1971 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 1971:

1. Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-0) - 1.0
2. Oklahoma Sooners (11-1) - 2.0
3. Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1) - 3.1
4. Toledo Rockets (12-0) - 4.4
5. Colorado Buffaloes (10-2) - 5.5
6. Georgia Bulldogs (11-1) - 7.0
7. Penn State Nittany Lions (11-1) - 7.1
8. Auburn Tigers (9-2) - 7.2
9. LSU Tigers (9-3) - 8.6
10. Arizona State Sun Devils (11-1) - 10.5
11. Michigan Wolverines (11-1) - 11.3
12. Tennessee Volunteers (10-2) - 11.8
13. Houston Cougars (9-3) - 12.4
14. Ole Miss Rebels (10-2) - 13.1
15. Iowa State Cyclones (8-4) - 15.6
16. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-2) - 16.6
17. Cornell Big Red (8-1) - 17.3
18. Texas Longhorns (8-3) - 19.4
19. Stanford Cardinal (9-3) - 19.6
20. USC Trojans (6-4-1) - 19.8
21. Washington Huskies (8-3) - 21.1
22. Dartmouth Big Green (8-1) - 22.7
23. North Carolina Tar Heels (9-3) - 23.3
(tie) Western Michigan Broncos (7-3) - 23.3
25. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-4) - 23.6
26. Florida State Seminoles (8-4) - 25.4
27. Boston College Eagles (9-2) - 26.1
28. Arkansas Razorbacks (8-3-1) - 27.2
29. Miami University RedHawks (7-3) - 29.7
(tie) Utah State Aggies (8-3) - 29.7
31. Northwestern Wildcats (7-4) - 33.8
32. Temple Owls (6-2-1) - 34.3
33. New Mexico Lobos (6-3-2) - 34.8
34. West Virginia Mountaineers (7-4) - 34.9
35. Memphis Tigers (5-6) - 35.8
36. Villanova Wildcats (6-4-1) - 36.3
37. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-6) - 36.5
38. Ohio Bobcats (5-5) - 38.3
39. Michigan State Spartans (6-5) - 38.9
40. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (6-5) - 40.2
41. Tampa Spartans (6-5) - 42.9
42. Duke Blue Devils (6-5) - 43.2
43. Cincinnati Bearcats (7-4) - 43.6
44. Columbia Lions (6-3) - 43.8
45. Long Beach State 49ers (8-4) - 45.8
46. California Golden Bears (6-5) - 46.2
47. Louisville Cardinals (6-3-1) - 46.4
48. South Carolina Gamecocks (6-5) - 46.8
49. Air Force Falcons (6-4) - 47.1
50. San Diego State Aztecs (6-5) - 48.6
51. Oregon Ducks (5-6) - 51.2
52. Kansas State Wildcats (5-6) - 51.9
53. Bowling Green Falcons (6-4) - 53.3
54. Oregon State Beavers (5-6) - 53.4
55. Hawaii Warriors (7-4) - 54.7
56. San Jose State Spartans (5-6-1) - 57.4
57. Harvard Crimson (5-4) - 58.6
58. Syracuse Orange (5-5-1) - 59.1
59. William & Mary Tribe (5-6) - 59.9
60. Illinois Fighting Illini (5-6) - 60.0
61. Washington State Cougars (4-7) - 62.3
62. Princeton Tigers (4-5) - 62.5
63. Idaho Vandals (8-3) - 62.9
64. BYU Cougars (5-6) - 63.6
65. Florida Gators (4-7) - 63.9
66. Drake Bulldogs (7-4) - 66.1
67. Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-7) - 69.1
68. Dayton Flyers (5-6) - 69.9
69. Citadel Bulldogs (8-3) - 70.5
70. Yale Bulldogs (4-5) - 71.2
71. TCU Horned Frogs (6-4-1) - 72.9
72. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-5) - 73.2
73. Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-6-1) - 74.4
74. Fresno State Bulldogs (6-5) - 74.5
75. Kansas Jayhawks (4-7) - 75.2
76. Army Black Knights (6-4) - 76.5
77. Wyoming Cowboys (5-6) - 77.1
78. Purdue Boilermakers (3-7) - 77.2
79. Clemson Tigers (5-6) - 77.3
80. Tulane Green Wave (3-8) - 77.8
81. Colgate Raiders (6-4) - 78.2
82. Northern Illinois Huskies (5-5-1) - 81.2
83. Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-7) - 82.1
84. Arizona Wildcats (5-6) - 82.5
85. Texas A&M Aggies (5-6) - 83.6
86. Wisconsin Badgers (4-6-1) - 85.9
87. UTEP Miners (5-6) - 86.7
88. Richmond Spiders (5-6) - 87.2
89. Pacific Tigers (3-8) - 87.4
90. Rice Owls (3-7-1) - 89.4
91. Vanderbilt Commodores (4-6-1) - 89.7
92. New Mexico State Aggies (5-5-1) - 90.2
93. Miami Hurricanes (4-7) - 90.9
94. UCLA Bruins (2-7-1) - 93.8
95. Utah Utes (3-8) - 93.9
96. Virginia Tech Hokies (4-7) - 95.0
97. Furman Paladins (5-5-1) - 97.7
98. Pittsburgh Panthers (3-8) - 98.5
99. SMU Mustangs (4-7) - 100.5
100. ECU Pirates (4-6) - 101.7
101. Kentucky Wildcats (3-8) - 102.9
102. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-7) - 103.2
103. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-7) - 103.4
104. Navy Midshipmen (3-8) - 104.3
105. Holy Cross Crusaders (4-6) - 105.2
106. Colorado State Rams (3-8) - 106.7
107. North Texas Mean Green (3-8) - 109.0
108. Pennsylvania Relays (2-7) - 109.4
(tie) UCSB Gauchos (3-8) - 109.4
110. Maryland Terrapins (2-9) - 110.2
111. NC State Wolfpack (3-8) - 111.9
112. Mississippi State Bulldogs (2-9) - 112.3
113. Indiana Hoosiers (3-8) - 112.8
114. Kent State Golden Flashes (3-8) - 114.1
115. Virginia Cavaliers (3-8) - 114.3
116. Brown Bears (0-9) - 118.0
117. Wichita State Shockers (3-8) - 118.7
118. Missouri Tigers (1-10) - 118.8
119. Xavier Musketeers (1-9) - 118.9
120. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (2-9) - 121.1
121. Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs (2-9) - 121.3
122. Marshall Thundering Herd (2-8) - 122.4
123. Iowa Hawkeyes (1-10) - 124.2
124. Baylor Bears (1-9) - 125.3
125. VMI Keydets (1-10) - 125.8
126. Davidson Wildcats (1-9) - 127.5
127. Texas-Arlington Mavericks (2-9) - 127.7
128. Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles (2-8) - 128.4

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/