The Schmitz Index: Week 14

In 1999, I was convinced that Virginia Tech was the best team in the nation behind QB Michael Vick.

I created the Schmitz Index to prove it.

It didn't work—no matter what I tried, VT was not the No. 1 team in the nation.

The Schmitz Index ranks the FBS teams on Win/Loss Percentage (50 percent), Strength of Schedule (25 percent), Margin of Victory (15 percent), Points Scored (five percent), and Net Average Yards (five percent).

Strength of Schedule considers opponents' and opponents' opponents' ratings in the other categories. Margin of Victory collapses runaway scores so as to lessen the impact of blowouts on the overall rankings.

LSU and Oklahoma occupy the two top spots this week.  Even with the unexpected results this weekend, the top 12 teams are still the same, although in a different order.

Team Index Pvs     Team Index Pvs 1 LSU (11-2) 100.00 3   61 Navy (8-4) 67.74 65 2 Oklahoma (11-2)   99.22 4   62 Maryland (6-6) 66.23 61 3 West Virginia (10-2)   96.88 1   63 Nebraska (5-7) 66.01 63 4 Ohio St. (11-1)   96.59 6   64 Florida Atlantic (7-5) 65.72 68 5 Kansas (11-1)   96.51 5   65 Southern Miss (7-5) 65.35 64 6 Missouri (11-2)   96.29 2   66 Cent. Michigan (8-5) 64.86 69 7 Florida (9-3)   95.19 7   67 Arizona (5-7) 62.74 66 8 Hawaii (12-0)   92.55 9   68 Kansas St. (5-7) 62.68 67 9 USC (10-2)   92.14 11   69 Iowa (6-6) 61.51 70 10 Virginia Tech (11-2)   91.76 12   70 Nevada (6-6) 61.24 78 11 Georgia (10-2)   91.18 8   71 Pittsburgh (5-7) 61.14 79 12 Arizona St. (10-2)   90.99 10   72 Northwestern (6-6) 60.30 73 13 South Florida (9-3)   88.05 15   73 Vanderbilt (5-7) 60.24 71 14 BYU (10-2)   87.65 19   74 Washington St. (5-7) 60.06 72 15 Boise St. (10-2)   87.12 16   75 Washington (4-9) 59.56 86 16 Texas (9-3)   86.48 18   76 Memphis (7-5) 59.31 74 17 Clemson (9-3)   85.56 21   77 LA Monroe (6-6) 58.29 75 18 Boston Coll. (10-3)   85.53 14   78 Miami (FL) (5-7) 58.08 62 19 Cincinnati (9-3)   85.34 20   79 Wyoming (5-7) 57.87 76 20 Oregon (8-4)   85.32 13   80 Ohio (6-6) 55.88 91 21 UCF (10-3)   84.74 23   81 N.C. State (5-7) 55.81 85 22 Illinois (9-3)   84.09 22   82 Middle Tenn. St. (5-7) 55.09 81 23 Tennessee (9-4)   83.94 17   83 W. Michigan (5-7) 54.70 82 24 Penn St. (8-4)   81.97 24   84 Miami (OH) (6-7) 54.64 77 25 Wisconsin (9-3)   80.25 28   85 Arkansas St. (5-7) 54.49 84 26 Virginia (9-3)   80.24 27   86 West. Kentucky (7-5) 53.01 88 27 Texas Tech (8-4)   80.03 43   87 Buffalo (5-7) 52.76 87 28 Arkansas (8-4)   79.86 30   88 North Carolina (4-8) 52.47 80 29 Connecticut (9-3)   79.84 29   89 Stanford (4-8) 52.46 95 30 Auburn (8-4)   79.58 31   90 Toledo (5-7) 52.08 89 31 Air Force (9-3)   78.03 33   91 Louisiana Tech (5-7) 50.62 83 32 Oregon St. (8-4)   78.02 39   92 San Jose St. (5-7) 50.16 93 33 Tulsa (9-4)   77.86 25   93 Mississippi (3-9) 49.64 90 34 Utah (8-4)   77.65 34   94 San Diego St. (4-8) 49.26 92 35 Troy (8-4)   77.52 26   95 UTEP (4-8) 48.63 94 36 Michigan St. (7-5)   77.06 36   96 Akron (4-8) 48.32 96 37 Michigan (8-4)   76.94 35   97 Notre Dame (3-9) 47.69 97 38 Kentucky (7-5)   76.31 42   98 Colorado St. (3-9) 46.23 98 39 Wake Forest (8-4)   76.27 37   99 Tulane (4-8) 45.47 100 40 Texas A&M (7-5)   73.24 41   100 Iowa St. (3-9) 45.43 102 41 Florida St. (7-5)   72.96 40   101 East. Michigan (4-8) 45.39 104 42 Rutgers (7-5)   72.44 38   102 Temple (4-8) 44.91 103 43 Fresno St. (8-4)   72.18 44   103 Marshall (3-9) 44.69 101 44 Purdue (7-5)   71.42 48   104 UNLV (2-10) 42.95 105 45 Oklahoma St. (6-6)   70.78 49   105 Baylor (3-9) 42.02 107 46 Georgia Tech (7-5)   70.69 45   106 New Mexico St. (4-9) 41.27 108 47 Houston (8-4)   70.45 46   107 Army (3-9) 40.14 106 48 Bowling Green (8-4)   70.23 50   108 Kent St. (3-9) 39.94 110 49 New Mexico (8-4)   70.12 51   109 LA Lafayette (3-9) 39.40 111 50 TCU (7-5)   70.10 52   110 Syracuse (2-10) 39.21 109 51 Indiana (7-5)   69.57 53   111 Rice (3-9) 39.12 99 52 California (6-6)   69.36 32   112 Utah St. (2-10) 37.80 112 53 Ball St. (7-5)   69.11 56   113 Minnesota (1-11) 36.55 114 54 Alabama (6-6)   69.05 54   114 Duke (1-11) 35.78 115 55 UCLA (6-6)   68.91 47   115 UAB (2-10) 34.71 116 56 Louisville (6-6)   68.88 60   116 SMU (1-11) 34.01 117 57 South Carolina (6-6)   68.78 57   117 North Texas (2-10) 33.95 113 58 East Carolina (7-5)   68.69 55   118 Northern Illinois (2-10) 30.67  118 59 Mississippi St. (7-5)   68.49 59   119 Idaho (1-11) 28.79 119 60 Colorado (6-6)   68.33 58   120  Florida Intl. (1-11) 27.86 120

 (Through December 1, 2007.)