Remember that next week is the submission date for our bracket seeding contest. You can still submit ballots that contribute to your participation quota after next week, but I obviously encourage more participation as opposed to less.
I’m new to this community. What is this thread? Do people submit their own votes for a straw poll here?
As far as I can tell, it seems like most commenters have their own computer ranking systems that they’re explaining as they submit.
It’s all pretty interesting, but pretty intimidating for someone new to this place.
Pretty much! It doesn’t have to be a computer poll, it can be just your opinion, or a hybrid.
I do a computer poll, because a) I don’t watch enough games to make an informed ranking and b) it’s a fun exercise in coding and tuning the algorithm(s) for me.
You also don’t need to share your ballot in the comments, but I also enjoy sharing and explaining what my algorithm is doing and if/where I disagree with it.
If you use an API to get stats for your algorithm would you be willing to say which ones? Making my own sounds like a fun casual project.
I use https://collegefootballdata.com/ which has an API, though I don’t actually use it (yet). I just navigate to “Data” > “Games and Results” and export the 2024 FBS games to a csv file and use that.
[email protected] took the words right out of my mouth. I agree that it can be pretty intimidating at first. Either to put together a computer poll (which I still haven’t done as I haven’t found one that represents my big orange bias well enough) or to put together a human poll. I would say if you’re interested in the former most of the commenters around here are huge nerds (no offense y’all) and would likely be willing to show you a thing or two. Putting together a human poll is probably easier, but at least for me starting out I was certainly worried and sometimes blocked by my own perceived “correctness”. Remember though, there are no right or wrong answers.
Part of the reason we have this open poll is to get as many ballots as possible, and smooth out any noise from strange rankings. We also have a lot of fun with those strange rankings, at least once a season we get a ballot with someones favorite team taking the top spot with no justification other than “Go <team>” and it always brings a smile to my face at least. Again some advice if you’re interested in starting your own human poll, a good place to start is by “correcting” the AP poll so that you think it’s good. After a few weeks of this you start to get a hang for your own ranking system and again, there are no right or wrong answers. As an added bonus we’re doing a cfb bracket prediction contest next week that you still have time to become eligible for! More information in the pinned post here.
My ballot. Computer poll. My Longhorns fall out of the top spot. Womp womp.
I genuinely checked USC about 5 times over the past couple days to make sure I didn’t input any data incorrectly or screwed up the formula, but it actually has them tied for 9th. It’s super nutty, but everything else checks out. The reason the Trojans are so high is mostly their schedule – they didn’t play any FCS teams, which get heavily docked in my algorithm. Although they’ve lost 4 games, they’re all by 1 score. But with ND at the end of the year, that schedule is just brutal. It’s like they’re trying to get Lincoln Riley fired.
Full ranking:
Rank Change Team Record Points 1 +1 Notre Dame 7-1 576 2 -1 Texas 7-1 571 3 +2 Alabama 6-2 543 4 +4 Oregon 8-0 521 5 +1 Indiana 8-0 515 6 +11 Texas A&M 7-1 482 7 +3 Ole Miss 6-2 481 8 +1 Ohio State 6-1 479 T9 +2 Miami (FL) 8-0 475 T9 +2 USC 4-4 475 11 +3 BYU 8-0 467 12 -9 Clemson 6-1 461 13 -9 Georgia 6-1 459 14 +2 Virginia Tech 5-3 457 15 - SMU 7-1 453 16 +6 Penn State 7-0 449 17 -10 Tennessee 6-1 445 18 +1 LSU 6-2 426 19 +1 Georgia Tech 5-4 424 20 +8 Colorado 6-2 420 21 +5 Kansas State 7-1 419 22 +17 Arkansas 5-3 415 23 +4 Vanderbilt 5-3 411 24 +11 Minnesota 5-3 409 25 +5 JMU 6-2 408 26 -2 Wisconsin 5-3 407 27 -2 UNLV 6-2 404 28 -15 Iowa State 7-0 401 T29 - Cincinnati 5-3 400 T29 +12 Iowa 5-3 400 31 +3 Tulane 6-2 392 32 +12 California 4-4 390 T33 +3 Louisville 5-3 389 T33 -15 South Carolina 4-3 389 T35 -15 Army 7-0 385 T35 +4 Michigan 5-3 385 37 -6 Kentucky 3-5 382 38 +24 Pittsburgh 7-0 378 39 -16 Arizona State 5-2 375 40 +13 Baylor 4-4 374 41 - Duke 6-2 373 42 +2 Utah 4-4 372 T43 -11 Illinois 6-2 369 T43 -5 Washington 4-4 369 45 +20 Miami (OH) 4-4 366 46 - Boston College 4-4 365 T47 - Washington State 7-1 364 T47 -15 Missouri 6-2 364 T47 +5 Nebraska 5-3 364 T47 +7 Kansas 2-6 364 51 +4 TCU 5-3 362 52 -3 Memphis 7-1 360 T53 -4 Northern Illinois 4-4 358 T53 +27 North Carolina 4-4 358 55 -4 Oklahoma 4-4 357 56 +2 Sam Houston 6-2 354 T57 +6 Texas Tech 5-3 351 T57 +17 Auburn 3-5 351 59 +1 Connecticut 5-3 350 60 +11 Old Dominion 4-4 348 61 -14 Northwestern 3-5 346 62 +9 Jacksonville State 4-3 344 63 +3 Boise State 6-1 342 64 +14 West Virginia 4-4 339 T65 -6 Toledo 5-3 333 T65 -5 Maryland 4-4 333 T67 +13 Bowling Green 4-4 332 T67 +3 Oklahoma State 3-5 332 69 -33 Florida 4-3 331 70 -3 UCF 3-5 329 71 +17 South Alabama 4-4 327 72 -16 Navy 6-1 325 T73 -6 Rutgers 4-4 324 T73 +6 Arizona 3-5 324 75 -32 Texas State 4-3 322 T76 -13 Virginia 4-4 321 T76 +7 Michigan State 4-4 321 78 +8 Houston 3-5 319 79 +11 Fresno State 5-3 317 80 +13 Georgia Southern 5-3 313 T81 -25 Louisiana 6-1 310 T81 +1 UNT 5-3 310 T81 -8 Nevada 3-6 310 84 -9 San Jose State 5-3 308 T85 -8 Syracuse 5-2 307 T85 +10 Ohio 5-3 307 87 -3 Florida State 1-7 303 T88 +2 Eastern Michigan 5-3 299 T88 +10 Western Michigan 5-3 299 90 -23 Western Kentucky 5-2 292 91 +8 Wake Forest 4-4 288 T92 -19 NC State 4-4 284 T92 -7 Oregon State 4-4 284 T92 +1 FIU 2-6 284 95 +7 ECU 4-4 282 T96 +1 Colorado State 5-3 273 T96 +7 New Mexico 3-5 273 98 +3 Louisiana Tech 3-4 269 99 -13 UCLA 2-5 266 100 -11 Marshall 4-3 260 101 +5 Arkansas State 5-3 259 102 -6 Buffalo 4-4 257 T103 -11 Coastal Carolina 4-3 248 T103 +6 UTSA 3-5 248 105 -5 Mississippi State 1-7 245 106 +5 Liberty 5-1 242 T107 +5 Charlotte 3-5 241 T107 +9 Stanford 2-6 241 109 +3 Rice 2-6 240 110 +4 Troy 1-7 239 111 +8 Hawaii 3-5 238 112 -5 UL Monroe 5-2 235 T113 +2 San Diego State 3-4 234 T113 -5 Temple 2-6 234 115 -11 Central Michigan 3-5 233 116 +1 Wyoming 1-7 228 117 +1 Ball State 3-5 224 118 +1 UTEP 1-7 222 119 -15 FAU 2-5 221 120 +2 Georgia State 2-5 219 121 +2 Tulsa 3-5 210 122 -13 USF 3-4 206 123 +2 Utah State 2-6 205 T124 +8 Appalachian State 3-4 189 T124 +7 Akron 2-6 189 126 +1 Southern Mississippi 1-7 186 127 -8 Air Force 1-6 182 128 -4 Massachusetts 2-6 179 129 +1 Middle Tennessee 2-6 175 130 +3 Kennesaw State 1-6 171 131 -5 New Mexico State 2-5 157 132 -4 Purdue 1-6 153 133 -4 UAB 1-6 151 134 - Kent State 0-8 144 Your computer usually isn’t very kind to my Texas A&M Aggies…glad to see it’s softening up on them some.
If the Longhorns and the Aggies both make it to Thanksgiving with only one loss, the hype is going to be unreal.
Oh I feel like it always places A&M too high (even trying to compensate for the Burnt Orange Bias), but this season it feels right. I’m surprised your computer has y’all as low as 12th – although that is a very A&M number.
The hype for that game was always going to be off the charts, but I really hope we both run the table getting there to up the ante. It also becomes a de facto play-in game to the SECCCG. It would be awesome if that game could be a rematch, although unfortunately one of the teams will likely be Georgia. :/ There is good rematch potential in the playoff though. Salivating at the idea of beating A&M twice in one season…
Here are the results from my computer poll. Oregon overtakes Indiana, and Notre Dame gets a big boost. Navy sadly falls out of the Top 25, but still on the bubble.
- Oregon
- Indiana
- Notre Dame
- Penn State
- Miami
- Texas
- Texas A&M
- Pittsburgh
- Ohio State
- BYU
- Clemson
- SMU
- Kansas State
- Iowa State
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- LSU
- Alabama
- Colorado
- Army
- Virginia Tech
- Ole Miss
- Boise State
- Washington State
- Tulane
Full Rankings
Rank Team Record Rating SOS 1 Oregon (8-0) 1376 963 2 Indiana (8-0) 1363 883 3 Notre Dame (7-1) 1352 1024 4 Penn State (7-0) 1333 980 5 Miami (8-0) 1323 936 6 Texas (7-1) 1312 1018 7 Texas A&M (7-1) 1311 1014 8 Pittsburgh (7-0) 1301 897 9 Ohio State (6-1) 1281 1053 10 BYU (8-0) 1279 927 11 Clemson (6-1) 1277 972 12 SMU (7-1) 1274 939 13 Kansas State (7-1) 1271 975 14 Iowa State (7-0) 1269 923 15 Tennessee (6-1) 1269 920 16 Georgia (6-1) 1265 992 17 LSU (6-2) 1234 1021 18 Alabama (6-2) 1233 1130 19 Colorado (6-2) 1226 974 20 Army (7-0) 1223 760 21 Virginia Tech (5-3) 1210 1040 22 Ole Miss (6-2) 1205 933 23 Boise State (6-1) 1204 963 24 Washington State (7-1) 1189 931 25 Tulane (6-2) 1177 894 26 Memphis (7-1) 1167 823 27 Illinois (6-2) 1154 980 28 Minnesota (5-3) 1148 932 29 Louisville (5-3) 1144 1047 30 Vanderbilt (5-3) 1144 979 31 Navy (6-1) 1142 861 32 Arkansas (5-3) 1135 952 33 Western Kentucky (5-2) 1122 871 34 Missouri (6-2) 1121 960 35 Wisconsin (5-3) 1118 954 36 Cincinnati (5-3) 1115 1006 37 Iowa (5-3) 1113 970 38 Michigan (5-3) 1112 1093 39 Florida (4-3) 1110 997 40 Nebraska (5-3) 1110 982 41 South Carolina (4-3) 1110 1064 42 Syracuse (5-2) 1110 952 43 Arizona State (5-2) 1108 926 44 Louisiana (6-1) 1108 829 45 TCU (5-3) 1100 909 46 Duke (6-2) 1099 908 47 UNLV (6-2) 1098 914 48 Old Dominion (4-4) 1091 997 49 James Madison (6-2) 1090 863 50 Baylor (4-4) 1061 964 51 Miami (OH) (4-4) 1061 976 52 Georgia Southern (5-3) 1057 942 53 Washington (4-4) 1056 988 54 Sam Houston (6-2) 1055 867 55 USC (4-4) 1053 1078 56 Fresno State (5-3) 1051 893 57 Texas Tech (5-3) 1048 982 58 Georgia Tech (5-4) 1042 996 59 UConn (5-3) 1035 852 60 Liberty (5-1) 1032 737 61 North Carolina (4-4) 1032 993 62 West Virginia (4-4) 1027 1033 63 Jacksonville State (4-3) 1024 837 64 Wake Forest (4-4) 1024 976 65 UL Monroe (5-2) 1022 842 66 Ohio (5-3) 1014 871 67 Michigan State (4-4) 1012 1006 68 Colorado State (5-3) 1011 878 69 California (4-4) 1006 958 70 Texas State (4-3) 1001 872 71 Western Michigan (5-3) 999 865 72 Marshall (4-3) 996 938 73 North Texas (5-3) 990 886 74 Boston College (4-4) 989 980 75 South Alabama (4-4) 989 897 76 NC State (4-4) 988 972 77 Maryland (4-4) 987 986 78 Oklahoma (4-4) 982 1104 79 Auburn (3-5) 980 963 80 Toledo (5-3) 975 855 81 Virginia (4-4) 972 973 82 Houston (3-5) 964 1024 83 UCLA (2-5) 962 1173 84 Arkansas State (5-3) 957 874 85 East Carolina (4-4) 957 890 86 Bowling Green (4-4) 955 918 87 UCF (3-5) 939 1069 88 Kentucky (3-5) 935 1066 89 San José State (5-3) 931 815 90 Coastal Carolina (4-3) 930 929 91 Utah (4-4) 920 900 92 San Diego State (3-4) 918 832 93 Rutgers (4-4) 913 960 94 Eastern Michigan (5-3) 908 805 95 Kansas (2-6) 906 1015 96 Northwestern (3-5) 903 1025 97 Buffalo (4-4) 898 893 98 Oklahoma State (3-5) 897 991 99 Charlotte (3-5) 895 994 100 Oregon State (4-4) 893 926 101 Arizona (3-5) 889 1004 102 South Florida (3-4) 887 959 103 Northern Illinois (4-4) 873 896 104 Ball State (3-5) 871 904 105 App State (3-4) 866 939 106 Florida State (1-7) 862 1147 107 New Mexico (3-5) 858 817 108 Hawai’i (3-5) 842 866 109 Tulsa (3-5) 834 862 110 Stanford (2-6) 824 1093 111 Temple (2-6) 818 985 112 Louisiana Tech (3-4) 816 739 113 Central Michigan (3-5) 810 885 114 Mississippi State (1-7) 805 1077 115 Nevada (3-6) 801 921 116 Rice (2-6) 801 944 117 UTSA (3-5) 799 850 118 Purdue (1-6) 797 1058 119 Florida Atlantic (2-5) 790 888 120 Utah State (2-6) 780 879 121 Akron (2-6) 767 948 122 Florida International (2-6) 754 874 123 Georgia State (2-5) 753 942 124 New Mexico State (2-5) 752 891 125 Massachusetts (2-6) 727 830 126 UTEP (1-7) 724 912 127 Middle Tennessee (2-6) 720 942 128 UAB (1-6) 717 998 129 Kennesaw State (1-6) 707 859 130 Southern Miss (1-7) 697 928 131 Troy (1-7) 691 931 132 Wyoming (1-7) 684 885 133 Air Force (1-6) 676 870 134 Kent State (0-8) 592 1004 Computer poll, resume ranking. Ohio State/Penn State gonna make things interesting this weekend. Also, Liberty fell 41 rankings with their loss to the Kennesaw Hoots, which is a huge change this late in the season.
- Oregon (1) | 8 - 0 | LW: 1 ( - )
- Penn State (5.35) | 7 - 0 | LW: 2 ( - )
- Ohio State (7.77) | 6 - 1 | LW: 6 (+3)
- Miami (9.96) | 8 - 0 | LW: 5 (+1)
- BYU (11.47) | 8 - 0 | LW: 4 (-1)
- Notre Dame (11.7) | 7 - 1 | LW: 9 (+3)
- Iowa State (11.82) | 7 - 0 | LW: 8 (+1)
- Indiana (13.1) | 8 - 0 | LW: 3 (-5)
- Pittsburgh (13.56) | 7 - 0 | LW: 13 (+4)
- Texas (13.65) | 7 - 1 | LW: 7 (-3)
- Alabama (14.88) | 6 - 2 | LW: 11 ( - )
- Texas A&M (16.56) | 7 - 1 | LW: 16 (+4)
- Georgia (18.77) | 6 - 1 | LW: 10 (-3)
- Boise State (20.02) | 6 - 1 | LW: 19 (+5)
- Kansas State (20.68) | 7 - 1 | LW: 12 (-3)
- SMU (22.52) | 7 - 1 | LW: 18 (+2)
- Clemson (22.97) | 6 - 1 | LW: 14 (-3)
- Tennessee (25.57) | 6 - 1 | LW: 20 (+2)
- Washington State (28.2) | 7 - 1 | LW: 21 (+2)
- LSU (30.75) | 6 - 2 | LW: 17 (-3)
- Army (31.71) | 7 - 0 | LW: 22 (+1)
- Ole Miss (35.05) | 6 - 2 | LW: 27 (+5)
- Colorado (35.77) | 6 - 2 | LW: 32 (+9)
- Navy (37.05) | 6 - 1 | LW: 15 (-9)
- Illinois (37.16) | 6 - 2 | LW: 23 (-2)
My ballot this week, late as with everything else as I play catch up. Poll will be up in maybe a few hours as I gotta bust out some work before I have time for that.
- Oregon
- Georgia
- Miami (FL)
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Indiana
- Iowa State
- Ohio State
- Army
- LSU
- Clemson
- Notre Dame
- Penn State
- Illinois
- BYU
- Texas A&M
- Boise State
- Pittsburgh
- Vanderbilt
- Alabama
- Kansas State
- Washington State
- UNLV
- Nebraska
- Arkansas
Also ngl, as a gator hator, they are probably on my short list of missing the ballot this week. If they manage an upset at TWLOCP…
