (11-1) - 2.3
3. USC Trojans (12-1) - 3.3
4. Penn State Nittany Lions (11-1) - 4.0
5. Michigan Wolverines (10-2) - 4.7
6. Clemson Tigers (11-1) - 6.3
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-3) - 8.1
8. Ball State Cardinals (10-1) - 8.3
9. Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-3) - 8.5
10. Michigan State Spartans (8-3) - 9.0
11. Arkansas Razorbacks (9-2-1) - 10.9
12. Texas Longhorns (9-3) - 13.1
13. Houston Cougars (9-3) - 14.2
14. Stanford Cardinal (8-4) - 15.5
15. Purdue Boilermakers (9-2-1) - 15.7
16. Central Michigan Chippewas (9-2) - 15.8
17. Maryland Terrapins (9-3) - 16.4
18. Arizona State Sun Devils (9-3) - 17.7
19. Georgia Bulldogs (9-2-1) - 19.1
20. Washington Huskies (7-4) - 19.2
21. Florida State Seminoles (8-3) - 21.5
22. North Texas Mean Green (9-2) - 22.2
23. Missouri Tigers (8-4) - 22.6
24. NC State Wolfpack (9-3) - 24.0
25. ECU Pirates (9-3) - 25.2
26. Ohio State Buckeyes (7-4-1) - 26.4
27. LSU Tigers (8-4) - 26.6
28. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (9-2) - 26.7
29. BYU Cougars (9-4) - 31.0
(tie) Pittsburgh Panthers (8-4) - 31.0
31. Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-4) - 31.3
32. UCLA Bruins (8-3-1) - 31.8
33. Mississippi State Bulldogs (6-5) - 33.6
34. Navy Midshipmen (9-3) - 33.9
35. SMU Mustangs (4-6-1) - 36.6
36. Louisville Cardinals (7-4) - 36.9
37. Texas A&M Aggies (8-4) - 37.6
38. Utah Utes (8-3) - 38.2
39. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (9-3) - 38.7
40. South Carolina Gamecocks (5-5-1) - 40.4
41. Miami University RedHawks (8-2-1) - 40.9
42. Yale Bulldogs (5-2-2) - 42.6
43. Temple Owls (7-3-1) - 42.9
44. Florida Gators (4-7) - 43.5
45. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (7-4) - 43.9
46. Furman Paladins (8-3) - 44.4
47. Utah State Aggies (7-4) - 49.1
48. Arizona Wildcats (5-6) - 49.4
49. Auburn Tigers (6-4-1) - 50.4
50. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (6-5) - 50.7
51. Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs (7-3-1) - 50.9
52. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7-5) - 51.1
53. Iowa State Cyclones (8-4) - 51.7
54. Cincinnati Bearcats (5-6) - 52.5
55. New Mexico Lobos (7-5) - 54.7
56. Appalachian State Mountaineers (7-4) - 57.8
57. Wyoming Cowboys (5-7) - 57.9
58. California Golden Bears (6-5) - 58.6
59. McNeese State Cowboys (7-4) - 59.6
60. Arkansas State Red Wolves (7-4) - 60.6
61. North Carolina Tar Heels (5-6) - 62.0
62. Tennessee Volunteers (5-5-1) - 62.6
63. Colorado Buffaloes (6-5) - 63.1
64. Miami Hurricanes (6-5) - 63.2
65. Cornell Big Red (5-3-1) - 63.4
66. Baylor Bears (3-8) - 63.8
67. Western Michigan Broncos (7-4) - 66.2
68. UNLV Rebels (7-4) - 67.7
69. Dartmouth Big Green (6-3) - 68.2
70. Kentucky Wildcats (4-6-1) - 70.1
71. Texas-Arlington Mavericks (5-6) - 70.7
72. San Jose State Spartans (7-5) - 71.7
73. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (6-4-1) - 72.8
74. Ole Miss Rebels (5-6) - 74.1
75. Hawaii Warriors (6-5) - 74.2
76. William & Mary Tribe (5-5-1) - 76.0
77. Western Carolina Catamounts (6-5) - 76.7
78. Indiana Hoosiers (4-7) - 77.6
79. Washington State Cougars (3-7-1) - 79.4
80. Citadel Bulldogs (5-6) - 80.1
81. Holy Cross Crusaders (7-4) - 80.2
82. Brown Bears (6-3) - 81.4
83. Wisconsin Badgers (5-4-2) - 84.3
84. Memphis Tigers (4-7) - 84.5
85. Colorado State Rams (5-6) - 86.1
86. New Mexico State Aggies (6-5) - 86.4
87. Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-8) - 87.2
88. Harvard Crimson (4-4-1) - 88.7
89. Duke Blue Devils (4-7) - 89.1
90. Oregon Ducks (2-9) - 89.4
91. Bowling Green Falcons (4-7) - 89.7
92. Virginia Tech Hokies (4-7) - 91.3
93. Villanova Wildcats (5-6) - 91.9
94. San Diego State Aztecs (4-7) - 95.3
95. Richmond Spiders (3-8) - 95.7
96. Princeton Tigers (2-5-2) - 96.7
97. Kansas State Wildcats (4-7) - 97.3
98. Tulane Green Wave (4-7) - 98.7
99. Southern Illinois Salukis (7-4) - 98.9
100. Oregon State Beavers (3-7-1) - 99.7
101. Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-6) - 100.6
102. Colgate Raiders (3-8) - 100.8
103. Columbia Lions (3-5-1) - 102.3
104. Northwestern State Demons (5-6) - 105.6
105. Long Beach State 49ers (5-6) - 105.8
106. Pennsylvania Relays (2-6-1) - 106.6
107. Drake Bulldogs (4-7) - 106.7
108. Cal State Fullerton Titans (5-7) - 108.1
(tie) Syracuse Orange (3-8) - 108.1
110. Pacific Tigers (4-8) - 108.6
111. Wichita State Shockers (4-7) - 110.4
112. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (3-8) - 110.6
113. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (3-8) - 113.8
114. Rice Owls (2-9) - 114.3
115. Northern Illinois Huskies (5-6) - 115.5
116. VMI Keydets (3-8) - 116.3
117. TCU Horned Frogs (2-9) - 119.6
118. Iowa Hawkeyes (2-9) - 120.0
119. Army Black Knights (4-6-1) - 120.6
120. Lamar Cardinals (2-8-1) - 121.7
121. Kansas Jayhawks (1-10) - 122.4
122. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (1-10) - 122.9
123. Indiana State Sycamores (3-8) - 123.5
124. Kent State Golden Flashes (4-7) - 123.6
125. Virginia Cavaliers (2-9) - 124.7
126. Fresno State Bulldogs (3-8) - 124.9
127. Eastern Michigan Eagles (3-7) - 127.1
128. Ohio Bobcats (3-8) - 127.4
129. West Virginia Mountaineers (2-9) - 130.3
130. Marshall Thundering Herd (1-10) - 130.6
131. Illinois Fighting Illini (1-8-2) - 132.3
132. Toledo Rockets (2-9) - 132.8
133. Vanderbilt Commodores (2-9) - 133.5
134. Air Force Falcons (3-8) - 134.5
135. Illinois State Redbirds (2-9) - 135.8
136. Boston College Eagles (0-11) - 137.2
137. UTEP Miners (1-11) - 137.3
138. Northwestern Wildcats (0-10-1) - 139.0
 
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/