This is a ranking of resumes, not team strength. A higher ranking for team A doesn’t mean it would beat a lower-ranked team B. It just means their catalog of results is a bit more impressive. If you want a ranking of team strength, check out Football Outsiders’ F/+ or ESPN’s FPI, both of which are pretty good at that sort of thing.

Ok, let’s go. Here’s all 128 teams, plus James Madison (there’s one particularly vocal JMU fan that I find endearing) and the top FCS team.

The Bottom

#128 – Buffalo (2-8)

#127 – Fresno State (1-9)

#126 – Kansas (1-9)

#125 – Rice (2-8)

#124 – UTEP (3-7)

#123 – Texas State (2-7)

#122 – Bowling Green (2-8)

#121 – Massachusetts (2-8)

#120 – Florida International (3-7)

#119 – Nevada (3-7)

#118 – Florida Atlantic (3-7)

#117 – New Mexico State (2-7)

#116 – Marshall (3-7)

#115 – Georgia State (2-8)

#114 – East Carolina (3-7)

#113 – Rutgers (2-8)

#112 – Arizona (2-8)

#111 – San Jose State (3-7)

#110 – Purdue (3-7)

#109 – Virginia (2-8)

#108 – Iowa State (2-8)

#107 – Connecticut (3-7)

#106 – Hawaii (4-7)

#105 – Cincinnati (4-6)

#104 – Charlotte (4-6)

#103 – Tulane (3-7)

#102 – North Texas (4-6)

#101 – Michigan State (3-7)

#100 – UL-Monroe (4-6)

#99 – UNLV (4-6)

#98 – Illinois (3-7)

#97 – Akron (5-6)

The Below Average

#96 – Oregon State (2-8)

#95 – Miami-OH (5-6)

#94 – Missouri (3-7)

#93 – Utah State (3-7)

#92 – Ball State (4-6)

#91 – Syracuse (4-6)

#90 – UL-Lafayette (4-5)

#89 – Oregon (3-7)

#88 – Georgia Southern (4-6)

#87 – Boston College (4-6)

#86 – Army (5-5)

#85 – Duke (4-6)

#84 – California (4-6)

#83 – Northern Illinois (3-7)

#82 – SMU (5-5)

#81 – Vanderbilt (4-6)

#80 – UTSA (5-5)

#79 – Kent State (3-7)

#78 – Central Michigan (5-5)

#77 – Southern Miss (5-5)

#76 – Middle Tennessee (6-4)

#75 – Arizona State (5-5)

#74 – Notre Dame (4-6)

#73 – South Carolina (5-5)

#72 – Mississippi State (4-6)

#71 – South Alabama (4-5)

#70 – Maryland (5-5)

#69 – Kentucky (5-5)

#68 – Texas Tech (4-6)

#67 – Eastern Michigan (6-4)

#66 – Indiana (5-5)

#65 – Arkansas State (5-4)

Better Than Average

#64 – Colorado State (5-5)

#63 – Idaho (6-4)

#62 – UCLA (4-6)

#61 – Wake Forest (6-4)

#60 – New Mexico (7-3)

#59 – NC State (5-5)

#58 – Old Dominion (7-3)

#57 – Memphis (6-4)

#56 – Georgia (6-4)

#55 – Texas (5-5)

#54 – Georgia Tech (6-4)

#53 – Ole Miss (5-5)

#52 – Arkansas (6-4)

#51 – Central Florida (6-4)

#50 – Kansas State (5-4)

#49 – Northwestern (5-5)

#48 – Ohio (7-3)

#47 – Air Force (7-3)

#46 – TCU (5-4)

#45 – Miami (6-4)

#44 – Virginia Tech (7-3)

#43 – Wyoming (7-3)

#42 – Louisiana Tech (8-3)

#41 – BYU (6-4)

#40 – Baylor (6-3)

#39 – North Carolina (7-3)

#38 – Temple (7-3)

#37 – Appalachian State (7-3)

#36 – Tulsa (7-3)

#35 – Western Kentucky (8-3)

#34 – Iowa (6-4)

#33 – Minnesota (7-3)

#32 – Pittsburgh (6-4)

#31 – Stanford (7-3)

James Madison (9-1)

#30 – Navy (7-2)

#29 – Florida (7-2)

#28 – South Florida (8-2)

#27 – Texas A&M (7-3)

#26 – Florida State (7-3)

The Top 25

#25 – Auburn (7-3) – Losing to Georgia isn’t an acceptable thing this year, but the year will still likely be enough to get Gus Malzahn off the hot seat for the time being. Beating Alabama in 2 weeks would make fans deny the seat was ever hot to begin with.

#24 – Houston (8-2) – The SMU loss is a bad one, but the other, a single-score loss to Navy, isn’t quite as bad. The win over Oklahoma still looks awfully good, and while Houston hasn’t made good on those too early ‘run the table’ predictions, they’ve put together a very nice year 2 under Tom Herman.

#23 – Toledo (8-2) – The two losses are by a combined 7 points to teams with a combined 7 losses. Toledo has 3 blowouts but not much else. They’re here due to loss avoidance, mostly.

#22 – Utah (8-2) – The Utes probably wish they could have that Cal game back. How’d that happen? The other loss is to Washington, and Utah has a win over USC. So, why is Utah so far behind the Trojans? Half their wins could’ve gone the other way. The Utes are 4 plays away from a 4-6 record. And unlike USC, Utah can’t blame one of their L’s on having scheduled Alabama.

#21 – LSU (6-3) – 3 losses, by a combined 17 points, to teams that have collectively lost 5 games. It’s not a championship year for LSU, but it’s a pretty good one.

#20 – Tennessee (7-3) – Half the team may be looking at prospective free agent deals from other schools, but hey, at least you beat some pretty good non-conference teams. UT has good wins and a couple of good losses, but this is about as high as a 3-loss team can be without a truly huge victory.

#19 – Nebraska (8-2) – I know Armstrong’s absence was the excuse for Nebraska’s 62-3 loss to Ohio State, but the offense has been a concern lately. The Huskers haven’t broken 30 points in the last 5 games.

#18 – Oklahoma (8-2) – Oklahoma lags because they lack impressive wins, but they picked up a decent one this week with their blowout of Baylor. The Sooners have 2 more opportunities to impress, against 8-1 West Virginia and 8-2 Oklahoma State. Win those games, and OU is likely back in the top 10, maybe higher. The Sooners’ resume would really be helped by Houston beating Louisville, and by Ohio State beating Michigan. If all that happens AND Oklahoma wins out AND a few other things break their way, there’s perhaps a fringe argument for a playoff spot.

#17 – San Diego State (9-1) – How did this team lose to South Alabama? That might be the strangest result of the year. In the 9 wins, only Cal managed to even stay within a touchdown. The Aztecs haven’t even played a two-score game in a month. They’re rolling.

#16 – Colorado (8-2) – This might be as high as we see the Buffs, but even an 8-4 finish would signify one hell of a season. Sure, it’s built on a somewhat flimsy schedule (they have one win over a team with fewer than 5 losses, a 10-5 win over Stanford), but Colorado wouldn’t have taken advantage of that 2 or 3 years ago. Credit to Colorado for doing so in ’16. They have Washington State and Utah remaining.

#15 – Oklahoma State (8-2) – What does OSU have that some of the others behind them don’t? A unique victory, as Oklahoma State is the only team to defeat West Virginia. Even Cinderella thinks their odds for the playoffs are long, but winning Bedlam later this month would certainly help.

#14 – Washington State (8-2) – Like Colorado, their only win of note is Stanford. A 3 point loss to an FCS program, even a good one like EWU, is bad, but the close loss to Boise isn’t. Since then, Wazzou has been swinging its sword as it pleases to the tune of 8 straight wins. Two big games remain, against Colorado (whodathunkit?) and the Apple Cup.

#13 – Troy (8-1) – Troy beat Appalachian State this weekend to establish it as the class of the Sun Belt, and it picked up a quality win. So why’d it drop? Well, remember that fun discussion about how Troy could theoretically be the 2nd best team in the country? That’s no longer the case, as Clemson has proved beatable. Troy’s loss is still a pretty good one, it’s just not as good as it was a week ago.

#12 – West Virginia (8-1) – Can the Mountaineers make their way into the top 4? They have 3 remaining opponents. One, Iowa State, won’t help them at all. Beating Baylor would help marginally, provided Baylor doesn’t lose again before facing WVU. Beating Oklahoma would significantly help, but I don’t know that it’ll be enough. West Virginia needs more chaos at the top, I think.

Sam Houston State (10-0)

#11 – USC (7-3) – USC may be ahead of some teams with fringe playoff hopes, but it doesn’t mean USC also has fringe playoff hopes. There’s just not enough room for upward mobility, with just UCLA and Notre Dame, two very disappointing teams this year, on the schedule. If they’re looking for a Pac-12 Championship Game bid, they’ll need 1 loss each from Colorado and Utah, who still have to face one another. Each is plausible, but the odds aren’t great.

#10 – Penn State (8-2) – In September, we were wondering if the Pitt loss would be the nail in the coffin for James Franklin. Since that game, PSU has been slaughtered by Michigan, but they’ve otherwise played really well, including beating Ohio State. They drop a bit this week due to the Michigan loss, but they have a plausible path to the division title, with the East’s worst teams, Rutgers and Michigan State, remaining. All they need, beside 2 more wins, is an Ohio State win over Michigan.

#9 – Wisconsin (8-2) – The Badgers control their own destiny in the West, and they should be 10-2 when they play for the Big Ten Championship. Minnesota can be a pesky opponent, though, so keep an eye on that one.

#8 – Boise State (9-1) – All in all, yet another very Boise-like season from one of college football’s most reliable teams. The Mountain division is most likely theirs if New Mexico beats Wyoming in the final weekend.

#7 – Western Michigan (10-0) – One of my few preseason predictions to pan out, so far, was picking WMU to run the table. The schedule has been kind, and I don’t think they have a great shot at cracking the playoffs unless there’s a scarcity of 1-loss Power 5 teams. Still, WMU is 3 wins away from a major bowl berth, which is pretty cool for PJ Fleck and his program.

#6 – Washington (9-1) – Of the 3 top-4 teams that lost last Saturday, Washington’s hold on its top 4 spot was the most tenuous. Their schedule didn’t offer many chances for them to impress, and even the playoff committee had ignored them, bizarrely, for Texas A&M during the first set of rankings. In my rankings, I had Washington 4th two weeks ago (off-site), but last week had Ohio State edging them out for 4th. Unfortunately for the Huskies, their loss this weekend graded as the worst by a hair. USC is a quality opponent, moreso than Pitt or Iowa, but the nature of the loss trumps that. U-Dub couldn’t finish within a touchdown of the Trojans, while Clemson and Michigan both lost on last-second field goals. Their hold on the #4 spot was already weak, so they drop to 6th. But there is a way back. Washington obviously needs to win out and be a 12-1 Pac-12 Champion. Ideally, Washington State and Utah each beat Colorado (with Utah also beating Oregon), which gives Washington more quality-looking wins over each. They’d rather deal them their 3rd losses than their 4th (rivalry hate notwithstanding, of course). If all that comes together, the Huskies could make a push back to the top 4.

#5 – Louisville (9-1) – UL still has Houston on the schedule, not to mention a plucky Kentucky team, so they’re not necessarily penciled in for 11-1 just yet, even if they should win both. Still, the Cardinals will need some more losses at the top, because I don’t see the committee taking the Cards over a 1-loss conference champion, even if it’s Washington or West Virginia. It’d have been nicer if Houston didn’t lose to both Navy and SMU along the way. You should just root for Houston this weekend, though, because Bobby Petrino really deserves nothing but a lifetime of losses. (Go Falcons)

The Four

#4 – Clemson (9-1) – My top 4 are a clear top 4, and honestly the gap between Clemson and Louisville isn’t close (about the same distance as between Louisville and Wisconsin). They finish with two should-be victories against Wake Forest and South Carolina, and then take on, most likely, Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game. Clemson has 2 unique victories, over Louisville and Troy, and several other pretty good ones (FSU, Auburn, Georgia Tech).

#3 – Michigan (9-1) – The loss to Iowa was stunning, and it drops them behind Ohio State, because Iowa is worse than Penn State. Their ranking is still pretty solid, though, thanks to all those blowouts, wins over Penn State, Wisconsin, and the surprisingly good Colorado. Michigan controls its own destiny, and if it wins out, it’ll easily reach the playoffs.

#2 – Ohio State (9-1) – Unlike Michigan, Ohio State does not control its destiny. The Buckeyes need a Penn State loss in order to have a chance to play for the Big Ten title, and I’m not sure they’ll get it. There is an interesting scenario where 11-1 Ohio State isn’t a conference champ, and I’m not sure what the committee would do with them. They rank well here thanks to an impressive non-conference slate, with wins over Tulsa and Oklahoma, and their loss (Penn State) is a tad more respectable than Michigan’s (Iowa).

#1 – Alabama (10-0) – Pretty easy one here. They won’t have a really great win, just a bunch of pretty good ones, but that was more or less the same situation they were in a year ago, and that worked out pretty ok.