Phil Steele's Power Rankings

[psute]

PSU at #26, Considering sanctions, damn good...


One of the drawbacks of providing so much information in my annual College Football Preview is that some of the reasoning behind my ratings and projections can be difficult to grasp. Longtime readers of the magazine tend to understand the meaning of the different systems upon which I rely to make predictions (as well as my always expanding list of abbreviations), but some of the ratings may be a bit overwhelming for new readers.

Two of the most popular rankings are my Preseason Top 40 and my Power Poll, both of which appear each year in the magazine. In addition to including more teams (all 128 FBS teams), the Power Poll also differs from my Top 40 in terms of its rationale. The difference is straightforward: my Top 40 is a projection of where each team will finish, while the Power Poll is a ranking of each team based on their overall talent level. So why are the rankings different? The reason is schedule: one team may be more talented than another, but finish with a worse record based on a tougher schedule.

The next question you might be asking is, “how is the Power Poll calculated?” To evaluate teams, I rely on nine different of power ratings that look at different factors. The Power Poll is an aggregate of all nine sets of power ratings, so it tends to be the most accurate summation of how I rate each team. In essence, the Power Poll is the result of numerous computer rankings that have been developed over many years of close study.

Now that you know the underlying rationale, here is the Power Poll!

1. Ohio St
2. TCU
3. Alabama
4. USC
5. Baylor
6. Oregon
7. Georgia
8. Stanford
9. Florida St
10. LSU
11. Michigan St
12. UCLA
13. Notre Dame
14. Auburn
15. Mississippi
16. Oklahoma
17. Wisconsin
18. Arkansas
19. Tennessee
20. Virginia Tech
21. Utah
22. Clemson
23. Oklahoma St
24. Georgia Tech
25. Miami, Fl
26. Penn St
27. Arizona St
28. Texas
29. West Virginia
30. Boise St
31. Missouri
32. Texas A&M
33. Arizona
34. Nebraska
35. Michigan
36. California
37. Louisville
38. Mississippi St
39. Minnesota
40. Florida
41. Kansas St
42. Pittsburgh
43. Duke
44. BYU
45. Marshall
46. Colorado
47. NC State
48. North Carolina
49. San Diego St
50. Texas Tech
51. Virginia
52. Utah St
53. Louisiana Tech
54. Northwestern
55. Cincinnati
56. South Carolina
57. Iowa
58. Kentucky
59. UCF
60. Rutgers
61. Temple
62. Illinois
63. Toledo
64. Memphis
65. Washington St
66. East Carolina
67. WKU
68. Northern Illinois
69. Boston College
70. Washington
71. Western Michigan
72. Indiana
73. Maryland
74. Iowa St
75. Bowling Green
76. Houston
77. Vanderbilt
78. Purdue
79. Akron
80. Appalachian St
81. Ohio
82. Navy
83. Air Force
84. Oregon St
85. Colorado St
86. Middle Tennessee
87. Arkansas St
88. Ball St
89. Fresno St
90. UL-Lafayette
91. Nevada
92. Tulsa
93. Syracuse
94. San Jose St
95. Massachusetts
96. Georgia Southern
97. Rice
98. New Mexico
99. Wake Forest
100. Hawai’i
101. Tulane
102. Connecticut
103. FIU
104. Kent St
105. Texas St
106. USF
107. UTEP
108. Old Dominion
109. Southern Miss
110. ULM
111. Central Michigan
112. North Texas
113. Florida Atlantic
114. Wyoming
115. Kansas
116. SMU
117. South Alabama
118. Buffalo
119. Idaho
120. New Mexico St
121. Army West Point
122. Troy
123. UTSA
124. Georgia St
125. Eastern Michigan
126. Miami, Oh
127. UNLV
128. Charlotte

 

[Bushwood CC]

Steele has PSU picked #19 in his Preseason Ranking.

 

[tboyer]

If he's right, PSU is more talented than SDSU, Temple, Rutgers, Maryland and Northwestern.... It's still a young team but it is talented, and it gets more talented in 2016. What I like is that the D has experience front to back. Even if the O struggles, the D will keep them in a lot of games. The O is young in key places, but there is serious athletic talent.

 

[wilbury]

Pittsburgh over rated at #42. just saying.

 

[Louisville JD]

Unit rankings within the BIG are high. Buy the magazine. It's worth it!

 

[dawgduice]

If he's right, PSU is more talented than SDSU, Temple, Rutgers, Maryland and Northwestern.... It's still a young team but it is talented, and it gets more talented in 2016. What I like is that the D has experience front to back. Even if the O struggles, the D will keep them in a lot of games. The O is young in key places, but there is serious athletic talent.

Well, we do have some talent. BUT, with the same OL back from last year minus their best lineman I do not believe they noticeably better. BUT, since most of the teams we play are really BAD (especially the first six) we should win a number of games. Maybe just maybe the OL will be better after the first six ??????
I wish I could be more optimistic, but really, I think we are still years away.