2012/2013 RUBY RANKINGS: College Football Rankings (Week 12)

Inaugural Edition of the Ruby Rankings, originally published November 13, 2012

Hey everyone. Craziness in the College Football ranks, what with a bunch of good teams vying for the two most important spots in the game. I have, for the first time in a few years, gone ahead and punched up Joe Ruby's Super Awesome NCAA Football Rankings! I obviously will not disclose my formula, so just assume it's perfect, but it takes the following things into account: Wins, Losses, Schedule, Passing Yards Per Game (for and against), Rushing Yards Per Game (for and against), Points Per Game (for and against), and Turnover Margin. So, as you can see, it's not particularly "high tech." I have it scaled so that a rating of 1000 represents a National Championship contender, a rating of 500 is approximately NCAA average, and a rating of 0 is pretty darn bad. You can get below 0 if you're very weak statistically as well as in terms of winning percentage.

So, everyone, the debates will be put to rest. Here's all 124 NCAA FBS teams, ranked 1 to 124. Should each undefeated team get a shot at the National Championship? Absolutely. But that's why they're adding a playoff. It turns out that what a lot of us believed to be true is: the best team in the country is a one-loss SEC squad.

Also, note that this is a preliminary run, and I haven't entirely tweaked it to my liking. Aside from some good record, poor strength-of-schedule teams being ranked a little higher than I'd like (here's looking at you, #22 Kent State; I think maybe I've overvalued scoring defense... but I digress), I think these are about as solid as any of them.

Last word: some of these teams have the same rating but aren't listed as tied. I've rounded to the nearest integer for these rankings, but carried out to two decimal points on the master sheet. To hundredths (which isn't significant anyway, but whatever) there are no ties.

Rank. Team - Rating (Record)

1. Alabama - 1108 (9-1)
2. Oregon - 1086 (10-0)
3. Kansas State - 1080 (10-0)
4. Notre Dame - 1000 (10-0)
5. Florida - 994 (9-1)
6. LSU - 957 (8-2)
7. Georgia - 936 (9-1)
8. Florida State - 930 (9-1)
9. Texas A&M - 900 (9-2)
10. Stanford - 877 (8-2)
11. Ohio State - 868 (10-0)
12. Clemson - 863 (9-1)
13. Oklahoma - 851 (7-2)
14. Oregon State - 842 (7-2)
15. Louisiana Tech - 837 (9-1)
16. Fresno State - 832 (8-3)
17. South Carolina - 823 (8-2)
18. Texas Tech - 804 (7-3)
19. Boise State - 802 (8-2)
20. Nebraska - 788 (8-2)
21. Texas - 779 (8-2)
22. Kent State - 779 (8-2)
23. UCLA - 770 (8-2)
24. Northern Illinois - 755 (9-1)
25. San Jose State - 752 (8-2)
26. Rutgers - 748 (8-1)
27. Oklahoma State - 741 (6-3)
28. Penn State - 734 (6-4)
29. USC - 732 (7-3)
30. Michigan - 724 (7-3)
31. Wisconsin - 713 (7-3)
32. Mississippi State - 713 (7-3)
33. Louisville - 709 (9-1)
34. Tulsa - 701 (8-2)
35. UCF - 699 (8-2)
36. Cincinnati - 691 (7-2)
37. Utah State - 688 (8-2)
38. Arizona - 686 (6-4)
39. North Carolina - 684 (6-4)
40. Northwestern - 682 (7-3)
41. Ohio - 678 (8-2)
42. Toledo - 673 (8-2)
43. Arkansas State - 672 (7-3)
44. Michigan State - 665 (5-5)
45. BYU - 644 (6-4)
46. San Diego State - 639 (8-3)
47. TCU - 638 (6-4)
48. Bowling Green - 631 (7-3)
49. Arizona State - 624 (5-5)
50. Washington - 601 (6-4)
51. Louisiana-Monroe - 586 (6-4)
52. West Virginia - 582 (5-4)
53. Missouri - 576 (5-5)
54. Vanderbilt - 575 (6-4)
55. Georgia Tech - 574 (5-5)
56. Syracuse - 554 (5-5)
57. Ball State - 554 (7-3)
58. Mississippi - 543 (5-5)
59. Duke - 528 (6-4)
60. Navy - 527 (6-4)
61. Pittsburgh - 516 (4-6)
62. Iowa State - 515 (5-5)
63. Louisiana-Lafayette - 506 (5-4)
64. Middle Tennessee - 502 (6-3)
65. Western Kentucky - 494 (6-4)
66. Miami (FL) - 493 (5-5)
67. Baylor - 491 (4-5)
68. Tennessee - 489 (4-6)
69. SMU - 486 (5-5)
70. Minnesota - 483 (6-4)
71. Iowa - 474 (4-6)
72. Nevada - 471 (6-4)
73. Virginia Tech - 461 (4-6)
74. North Carolina State - 447 (6-4)
75. Utah - 440 (4-6)
76. Troy - 438 (5-5)
77. Purdue - 431 (4-6)
78. East Carolina - 416 (6-4)
79. Indiana - 410 (4-6)
80. Wake Forest - 393 (5-5)
81. North Texas - 389 (4-6)
82. UTSA - 389 (6-4)
83. Marshall - 388 (4-6)
84. Arkansas - 376 (4-6)
85. Rice - 365 (4-6)
86. New Mexico - 362 (4-7)
87. Virginia - 358 (4-6)
88. California -358 (3-8)
89. Air Force - 357 (5-5)
90. Auburn - 344 (2-8)
91. South Florida - 332 (3-6)
92. Houston - 316 (4-6)
93. Buffalo - 309 (3-7)
94. Western Michigan - 307 (4-7)
95. Florida Atlantic - 295 (3-7)
96. Texas State - 289 (3-6)
97. Wyoming - 282 (3-7)
98. Central Michigan - 281 (4-6)
99. Connecticut - 278 (4-6)
100. Miami (OH) - 275 (4-6)
101. Army - 264 (2-8)
102. Kentucky - 264 (1-9)
103. Maryland - 252 (4-6)
104. UAB - 250 (3-7)
105. Florida International - 246 (2-8)
106. Temple - 244 (3-6)
107. Kansas - 241 (1-9)
108. Boston College - 224 (2-8)
109. Illinois - 195 (2-8)
110. Colorado State - 193 (3-7)
111. UNLV - 190 (2-9)
112. UTEP - 187 (2-8)
113. Washington State - 173 (2-8)
114. Memphis - 144 (2-8)
115. South Alabama - 107 (2-8)
116. Akron - 73 (1-10)
117. Eastern Michigan - 60 (1-9)
118. Tulane - 24 (2-8)
119. Southern Mississippi - -30 (0-10)
120. Colorado - -44 (1-9)
121. New Mexico State - -53 (1-9)
122. Massachusetts - -57 (1-9)
123. Hawai'i - -62 (1-8)
124. Idaho - -106 (1-9)

So, debate settled. Suggestions? Rants? GO!