1979 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 1979:

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (12-0) - 1.1
2. Oklahoma Sooners (11-1) - 2.9
3. USC Trojans (11-0-1) - 3.0
4. BYU Cougars (11-1) - 4.3
5. Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-2) - 4.4
6. Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1) - 5.5
7. Arkansas Razorbacks (10-2) - 8.1
8. Pittsburgh Panthers (11-1) - 8.2
9. Temple Owls (10-2) - 9.2
10. Texas Longhorns (9-3) - 10.1
11. Houston Cougars (11-1) - 11.1
12. Florida State Seminoles (11-1) - 11.5
13. Central Michigan Chippewas (10-0-1) - 12.5
14. North Carolina Tar Heels (8-3-1) - 13.4
15. Washington Huskies (9-3) - 15.3
16. Penn State Nittany Lions (8-4) - 16.1
17. Clemson Tigers (8-4) - 17.9
18. Michigan Wolverines (8-4) - 18.4
19. Texas A&M Aggies (6-5) - 19.8
20. Baylor Bears (8-4) - 20.2
21. LSU Tigers (7-5) - 22.2
22. NC State Wolfpack (7-4) - 22.5
23. Auburn Tigers (8-3) - 24.5
24. Maryland Terrapins (7-4) - 24.8
25. Purdue Boilermakers (10-2) - 25.4
26. ECU Pirates (7-3-1) - 25.8
27. South Carolina Gamecocks (8-4) - 26.4
28. Tulane Green Wave (9-3) - 28.3
29. Virginia Cavaliers (6-5) - 30.2
30. Indiana Hoosiers (8-4) - 30.6
31. McNeese State Cowboys (11-1) - 31.0
32. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-4) - 32.2
33. Syracuse Orange (7-5) - 32.4
34. Utah State Aggies (7-3-1) - 33.3
35. Tennessee Volunteers (7-5) - 36.0
36. Yale Bulldogs (8-1) - 36.5
37. Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs (9-2) - 37.4
38. Missouri Tigers (7-5) - 38.6
39. Texas-Arlington Mavericks (8-3) - 38.9
40. California Golden Bears (6-6) - 39.2
41. Arizona State Sun Devils (6-6) - 41.7
42. UCLA Bruins (5-6) - 42.3
43. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (8-3) - 42.9
44. San Diego State Aztecs (8-3) - 44.1
45. Brown Bears (6-3) - 45.2
46. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-4) - 46.5
47. Miami University RedHawks (6-5) - 47.0
48. Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-4) - 48.9
49. Georgia Bulldogs (6-5) - 49.5
50. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (6-4-1) - 50.2
51. Arizona Wildcats (6-5-1) - 50.7
52. Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-6-1) - 51.5
53. Hawaii Warriors (6-5) - 55.2
54. SMU Mustangs (5-6) - 55.8
55. Lamar Cardinals (6-3-2) - 56.8
56. Stanford Cardinal (5-5-1) - 59.2
57. East Tennessee State Buccaneers (7-4) - 59.3
(tie) Navy Midshipmen (7-4) - 59.3
59. UNLV Rebels (9-1-2) - 59.8
60. Ohio Bobcats (6-5) - 61.9
61. Iowa Hawkeyes (5-6) - 63.0
(tie) Virginia Tech Hokies (5-6) - 63.0
63. Boston College Eagles (5-6) - 64.0
64. Utah Utes (6-6) - 64.7
65. Ball State Cardinals (6-5) - 65.1
66. Kentucky Wildcats (5-6) - 65.4
67. Toledo Rockets (7-3-1) - 65.5
68. Texas Tech Red Raiders (3-6-2) - 66.0
69. Western Michigan Broncos (6-5) - 68.4
70. Michigan State Spartans (5-6) - 68.6
71. Indiana State Sycamores (8-3) - 70.5
72. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (6-4-1) - 71.1
73. Western Carolina Catamounts (6-5) - 71.5
74. Oregon Ducks (6-5) - 72.1
75. Cornell Big Red (5-4) - 72.2
(tie) Miami Hurricanes (5-6) - 72.2
77. San Jose State Spartans (6-4-1) - 75.1
78. Ole Miss Rebels (4-7) - 76.8
79. West Virginia Mountaineers (5-6) - 78.0
80. Southern Illinois Salukis (8-3) - 78.2
81. Princeton Tigers (5-4) - 80.4
82. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4-6-1) - 81.5
83. Dartmouth Big Green (4-4-1) - 84.1
84. New Mexico Lobos (6-6) - 84.2
85. Mississippi State Bulldogs (3-8) - 85.5
86. Louisville Cardinals (4-6-1) - 86.4
87. Colorado State Rams (4-7-1) - 86.6
88. Wisconsin Badgers (4-7) - 87.3
89. Northern Illinois Huskies (5-5-1) - 88.8
90. Appalachian State Mountaineers (3-8) - 89.7
91. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-5) - 90.1
92. Citadel Bulldogs (6-5) - 92.0
93. Harvard Crimson (3-6) - 92.7
94. VMI Keydets (6-4-1) - 92.9
95. Holy Cross Crusaders (5-6) - 94.9
96. Arkansas State Red Wolves (4-7) - 95.0
97. Furman Paladins (5-6) - 98.0
98. Villanova Wildcats (5-6) - 98.6
99. Colorado Buffaloes (3-8) - 99.4
100. Colgate Raiders (5-4-1) - 101.5
101. Washington State Cougars (3-8) - 101.7
102. Long Beach State 49ers (7-4) - 102.0
103. North Texas Mean Green (5-6) - 102.1
104. Fresno State Bulldogs (4-7) - 103.2
105. Duke Blue Devils (2-8-1) - 105.5
106. Memphis Tigers (5-6) - 105.9
107. Bowling Green Falcons (4-7) - 106.9
108. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (4-7) - 107.3
109. TCU Horned Frogs (2-8-1) - 108.2
110. Iowa State Cyclones (3-8) - 110.1
111. Kansas Jayhawks (3-8) - 110.2
112. Kansas State Wildcats (3-8) - 111.7
113. William & Mary Tribe (4-7) - 111.8
114. Wyoming Cowboys (4-8) - 112.3
115. Drake Bulldogs (3-8) - 114.9
116. Illinois Fighting Illini (2-8-1) - 115.5
117. Connecticut Huskies (3-6-2) - 117.0
118. Cal State Fullerton Titans (3-8) - 117.5
119. Pacific Tigers (3-7) - 119.8
120. Cincinnati Bearcats (2-9) - 120.0
121. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (2-9) - 120.9
122. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (3-8) - 123.0
123. Northwestern State Demons (3-6) - 124.1
124. Florida Gators (0-10-1) - 124.3
125. Illinois State Redbirds (3-8) - 125.5
126. Rice Owls (1-10) - 126.1
127. Army Black Knights (2-8-1) - 126.6
128. Air Force Falcons (2-9) - 127.9
(tie) Marshall Thundering Herd (1-10) - 127.9
130. Oregon State Beavers (1-10) - 131.8
131. New Mexico State Aggies (2-9) - 132.0
132. UTEP Miners (2-9) - 132.1
133. Wichita State Shockers (1-10) - 132.9
134. Vanderbilt Commodores (1-10) - 134.1
135. Eastern Michigan Eagles (2-8-1) - 135.5
136. Kent State Golden Flashes (1-10) - 136.9
137. Northwestern Wildcats (1-10) - 137.2
138. Richmond Spiders (0-11) - 139.2
139. Pennsylvania Relays (0-9) - 139.3
140. Columbia Lions (1-8) - 140.0

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/