1973 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 1973:

1. Ohio State Buckeyes (10-0-1) - 1.7
2. Oklahoma Sooners (10-0-1) - 1.8
3. Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1) - 3.3
4. Penn State Nittany Lions (12-0) - 3.5
5. Michigan Wolverines (10-0-1) - 5.2
6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-0) - 5.5
7. Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-2-1) - 7.8
8. Arizona State Sun Devils (11-1) - 8.8
9. Houston Cougars (11-1) - 9.2
10. USC Trojans (9-2-1) - 10.7
11. Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-1) - 11.1
12. Miami University RedHawks (11-0) - 12.3
(tie) San Diego State Aztecs (9-1-1) - 12.3
14. NC State Wolfpack (9-3) - 14.5
15. Texas Longhorns (8-3) - 14.8
(tie) UCLA Bruins (9-2) - 14.8
17. Kent State Golden Flashes (9-2) - 16.6
18. LSU Tigers (9-3) - 18.8
19. ECU Pirates (9-2) - 19.1
20. Maryland Terrapins (8-4) - 19.7
21. Temple Owls (9-1) - 20.3
22. Missouri Tigers (8-4) - 22.3
23. Georgia Bulldogs (7-4-1) - 23.8
24. Arizona Wildcats (8-3) - 25.6
25. Kansas Jayhawks (7-4-1) - 25.8
26. Oklahoma State Cowboys (5-4-2) - 26.3
27. Tulane Green Wave (9-3) - 27.1
28. Richmond Spiders (8-2) - 27.9
29. Boston College Eagles (7-4) - 29.6
30. Dartmouth Big Green (6-3) - 30.5
31. Harvard Crimson (7-2) - 32.7
(tie) Stanford Cardinal (7-4) - 32.7
33. South Carolina Gamecocks (7-4) - 32.8
34. Tennessee Volunteers (8-4) - 34.0
35. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (6-4-1) - 34.9
36. Memphis Tigers (8-3) - 36.1
37. Pennsylvania Relays (6-3) - 36.7
38. Yale Bulldogs (6-3) - 37.6
39. Ole Miss Rebels (6-5) - 38.3
40. Colorado Buffaloes (5-6) - 40.9
41. Pacific Tigers (7-2-1) - 41.8
42. Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-4) - 41.9
43. Utah Utes (7-5) - 44.1
44. Bowling Green Falcons (7-3) - 45.0
45. Florida Gators (7-5) - 45.6
46. Kansas State Wildcats (5-6) - 46.5
47. Auburn Tigers (6-6) - 46.7
48. Texas A&M Aggies (5-6) - 46.8
49. Kentucky Wildcats (5-6) - 47.5
50. Utah State Aggies (7-4) - 48.6
51. Brown Bears (4-3-1) - 48.8
52. Iowa State Cyclones (4-7) - 49.7
53. Tampa Spartans (8-3) - 54.7
54. Air Force Falcons (6-4) - 54.8
55. Pittsburgh Panthers (6-5-1) - 55.8
56. SMU Mustangs (6-4-1) - 57.2
57. Miami Hurricanes (5-6) - 59.0
58. Rice Owls (5-6) - 59.3
59. San Jose State Spartans (5-4-2) - 61.0
60. Navy Midshipmen (4-7) - 61.3
61. Wyoming Cowboys (4-7) - 61.9
62. Cincinnati Bearcats (4-7) - 62.0
63. Purdue Boilermakers (5-6) - 64.4
64. West Virginia Mountaineers (6-5) - 65.0
65. Ohio Bobcats (5-5) - 66.0
66. BYU Cougars (5-6) - 66.8
67. Arkansas Razorbacks (5-5-1) - 67.4
(tie) Michigan State Spartans (5-6) - 67.4
69. Illinois Fighting Illini (5-6) - 67.7
70. Vanderbilt Commodores (5-6) - 68.4
71. Wisconsin Badgers (4-7) - 71.2
72. Washington State Cougars (5-6) - 71.6
73. Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-5-2) - 72.1
74. Cornell Big Red (3-5-1) - 72.4
75. Furman Paladins (7-4) - 73.6
76. Northern Illinois Huskies (6-5) - 74.9
77. New Mexico Lobos (4-7) - 76.0
78. Western Michigan Broncos (6-5) - 76.6
79. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-5) - 77.7
80. Louisville Cardinals (5-6) - 78.3
81. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (6-5) - 79.9
82. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-6) - 80.7
83. North Carolina Tar Heels (4-7) - 84.2
84. Northwestern Wildcats (4-7) - 84.9
85. Villanova Wildcats (3-8) - 85.5
86. Colgate Raiders (5-5) - 86.7
87. Holy Cross Crusaders (5-6) - 87.4
88. William & Mary Tribe (6-5) - 87.6
89. TCU Horned Frogs (3-8) - 87.7
90. Clemson Tigers (5-6) - 88.1
91. Toledo Rockets (3-8) - 89.8
92. Dayton Flyers (5-5-1) - 92.0
93. Indiana Hoosiers (2-9) - 95.5
94. California Golden Bears (4-7) - 95.7
95. Marshall Thundering Herd (4-7) - 95.8
96. Colorado State Rams (5-6) - 96.0
97. Oregon Ducks (2-9) - 97.7
98. North Texas Mean Green (5-5-1) - 98.7
99. Texas-Arlington Mavericks (4-6) - 98.8
100. Xavier Musketeers (5-5-1) - 102.3
101. Duke Blue Devils (2-8-1) - 103.0
102. Southern Illinois Salukis (3-7-1) - 103.2
103. Syracuse Orange (2-9) - 104.2
104. Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs (4-7) - 104.6
105. New Mexico State Aggies (5-6) - 106.8
106. Oregon State Beavers (2-9) - 107.3
107. Baylor Bears (2-9) - 108.0
108. Virginia Cavaliers (4-7) - 108.2
(tie) Virginia Tech Hokies (2-9) - 108.2
110. Princeton Tigers (1-8) - 112.3
111. Idaho Vandals (4-7) - 112.9
112. Washington Huskies (2-9) - 113.5
113. Fresno State Bulldogs (2-9) - 113.8
114. Wichita State Shockers (4-7) - 115.0
115. VMI Keydets (3-8) - 115.7
116. Appalachian State Mountaineers (3-7-1) - 116.1
117. Lamar Cardinals (5-5) - 116.8
118. Long Beach State 49ers (1-9-1) - 117.0
119. Citadel Bulldogs (3-8) - 119.4
120. Davidson Wildcats (2-8) - 121.2
121. Drake Bulldogs (2-9) - 122.5
122. Columbia Lions (1-7-1) - 122.9
123. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (1-9-1) - 124.8
(tie) West Texas A&M Buffaloes (2-9) - 124.8
125. Iowa Hawkeyes (0-11) - 125.1
126. Florida State Seminoles (0-11) - 127.0
127. Army Black Knights (0-10) - 128.1
128. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (0-10) - 128.7
129. UTEP Miners (0-11) - 129.8

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/