Power Rankings 9/29/26

Welcome Back!

I have to admit it; I wasn't sure how my new formula would work, since I deemphasized the amount of points my preseason bonus was worth. It seemed to work pretty well for these 1st 4 games, as teams moved more, but not too much. In the past, teams didn't move much at all, even if they won or lost a big game, because the preseason points exerted an oversized influence. So this year I reduced that influence, and it seems to have worked well. 

I also expected the large movement that has happened previously after removing the preseason points to be less than in the past. Boy, was I wrong! So many teams moved 10 or more places that it would take me an hour to type all the team names in this document. 32 of the top 47 moved up or down at least 10 places, so I just stopped figuring the rest out. I'll leave that to you.

But here is what I can say without fear of contradiction: UMass does not belong at #22, and I sure don't expect them to stay there. However, up to this point, the Minutemen are undefeated, have a positive point differential, and are playing well statistically. That won't last, as their competition has been 2 FCS teams, FBS newcomer Sacramento State, and Rutgers. 

So in other words, take these interim rankings with a grain of salt (and maybe a lot of alcohol!), as they will change a lot before the end of the season. As I've stated in past seasons, I am less interested in being correct right now than I am in being correct at the end of the season, and my end-of-season record is pretty good.

It should be noted that ULM remains in the bottom spot. As of now, the SEC holds the top 4 slots, and 6 of the top 7. That won't last. Indiana (#9) is the highest among the Big Ten teams, with Miami (#5), James Madison (#11), BYU (#19), UMass (#22)North Dakota State (#25)Boise State (#32), USF (#41), and Liberty (#52) the leaders from their respective conferences. Ga Tech is now the lowest rated P4 team.

Here are the teams that moved the most:

Mississippi State +41 to #3

UCLA +33 to #13

Virginia Tech +34 to #18

UMass +107 to #22

Oklahoma State +43 to #24

North Dakota State +48 to #25

New Mexico +32 to #27

UCF +42 to #33

Oregon -30 to #34

Ole Miss -30 to #39

Georgia State +75 to #44

Oklahoma -40 to #54

App State +32 to #55

Louisville -36 to #56

FAU +30 to #61

Clemson - 45 to #64

Washington -42 to #67

South Carolina -37 to #68

Oregon State +47 to #70

Texas A&M -56 to #73

TCU -35 to #75

FIU +34 to #76

Illinois -31 to #78

FSU -45 to #79

UAB +31 to #94

San Diego State -30 to #114

Navy -50 to #119

ODU -34 to #120

Georgia Tech -61 to #124

Hawaii -33 to #131

WKU -36 to #132

That's 31 teams that moved at least 30 spots up (14) or down (17). 

As a reminder, I use a points based system. Teams start out with a certain number of points based on 12 different factors, and those points range from a low of -20.887 (#138 UMass) to a high of 315.128 points (#1 Oregon), so as you can see, there are about 335 points separating 1st and last place- plenty of room to fit in 136 additional teams. In other words, teams are an average of 2.4 points apart, but of course they aren't spaced evenly; some are 10-20 points away from another while others are less than a point away. To illustrate the difference, my number one team last year had over 1300 points, while the last place team had just 54. As you can see, the teams are much closer this year, as I had an average distance of almost 10 points between teams last year. As teams play games, they earn or lose points based on who they played, where they played,  and the score of that game. Sometimes a team can lose points after a win or gain points after a loss. For example, if Oregon played UMass and won by 2 points, chances are they will lose points because the game is much closer than a game between #s 1 and 138 should be. The same goes for defeating an FCS team by very few points, and a loss to an FCS team means quite a bit of negative points. Once we reach the end of September, I will drop the preseason points, and from then on, the rankings will be based on results and stats from this year only. 

Anyway, here are my new rankings from 1 to 138:

Rank	Team	Previous
1	Georgia	5
2	Alabama	11
3	Mississippi State	44
4	Texas	1
5	Miami, Fl	7
6	Florida	27
7	LSU	12
8	Notre Dame	3
9	Indiana	2
10	Utah	24
11	James Madison	26
12	Ohio State	6
13	UCLA	46
14	Iowa	16
15	Pittsburgh	33
16	Nebraska	35
17	Duke	32
18	Virginia Tech	52
19	BYU	15
20	Tennessee	18
21	Kansas State	38
22	UMass	129
23	Cincinnati	43
24	Oklahoma State	67
25	North Dakota State	73
26	Virginia	36
27	New Mexico	59
28	USC	13
29	Michigan	10
30	Texas Tech	8
31	Houston	30
32	Boise State	28
33	UCF	75
34	Oregon	4
35	Penn State	21
36	Wisconsin	62
37	Auburn	29
38	Kentucky	65
39	Ole Miss	9
40	SMU	23
41	USF	48
42	Baylor	56
43	North Carolina	72
44	Georgia State	119
45	Northwestern	53
46	Missouri	22
47	Wake Forest	61
48	Arizona	42
49	West Virginia	51
50	Minnesota	50
51	Memphis	41
52	Liberty	68
53	Vanderbilt	37
54	Oklahoma	14
55	Appalachian State	87
56	Louisville	20
57	Iowa State	57
58	Arizona State	49
59	Fresno State	39
60	Toledo	70
61	FAU	91
62	NC State	54
63	Army	58
64	Clemson	19
65	Louisiana	90
66	UTSA	45
67	Washington	25
68	South Carolina	31
69	Michigan State	77
70	Oregon State	117
71	North Texas	55
72	Texas State	64
73	Texas A&M	17
74	Tulsa	97
75	TCU	40
76	FIU	110
77	Syracuse	105
78	Illinois	47
79	FSU	34
80	Colorado State	104
81	Maryland	78
82	Air Force	88
83	Colorado	80
84	Western Michigan	66
85	UNLV	60
86	Kansas	84
87	UConn	81
88	Stanford	112
89	La Tech	99
90	South Alabama	101
91	Arkansas	79
92	Jacksonville State	94
93	California	85
94	UAB	125
95	Arkansas State	95
96	San Jose State	109
97	Miami, OH	82
98	Delaware	100
99	Boston College	106
100	Tulane	71
101	East Carolina	76
102	Temple	111
103	Middle Tenn	120
104	Georgia Southern	102
105	Sam Houston	134
106	Marshall	89
107	Troy	83
108	Ohio	93
109	Washington State	92
110	Purdue	115
111	Wyoming	126
112	Coastal Carolina	113
113	New Mexico State	121
114	San Diego State	74
115	Rice	124
116	Rutgers	108
117	Missouri State	123
118	Southern Miss	116
119	Navy	69
120	ODU	86
121	Central Michigan	103
122	Akron	122
123	Kent State	130
124	Georgia Tech	63
125	Kennesaw State	107
126	Eastern Michigan	127
127	Buffalo	114
128	UTEP	128
129	Nevada	136
130	Utah State	118
131	Hawai'i	98
132	WKU	96
133	Ball State	131
134	Sacramento State	132
135	Charlotte	137
136	Northern Illinois	133
137	Bowling Green	135
138	ULM	138

I will update these rankings each week throughout the season.

Feel free to leave a comment. Come back tomorrow for my Odds and Ends! 

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