Power Rankings 12/22/2020

Welcome Back!

This is the final Power Rankings for the 2020 regular season.  I will update this after the bowls are completed.  I should explain that I use my own formula to award points for each game, either positive or negative depending on the outcome.  These include a strength of schedule component and a margin of victory component.  I am doing things a little different this week, as I will only emphasize the 38 teams that played this week, as all the others only moved 1-3 spots only because of the teams that played.  See below the Power Rankings for my picks for today's bowl games.

Here are the teams that played this week and how much they moved (NC=No Change). Each team is listed in the order it appears in the rankings:

Alabama NC

Clemson +4

Notre Dame -1

Cincinnati NC

San Jose State +2

Iowa State -2

Texas A&M +3

Tulsa -1

Oklahoma +6

Ohio State +3

Ball State +7

Florida NC

Buffalo -1

Marshall -3

USC -9

UAB +11

Northwestern -4

Utah +5

Boise State -2

Stanford +14

Army +7

LSU +9

Oregon +26

Wisconsin +7

Arizona State +9

Missouri -21

UCLA -10

Ole Miss -12

Nebraska +14

Washington State -5

Air Force -4

Rutgers -16

Mississippi State +22

Minnesota -3

Oregon State -8

Penn State +9

Tennessee -5

Illinois -14

All other teams either stayed the same or moved only one to three spots up or down.

The top 3 spots were unchanged, as were the bottom 21, as none of them played.

Only 10 teams moved 10+ spots up or down this week.    

There are several ties.

There are some odd results, mainly due to the discrepancy in the number of games each team has played.  Typically, the more a team wins, the more it benefits from playing.  The more a team loses, the more benefit it gets from playing fewer games.  This is why Ohio State is rated so low and CCU so high, for example.

And here are the new Power Rankings!

1	Alabama
2	Coastal Carolina
3	BYU
4	Clemson
5	Notre Dame
6	Cincinnati
7	San Jose State
8	Indiana
9	Iowa State
10	Texas A&M
11	Tulsa
12	Georgia
13	Oklahoma
14	Ohio State
15	Liberty
16	Miami, Fl
17	North Carolina
18	Ball State
19	Texas
20	Florida
21	NC State
22	Iowa
23	Buffalo
24	Marshall
25	USC
26	UAB
T27	TCU
T27	Oklahoma State
29	Louisiana
30	Northwestern
31	Utah
32	Nevada
33	Boise State
34	Tulane
35	Auburn
36	Colorado
37	Stanford
38	Memphis
39	Army
40	West Virginia
41	Appalachian State
42	Pittsburgh
43	LSU
44	Oregon
45	UCF
46	Maryland
47	Arkansas
48	Wisconsin
49	UTSA
50	Arizona State
51	Missouri
52	Kent State
53	Boston College
54	UCLA
55	SMU
56	Hawai'i
57	Rice
58	Western Michigan
59	Ole Miss
60	Toledo
61	Wake Forest
62	Georgia State
63	Miami, Oh
64	Louisville
65	Georgia Southern
66	Central Michigan
67	Washington
68	Nebraska
69	Virginia
70	Houston
71	East Carolina
72	San Diego State
T73	Texas Tech
T73	Ohio
75	Kentucky
76	Washington State
77	Air Force
78	Rutgers
79	Virginia Tech
80	Mississippi State
81	Purdue
82	Minnesota
83	Oregon State
84	Kansas State
85	FAU
86	Colorado State
87	Eastern Michigan
88	Fresno State
89	Penn State
90	Georgia Tech
91	Western Kentucky
92	Tennessee
93	Michigan State
94	Baylor
95	Middle Tenn
T96	California
T96	La Tech
98	Charlotte
99	FSU
100	Michigan
101	UMass
102	South Carolina
103	Wyoming
104	New Mexico
105	Arizona
106	Illinois
107	North Texas
108	Troy
109	Navy
110	Utah State
111	UTEP
112	Akron
113	Temple
114	Duke
115	Texas State
116	South Alabama
117	Bowling Green
118	FIU
119	Northern Illinois
120	UNLV
121	Arkansas State
122	Vanderbilt
123	Southern Miss
124	South Florida
125	Kansas
126	Syracuse
127	ULM

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl- Boise, Idaho

Tulane vs Nevada- The Green Wave ended the season winning 4 of their last 5, and 2 of their 5 losses were in OT, and 1 other was by 3 points.  Meanwhile, The Wolf Pack lost 2 of their last 3, and are only 2-2 on the road.  Tulane is 6-7 in bowl games, having won 4 of their last 5, and Nevada is 1-4 over their last 5, and 6-11 overall.  This is the 2nd meeting between these 2 teams, with Tulane winning 34-17 in 1992.  Tulane wins again.

Boca Raton Bowl- Boca Raton, FL

UCF vs BYU- The Cougars have had an outstanding season, but want to get the taste of the loss to CCU out of their mouths, a loss that ended their perfect season.  The Knights have had a disappointing season, finishing with 3 losses, but another would mean their most losses since they were 6-7 in 2016.  UCF is 5-6 in bowl games, 2-3 over their last 5.  BYU is 15-21-1/2-3 (overall/last 5).  This will be the 3rd meeting between these 2, with BYU winning in 2011 and UCF in 2014.  BYU wins.

Come back tomorrow for my Odds and Ends.

Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!