Power Rankings 12/29/2020

Welcome Back!

IThis will be a short blog, as I just want to explain a little about how my Power Rankings work, without divulging the actual formula.  As you can see below (I reprinted my year-end PR), there are some odd results.  There is no way CCU and BYU should be that high, and Oklahoma and Ohio State that low.  Basically, my formula gives you points for winning, while subtracting points for a loss.  The more wins you accumulate, the better your chances to be ranked high.  The more losses, the lower you end up.  There is also a margin of victory component, and you get bonus points for winning on the road or for beating a higher ranked (in my rankings) team.  Conversely, you lose points by losing at home or by losing to a lower ranked team.  

For example, losing to #1 ranked Alabama by 3 points won't hurt you much.  Losing by 20 to #127 ULM will hurt a LOT!  On the opposite spectrum, beating Alabama by 20 is worth MUCH more than beating ULM by 2. 

What this all means is that teams that played more games, and won most of them (like CCU), will generally rank higher than a similar team who played less games (like Ohio State).  In addition, teams who played less games, but lost most, would fare better than a similar team that played more games, because there were less chances to lose points.  This is a new formula I tried out this year (I have tweaked my formula every year), but the problem with this year is that there was such a disparity with the number of games played.  If every team plays 11 or 12 games, then I think my formula will work as intended, so I may not change it at all for next year.  I hope this helps to somewhat explain how my rankings ended the way they did.

Below is my last set of Power Rankings for the regular season.  After the bowls are finished, I will update it with all of the bowl results added in.  In other words, the rankings below do NOT include any bowl results.

And here are the 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

Come back tomorrow for my Odds and Ends.

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