College Football Power Rankings; OSU #1, Georgia #2

Jake WestrichJul 23, 2008

College Football Power Rankings

2008 Pre-Season Ranking

By Paul Bessire, WhatIfSports.com

July 22nd, 2008

WhatIfSports simulated every possible matchup in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) 100 times, and used the winning percentages from those 700,000+ games to deterministically evaluate all teams to come up with the best possible ranking of how every team compares to every other team. The inputs to the simulations are based on a rigorous analysis of each team that first considers strength-of-schedule-adjusted team and player ratings from 2007 and then makes modifications for 2008 based on returning starters (who, where and how many), expected progression of returning players in new roles, depth at each position and incoming recruits and transfers.

Check back August 11thwhen we begin unveiling projected scores for every FBS game as part of our comprehensive 2008 College Football Preview. The preview will also include conference standings, projected bowl matchups, updated power rankings and BCS results.

Teams Ranked by Winning Percentage
(everyone plays everyone 100 times)

	Team	Win Pct	PF/G	PA/G
1.	Ohio State Buckeyes	98.9%	48.9	7.6
2.	Georgia Bulldogs	97.7%	45.5	10.3
3.	Oklahoma Sooners	94.8%	48.2	18.2
4.	LSU Tigers	94.6%	42.6	11.5
5.	USC Trojans	94.0%	41.2	10.6
6.	W. Virginia Mountaineers	91.5%	41.6	17.8
7.	Clemson Tigers	89.1%	36.6	14.5
8.	Florida Gators	86.1%	39.2	18.7
9.	Missouri Tigers	86.0%	41.7	22.6
10.	Wisconsin Badgers	84.5%	34.7	16.4
11.	Texas Longhorns	83.9%	39.0	21.2
12.	Illinois Fighting Illini	83.0%	35.0	18.5
13.	Alabama Crimson Tide	82.0%	33.4	17.0
14.	WF Demon Deacons	80.0%	29.4	15.6
15.	Kansas Jayhawks	78.3%	38.6	24.1
16.	Texas Tech Red Raiders	77.6%	34.3	20.9
17.	Virginia Tech Hokies	77.5%	28.4	16.0
18.	Auburn Tigers	76.7%	25.3	13.6
19.	South Florida Bulls	74.3%	32.8	20.3
20.	Brigham Young Cougars	72.5%	33.7	23.9
	Team	Win Pct	PF/G	PA/G
21.	Fresno State Bulldogs	72.1%	36.8	26.7
22.	Arizona St. Sun Devils	70.4%	32.4	23.2
23.	Tennessee Volunteers	69.1%	35.0	24.8
24.	Michigan Wolverines	68.7%	29.0	20.9
25.	Cincinnati Bearcats	68.0%	30.1	21.6
26.	Utah Utes	67.6%	28.0	20.3
27.	Purdue Boilermakers	67.4%	30.3	22.4
28.	Oklahoma State Cowboys	66.7%	36.9	29.9
29.	Oregon Ducks	66.6%	28.7	20.7
30.	Maryland Terrapins	66.1%	31.0	25.0
31.	Pittsburgh Panthers	65.6%	28.2	20.2
32.	Michigan State Spartans	64.8%	28.0	22.5
33.	UCLA Bruins	64.8%	26.9	20.5
34.	TCU Horned Frogs	64.5%	25.2	18.9
35.	Indiana Hoosiers	63.5%	28.7	24.0
36.	Louisville Cardinals	63.4%	35.9	31.3
37.	Florida State Seminoles	63.1%	27.1	21.6
38.	North Carolina Tar Heels	62.9%	30.6	24.6
39.	Penn State Nittany Lions	62.9%	28.3	23.1
40.	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	61.9%	29.6	24.7
	Team	Win Pct	PF/G	PA/G
41.	East Carolina Pirates	61.7%	28.5	23.7
42.	California Golden Bears	61.4%	30.7	26.0
43.	S. Carolina Gamecocks	61.3%	26.1	22.0
44.	Houston Cougars	61.0%	29.4	24.9
45.	Boise State Broncos	60.0%	27.9	23.2
46.	Connecticut Huskies	59.8%	27.3	22.2
47.	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	59.7%	25.7	22.0
48.	UCF Knights	59.1%	25.8	21.1
49.	Arkansas Razorbacks	58.7%	27.7	24.0
50.	Kansas State Wildcats	58.0%	31.7	28.4
51.	Nevada Wolf Pack	57.3%	35.5	32.4
52.	Arizona Wildcats	57.0%	28.8	25.6
53.	Kentucky Wildcats	56.2%	22.6	19.3
54.	New Mexico Lobos	55.3%	22.9	20.8
55.	C. Michigan Chippewas	54.3%	30.4	28.5
56.	Air Force Falcons	52.6%	26.9	26.7
57.	Florida Atlantic Owls	52.5%	27.7	26.5
58.	Mississippi State Bulldogs	52.3%	20.4	19.7
59.	Colorado Buffaloes	52.2%	26.2	25.7
60.	Boston College Eagles	51.3%	21.6	21.7
	Team	Win Pct	PF/G	PA/G
61.	Tulsa Golden Hurricane	51.3%	32.0	31.6
62.	Ball State Cardinals	51.0%	30.7	31.5
63.	GA Tech Yellow Jackets	50.7%	25.5	25.2
64.	Mississippi Rebels	50.2%	25.7	25.0
65.	Nebraska Cornhuskers	49.6%	26.4	25.7
66.	Iowa Hawkeyes	49.4%	22.4	23.3
67.	Wyoming Cowboys	47.6%	20.3	21.5
68.	Washington Huskies	47.5%	29.0	29.7
69.	Texas A&M Aggies	47.4%	29.2	31.2
70.	Navy Midshipmen	47.1%	27.5	28.9
71.	Oregon State Beavers	46.6%	19.8	22.4
72.	Miami (FL) Hurricanes	45.8%	20.8	22.5
73.	Miami (OH) RedHawks	44.8%	20.4	22.8
74.	Temple Owls	42.8%	21.5	25.4
75.	Hawaii Warriors	42.6%	22.2	26.1
76.	Duke Blue Devils	40.9%	20.0	24.8
77.	Northwestern Wildcats	40.7%	24.3	28.8
78.	Minn. Golden Gophers	39.5%	30.1	34.4
79.	W. Michigan Broncos	39.5%	21.3	26.6
80.	S. Miss Golden Eagles	38.4%	22.7	28.5
	Team	Win Pct	PF/G	PA/G
81.	Ohio Bobcats	36.4%	21.4	27.9
82.	Washington St. Cougars	36.4%	20.9	28.5
83.	SMU Mustangs	36.2%	25.9	33.3
84.	Bowling Green Falcons	36.0%	22.3	29.0
85.	Virginia Cavaliers	35.9%	16.3	22.7
86.	Rice Owls	35.6%	23.2	29.8
87.	LA-Monroe Warhawks	35.6%	23.5	30.7
88.	Baylor Bears	34.0%	22.4	30.0
89.	Colorado St. Rams	33.8%	21.1	29.8
90.	Buffalo Bulls	30.2%	22.2	31.6
91.	Arkansas St. Indians	27.5%	19.2	30.1
92.	UNLV Rebels	26.7%	21.9	33.6
93.	UTEP Miners	26.6%	18.7	30.3
94.	Kent St. Golden Flashes	26.5%	19.1	30.3
95.	Northern Illinois Huskies	25.7%	20.0	32.1
96.	New Mexico State Aggies	25.1%	20.6	32.8
97.	Memphis Tigers	25.0%	18.6	30.9
98.	Vanderbilt Commodores	24.8%	16.2	28.7
99.	Toledo Rockets	23.8%	21.7	34.1
100.	Idaho Vandals	23.3%	19.8	32.7
	Team	Win Pct	PF/G	PA/G
101.	Marshall Thundering Herd	23.3%	20.4	33.3
102.	Syracuse Orange	22.2%	18.8	32.5
103.	LA-Laf Ragin' Cajuns	21.8%	21.6	36.1
104.	Stanford Cardinal	21.4%	16.0	30.5
105.	Mid Tenn Blue Raiders	21.2%	16.5	31.0
106.	Louisiana Tech Bulldogs	18.6%	15.6	31.1
107.	North Texas Mean Green	18.6%	16.6	33.4
108.	Troy Trojans	18.1%	13.8	30.4
109.	E. Michigan Eagles	17.0%	14.9	33.3
110.	Tulane Green Wave	16.9%	17.4	34.8
111.	NC St. Wolfpack	16.6%	13.5	31.7
112.	Akron Zips	14.7%	13.0	31.8
113.	Western Kentucky Hilltoppers	14.7%	14.8	33.7
114.	San Jose State Spartans	14.2%	11.3	32.3
115.	Iowa State Cyclones	13.8%	12.6	31.7
116.	UAB Blazers	13.1%	13.9	32.4
117.	Utah State Aggies	9.9%	12.2	36.6
118.	San Diego State Aztecs	9.3%	11.6	36.5
119.	Fla. Int. Golden Panthers	5.3%	10.3	38.0
120.	Army Black Knights	5.3%	8.4	35.3

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