1974 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 1974:

1. Oklahoma Sooners (11-0) - 1.0
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1) - 2.4
3. Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) - 3.1
4. Michigan Wolverines (10-1) - 4.2
5. USC Trojans (10-1-1) - 4.7
6. Miami University RedHawks (10-0-1) - 6.1
7. Auburn Tigers (10-2) - 6.5
8. Yale Bulldogs (8-1) - 8.4
9. Maryland Terrapins (8-4) - 9.6
10. Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2) - 10.3
11. Texas Longhorns (8-4) - 10.9
12. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-2) - 13.4
13. Florida Gators (8-4) - 14.3
14. Temple Owls (8-2) - 14.5
15. Mississippi State Bulldogs (9-3) - 14.8
16. NC State Wolfpack (9-2-1) - 14.9
17. Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-3) - 15.6
18. Tennessee Volunteers (7-3-2) - 19.0
19. Wisconsin Badgers (7-4) - 20.0
20. Texas A&M Aggies (8-3) - 20.4
21. Harvard Crimson (7-2) - 21.7
22. Michigan State Spartans (7-3-1) - 22.4
23. Baylor Bears (8-4) - 23.0
24. Arkansas Razorbacks (6-4-1) - 24.0
25. Vanderbilt Commodores (7-3-2) - 24.6
26. San Diego State Aztecs (8-2-1) - 24.7
27. Pittsburgh Panthers (7-4) - 26.1
28. Boston College Eagles (8-3) - 28.5
29. Kentucky Wildcats (6-5) - 29.1
30. North Carolina Tar Heels (7-5) - 30.2
31. Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-5) - 31.9
32. Houston Cougars (8-3-1) - 33.4
33. California Golden Bears (7-3-1) - 33.6
34. Arizona Wildcats (9-2) - 34.5
35. Clemson Tigers (7-4) - 35.5
(tie) Tulsa Golden Hurricane (8-3) - 35.5
37. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-5) - 37.4
38. Missouri Tigers (7-4) - 38.2
39. LSU Tigers (5-5-1) - 38.8
40. Georgia Bulldogs (6-6) - 40.9
41. San Jose State Spartans (8-3-1) - 41.7
42. Arizona State Sun Devils (7-5) - 42.3
43. Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-4-2) - 42.6
44. Memphis Tigers (7-4) - 43.8
45. Utah State Aggies (8-3) - 44.5
46. UCLA Bruins (6-3-2) - 44.7
47. Bowling Green Falcons (6-4-1) - 49.3
(tie) Duke Blue Devils (6-5) - 49.3
49. Cincinnati Bearcats (7-4) - 50.1
50. Kent State Golden Flashes (7-4) - 50.4
51. BYU Cougars (7-4-1) - 51.0
52. ECU Pirates (7-4) - 51.3
53. Stanford Cardinal (5-4-2) - 51.8
54. Ohio Bobcats (6-5) - 53.4
55. Pennsylvania Relays (6-2-1) - 55.5
56. Lamar Cardinals (8-2) - 55.7
57. Brown Bears (5-4) - 58.1
58. Miami Hurricanes (6-5) - 59.2
59. Princeton Tigers (4-4-1) - 59.7
60. Kansas State Wildcats (4-7) - 60.1
61. Tampa Spartans (6-5) - 61.5
62. SMU Mustangs (6-4-1) - 62.4
63. Illinois Fighting Illini (6-4-1) - 63.1
64. Colorado Buffaloes (5-6) - 63.2
65. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (6-5) - 63.3
66. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (6-5) - 64.8
67. VMI Keydets (7-4) - 66.0
68. Iowa State Cyclones (4-7) - 67.6
(tie) Purdue Boilermakers (4-6-1) - 67.6
70. Arkansas State Red Wolves (7-3) - 68.5
71. Washington Huskies (5-6) - 70.4
72. West Virginia Mountaineers (4-7) - 72.3
73. Dartmouth Big Green (3-6) - 72.9
74. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (7-3-1) - 73.0
75. Kansas Jayhawks (4-7) - 73.9
76. Virginia Tech Hokies (4-7) - 76.2
77. Ole Miss Rebels (3-8) - 76.9
78. Cornell Big Red (3-5-1) - 78.5
79. Colorado State Rams (4-6-1) - 80.4
80. Virginia Cavaliers (4-7) - 80.5
81. Holy Cross Crusaders (5-5-1) - 81.2
82. Navy Midshipmen (4-7) - 81.4
83. Pacific Tigers (6-5) - 82.2
84. Hawaii Warriors (6-5) - 84.9
85. Tulane Green Wave (5-6) - 85.1
86. Long Beach State 49ers (6-5) - 86.3
87. Fresno State Bulldogs (5-7) - 86.8
88. South Carolina Gamecocks (4-7) - 87.3
89. Toledo Rockets (6-5) - 88.1
90. New Mexico State Aggies (5-6) - 91.1
91. Oregon State Beavers (3-8) - 91.2
92. Rice Owls (2-8-1) - 91.9
93. Appalachian State Mountaineers (6-5) - 93.7
(tie) Iowa Hawkeyes (3-8) - 93.7
(tie) Louisville Cardinals (4-7) - 93.7
96. New Mexico Lobos (4-6-1) - 95.8
97. William & Mary Tribe (4-7) - 96.8
98. Furman Paladins (5-6) - 97.2
99. Richmond Spiders (5-5) - 98.8
100. Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-7) - 101.0
101. UTEP Miners (4-7) - 101.1
102. Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs (4-7) - 101.9
103. Syracuse Orange (2-9) - 102.7
104. Colgate Raiders (4-6) - 104.3
105. Washington State Cougars (2-9) - 105.3
106. North Texas Mean Green (2-7-2) - 106.4
107. Air Force Falcons (2-9) - 107.7
108. Citadel Bulldogs (4-7) - 108.5
109. Florida State Seminoles (1-10) - 109.5
110. Villanova Wildcats (3-8) - 109.6
111. Western Michigan Broncos (3-8) - 112.6
112. Army Black Knights (3-8) - 113.1
113. Indiana Hoosiers (1-10) - 114.7
114. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (2-9) - 115.9
115. Idaho Vandals (2-8-1) - 116.0
116. Wyoming Cowboys (2-9) - 116.1
117. Northwestern Wildcats (3-8) - 116.8
118. Northern Illinois Huskies (4-7) - 117.6
119. Drake Bulldogs (3-7-1) - 119.6
120. Wichita State Shockers (1-9-1) - 120.9
121. Southern Illinois Salukis (2-9) - 121.1
122. Oregon Ducks (2-9) - 123.7
123. Dayton Flyers (3-8) - 124.4
124. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (1-10) - 124.8
125. Marshall Thundering Herd (1-10) - 125.3
126. Columbia Lions (1-8) - 127.8
(tie) TCU Horned Frogs (1-10) - 127.8
128. Utah Utes (1-10) - 128.4
129. Texas-Arlington Mavericks (1-10) - 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/