Who's Got the Power?

It's been a while, but I've been working on something. A way of ranking which teams have played the best against the best. A Power Ranking.

I've already changed this several times which is why I'm just now writing about it, but there are three major factors. The first is the pre-season ranking. The top ten teams were given 5 points, and all tied at 1st. The next 10 had 4 points and were tied at 11th. 3 points and 21st. 2 points and 31st. The final 80 teams had 1 point and were tied at 41st.

The next portion is points awarded and subtracted for wins and losses. The amounts awarded and subtracted vary with the teams weekly comparative ranking, including whether or not a team is 1-AA. Teams lose more points from losses than they'll gain from wins. This doesn't matter because the teams with most wins over ranked teams and/or with the most lopsided victories will rise towards the top of the ranking.

The final portion is winning or losing margin. Additional points are added or subtracted if there is a winning margin of 17 or more points. I picked 17 because it represents a margin greater than two touchdowns which should represent control over the opponent.

One aspect of this ranking is that playing 1-AA teams is not rewarded. Teams will not receive more than 0.5 points for the win. I expect teams to beat 1-AA teams by over 17 points, but I will only reward those teams 0.25 points for doing so. I did this because I do not want to value a win over a 1-AA team over a win over a 1-A team. If a team does not win by 17 or more points over a 1-AA team, the 1-A team gets 0.5 points deducted. If a 1-A team loses to a 1-AA team, they have 10 points deducted.

The last point is open dates. No points are added or deducted for open dates. Teams that have early open dates have slipped in the rankings, but this should even out through out the season.

The top 40:


PRESEASON RANKINGS

RANK POINTS


1 CLEMSON----------------------------5
1 FLORIDA-----------------------------5
1 GEORGIA----------------------------5
1 LSU-----------------------------------5
1 MISSOURI---------------------------5
1 OHIO ST--------------------------5
1 OKLAHOMA--------------------------5
1 USC--------------------------5
1 VIRGINIA TECH--------------------------5
1 WEST VIRGINIA--------------------------5
11 AUBURN--------------------------4
11 MICHIGAN--------------------------4
11 OREGON--------------------------4
11 PENN ST--------------------------4
11 RUTGERS--------------------------4
11 SOUTH FLORIDA--------------------------4
11 TENNESSEE--------------------------4
11 TEXAS--------------------------4
11 WAKE FOREST--------------------------4
11 WISCONSIN--------------------------4
21 ALABAMA--------------------------3
21 ARIZONA ST--------------------------3
21 BOISE ST--------------------------3
21 BYU--------------------------3
21 CINCINNATI--------------------------3
21 FLORIDA ATLANTIC--------------------------3
21 FRESNO ST--------------------------3
21 ILLINOIS--------------------------3
21 KANSAS--------------------------3
21 UTAH--------------------------3
31 CALIFORNIA--------------------------2
31 COLORADO--------------------------2
31 CONNECTICUT--------------------------2
31 FLORIDA ST--------------------------2
31 LOUISVILLE--------------------------2
31 MISSISSIPPI ST--------------------------2
31 NEBRASKA--------------------------2
31 SOUTH CAROLINA--------------------------2
31 TEXAS TECH--------------------------2
31 UCLA--------------------------2