1972 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 1972:

1. USC Trojans (12-0) - 1.0
2. Oklahoma Sooners (11-1) - 2.0
3. Alabama Crimson Tide (10-2) - 3.3
4. Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-2-1) - 4.5
5. Tennessee Volunteers (10-2) - 5.2
6. Texas Longhorns (10-1) - 6.2
7. Michigan Wolverines (10-1) - 7.5
8. Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2) - 7.6
9. Auburn Tigers (10-1) - 8.3
10. LSU Tigers (9-2-1) - 10.3
11. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-2) - 12.2
12. North Carolina Tar Heels (11-1) - 12.3
13. NC State Wolfpack (8-3-1) - 12.5
14. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-3) - 14.0
15. San Diego State Aztecs (10-1) - 15.4
16. Louisville Cardinals (9-1) - 15.5
17. Colorado Buffaloes (8-4) - 17.9
18. Florida Gators (5-5-1) - 18.7
19. UCLA Bruins (8-3) - 19.1
20. Arizona State Sun Devils (10-2) - 19.3
21. Dartmouth Big Green (7-1-1) - 20.6
22. Yale Bulldogs (7-2) - 21.7
23. Georgia Bulldogs (7-4) - 23.3
24. Tampa Spartans (10-2) - 24.7
25. Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-4) - 26.9
26. Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-5) - 28.0
27. SMU Mustangs (7-4) - 29.4
28. Utah State Aggies (8-3) - 30.0
29. Purdue Boilermakers (6-5) - 30.4
30. Ole Miss Rebels (5-5) - 31.0
31. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7-4-1) - 31.1
32. West Virginia Mountaineers (8-4) - 31.9
33. Houston Cougars (6-4-1) - 32.7
34. Iowa State Cyclones (5-6-1) - 34.8
35. Bowling Green Falcons (6-3-1) - 35.7
36. Miami Hurricanes (5-6) - 36.6
37. Washington State Cougars (7-4) - 36.9
38. Arkansas Razorbacks (6-5) - 37.3
39. ECU Pirates (9-2) - 38.2
40. Florida State Seminoles (7-4) - 38.7
41. Baylor Bears (5-6) - 39.9
42. Pacific Tigers (8-3) - 41.7
43. Washington Huskies (8-3) - 42.3
44. Tulane Green Wave (6-5) - 42.5
45. Stanford Cardinal (6-5) - 43.9
46. Miami University RedHawks (7-3) - 44.1
47. Cornell Big Red (6-3) - 45.1
48. Michigan State Spartans (5-5-1) - 46.5
49. Virginia Tech Hokies (6-4-1) - 48.3
50. Pennsylvania Relays (6-3) - 49.2
51. Air Force Falcons (6-4) - 51.6
52. Rice Owls (5-5-1) - 52.4
53. Missouri Tigers (6-6) - 52.9
54. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (7-4) - 54.4
55. Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-7) - 55.0
56. Fresno State Bulldogs (6-4-1) - 56.1
57. Utah Utes (6-5) - 58.4
58. TCU Horned Frogs (5-6) - 58.9
(tie) Western Michigan Broncos (7-3-1) - 58.9
60. Kent State Golden Flashes (6-5-1) - 60.3
61. Duke Blue Devils (5-6) - 62.1
62. Maryland Terrapins (5-5-1) - 62.6
63. Richmond Spiders (6-4) - 65.8
64. Army Black Knights (6-4) - 65.9
(tie) Harvard Crimson (4-4-1) - 65.9
66. Kansas Jayhawks (4-7) - 67.0
67. Oregon Ducks (4-7) - 67.1
68. Texas A&M Aggies (3-8) - 67.9
69. Memphis Tigers (5-5-1) - 68.8
70. Columbia Lions (3-5-1) - 69.4
(tie) Northern Illinois Huskies (7-4) - 69.4
72. BYU Cougars (7-4) - 72.0
(tie) Holy Cross Crusaders (5-4-1) - 72.0
74. California Golden Bears (3-8) - 73.7
75. Kentucky Wildcats (3-8) - 75.3
76. Drake Bulldogs (7-5) - 75.5
77. Navy Midshipmen (4-7) - 77.6
78. Toledo Rockets (6-5) - 78.3
79. South Carolina Gamecocks (4-7) - 78.7
80. Colgate Raiders (5-4-1) - 80.7
81. Princeton Tigers (3-5-1) - 81.0
82. Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-7) - 82.4
83. William & Mary Tribe (5-6) - 82.6
84. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (3-7-1) - 84.0
85. Illinois Fighting Illini (3-8) - 84.4
86. Indiana Hoosiers (5-6) - 86.5
87. Syracuse Orange (5-6) - 86.7
88. Boston College Eagles (4-7) - 88.6
89. Clemson Tigers (4-7) - 89.6
90. Wisconsin Badgers (4-7) - 91.4
91. Iowa Hawkeyes (3-7-1) - 93.6
92. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-7) - 94.0
93. Kansas State Wildcats (3-8) - 94.7
(tie) Temple Owls (5-4) - 94.7
95. Dayton Flyers (4-6-1) - 94.9
96. Virginia Cavaliers (4-7) - 95.4
97. Arizona Wildcats (4-7) - 95.7
98. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (5-5) - 96.2
99. Appalachian State Mountaineers (5-5-1) - 97.7
100. San Jose State Spartans (4-7) - 98.0
101. Vanderbilt Commodores (3-8) - 98.5
102. Long Beach State 49ers (5-6) - 99.2
103. Oregon State Beavers (2-9) - 100.0
104. Citadel Bulldogs (5-6) - 101.9
105. Texas-Arlington Mavericks (5-6) - 105.4
106. Wichita State Shockers (6-5) - 107.7
107. Idaho Vandals (4-7) - 108.0
108. Wyoming Cowboys (4-7) - 109.3
109. Northwestern Wildcats (2-9) - 110.1
110. New Mexico Lobos (3-8) - 111.0
111. Brown Bears (1-8) - 111.1
112. Southern Illinois Salukis (1-8-1) - 112.3
113. Pittsburgh Panthers (1-10) - 115.1
114. Ohio Bobcats (3-8) - 115.8
(tie) Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs (2-9) - 115.8
116. Davidson Wildcats (3-7-1) - 117.3
117. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-9) - 118.0
118. VMI Keydets (2-9) - 118.1
119. Villanova Wildcats (2-9) - 119.2
120. Marshall Thundering Herd (2-8) - 119.9
121. Furman Paladins (2-9) - 122.3
122. New Mexico State Aggies (2-9) - 122.9
123. Xavier Musketeers (2-8) - 123.4
124. Cincinnati Bearcats (2-9) - 124.9
125. UTEP Miners (2-8) - 126.4
126. North Texas Mean Green (1-10) - 126.6
127. Colorado State Rams (1-10) - 128.0

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/