How to Create Your Own College Football Rankings

College football lives and dies with the top 25 power rankings, which are released every week during the season. These rankings serve as more than a list of who the top schools in the country are; they help to determine which schools will ultimately play for the national championship trophy. When creating your own list, there are a few things to keep in mind if you want it to be accurate.

Instructions

    • 1

      Note the schedules. On one hand, a powerhouse school with an easy schedule is going to have an excellent record. On the other hand, a schedule of weak teams will lower a school's strength of schedule ranking, which will hurt it on another list.

    • 2

      Use the Bowl Championship Series rankings. The BCS rankings are done by computer, taking many factors into account, including strength of schedule, a team's margin of victory and how one team performs against other ranked teams. Many college football purists hate the BCS system, but to build a somewhat accurate and strong ranking you must pay attention to it.

    • 3

      Consider the conference that each team plays in. Do you consider an undefeated team in the Mountain West conference, which is traditionally weak, to be a better team than the 9-1, 8-2 or even 6-4 Southeastern Conference team? Bad teams in strong conferences can often still be better than great teams in bad conferences.

    • 4

      Leave personal bias at the door. No matter how much you may feel it to be true, an obscure school is not better than a perennial powerhouse such as Texas or USC. Keep your credibility and keep your list honest.

    • 5

      Rank the teams. Using the above considerations, list the teams you feel to be the top 25 teams in the country.