1970 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 1970:

1. Dartmouth Big Green (9-0) - 1.5
2. Nebraska Cornhuskers (11-0-1) - 2.9
3. Toledo Rockets (12-0) - 3.3
4. Arizona State Sun Devils (11-0) - 4.4
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-1) - 5.2
6. Tennessee Volunteers (11-1) - 5.4
(tie) Texas Longhorns (10-1) - 5.4
8. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-1) - 8.2
9. Michigan Wolverines (9-1) - 9.4
10. Auburn Tigers (9-2) - 9.8
11. Arkansas Razorbacks (9-2) - 10.5
12. LSU Tigers (9-3) - 12.2
13. Yale Bulldogs (7-2) - 13.8
14. Stanford Cardinal (9-3) - 14.8
15. Air Force Falcons (9-3) - 16.3
16. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-3) - 16.5
17. USC Trojans (6-4-1) - 17.1
18. San Diego State Aztecs (9-2) - 17.6
19. Houston Cougars (8-3) - 17.8
20. Harvard Crimson (7-2) - 19.5
21. Alabama Crimson Tide (6-5-1) - 21.6
22. Western Michigan Broncos (7-3) - 23.1
23. Ole Miss Rebels (7-4) - 23.4
24. Oklahoma Sooners (7-4-1) - 24.7
25. Washington Huskies (6-4) - 24.8
26. UCLA Bruins (6-5) - 26.1
27. Colorado Buffaloes (6-5) - 27.7
28. Long Beach State 49ers (9-2-1) - 27.9
29. Tulane Green Wave (8-4) - 29.0
30. Georgia Bulldogs (5-5) - 30.0
31. Penn State Nittany Lions (7-3) - 30.9
32. Miami University RedHawks (7-3) - 33.5
33. Florida State Seminoles (7-4) - 33.8
34. Cornell Big Red (6-3) - 34.8
35. Northwestern Wildcats (6-4) - 35.6
36. Missouri Tigers (5-6) - 36.0
37. North Carolina Tar Heels (8-4) - 39.3
38. Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-4) - 39.6
39. New Mexico Lobos (7-3) - 39.8
40. Princeton Tigers (5-4) - 40.5
41. Cincinnati Bearcats (7-4) - 40.6
42. Kansas State Wildcats (6-5) - 42.8
43. Kansas Jayhawks (5-6) - 43.4
44. Oregon State Beavers (6-5) - 43.5
45. Boston College Eagles (8-2) - 43.7
46. West Virginia Mountaineers (8-3) - 44.6
47. Iowa State Cyclones (5-6) - 46.4
48. Florida Gators (7-4) - 50.9
49. Louisville Cardinals (8-3-1) - 51.3
50. Oregon Ducks (6-4-1) - 51.5
51. Mississippi State Bulldogs (6-5) - 51.9
52. Utah Utes (6-4) - 52.0
53. California Golden Bears (6-5) - 52.3
54. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-5) - 53.2
55. Memphis Tigers (6-4) - 53.9
56. Pennsylvania Relays (4-5) - 54.7
57. South Carolina Gamecocks (4-6-1) - 56.7
58. Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-7) - 58.0
(tie) Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-4) - 58.0
60. Purdue Boilermakers (4-6) - 58.9
(tie) Syracuse Orange (6-4) - 58.9
62. Villanova Wildcats (9-2) - 60.2
63. Dayton Flyers (5-4-1) - 61.2
64. Wisconsin Badgers (4-5-1) - 63.9
65. Columbia Lions (3-6) - 64.5
66. Rice Owls (5-5) - 65.6
67. Duke Blue Devils (6-5) - 65.8
68. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (7-3) - 69.5
69. SMU Mustangs (5-6) - 69.6
70. TCU Horned Frogs (4-6-1) - 70.0
71. UTEP Miners (6-4) - 70.1
72. Ohio Bobcats (4-5) - 70.4
73. Michigan State Spartans (4-6) - 71.6
74. Vanderbilt Commodores (4-7) - 74.3
75. Fresno State Bulldogs (8-4) - 77.1
76. Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-6-1) - 78.0
(tie) Southern Miss Golden Eagles (5-6) - 78.0
78. Virginia Tech Hokies (5-6) - 78.5
79. Kentucky Wildcats (2-9) - 78.9
80. Colorado State Rams (4-7) - 79.0
81. Arizona Wildcats (4-6) - 80.0
82. Utah State Aggies (5-5) - 81.2
83. Pittsburgh Panthers (5-5) - 83.0
84. Marshall Thundering Herd (3-6) - 83.7
85. Virginia Cavaliers (5-6) - 85.6
86. New Mexico State Aggies (4-6) - 87.4
87. Texas A&M Aggies (2-9) - 87.5
88. Iowa Hawkeyes (3-6-1) - 88.0
89. North Texas Mean Green (3-8) - 89.1
90. Illinois Fighting Illini (3-7) - 90.0
91. San Jose State Spartans (2-9) - 91.1
92. Brown Bears (2-7) - 91.6
93. Bowling Green Falcons (2-6-1) - 92.6
94. Pacific Tigers (5-6) - 94.4
95. Northern Illinois Huskies (3-7) - 96.2
96. Clemson Tigers (3-8) - 96.4
97. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-5) - 96.6
98. Kent State Golden Flashes (3-7) - 96.8
99. Baylor Bears (2-9) - 97.1
100. Citadel Bulldogs (5-6) - 100.5
101. Furman Paladins (8-3) - 101.2
(tie) NC State Wolfpack (3-7-1) - 101.2
103. Miami Hurricanes (3-8) - 103.6
104. BYU Cougars (3-8) - 103.9
(tie) Navy Midshipmen (2-9) - 103.9
106. Army Black Knights (1-9-1) - 105.0
107. Richmond Spiders (4-6) - 105.6
108. Maryland Terrapins (2-9) - 106.9
109. Colgate Raiders (5-6) - 109.7
110. William & Mary Tribe (5-7) - 111.2
111. Washington State Cougars (1-10) - 112.3
112. ECU Pirates (3-8) - 112.9
113. Wyoming Cowboys (1-9) - 114.0
114. Idaho Vandals (4-7) - 114.4
115. Buffalo Bulls (2-9) - 115.9
116. Indiana Hoosiers (1-9) - 117.5
117. UCSB Gauchos (2-9) - 117.6
118. Davidson Wildcats (2-8) - 118.5
119. VMI Keydets (1-10) - 120.5
120. Holy Cross Crusaders (0-10-1) - 120.9
121. Xavier Musketeers (1-9) - 121.9
122. Wichita State Shockers (0-9) - 122.8
123. Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles (1-9) - 123.9

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/