| Rank | +/- | Team | WinPct | SoS | Adjusted | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off. | Def. | Pace | |||||||||
| 1 | -- | Alabama | 0.974 | 0.690 | 2 | 39.0 | 2 | 9.1 | 1 | 149.8 | 119 |
| 2 | -- | LSU | 0.932 | 0.657 | 7 | 32.8 | 5 | 11.5 | 3 | 153.9 | 115 |
| 3 | +1 | Wisconsin | 0.882 | 0.576 | 37 | 42.0 | 1 | 18.8 | 42 | 150.8 | 118 |
| 4 | -1 | Boise St. | 0.878 | 0.484 | 71 | 31.1 | 9 | 14.1 | 6 | 161.4 | 79 |
| 5 | +2 | Oklahoma | 0.859 | 0.563 | 41 | 23.8 | 33 | 11.5 | 2 | 177.8 | 10 |
| 6 | -- | Oregon | 0.852 | 0.606 | 19 | 31.8 | 8 | 15.8 | 17 | 181.3 | 3 |
| 7 | +1 | TCU | 0.850 | 0.418 | 91 | 32.8 | 4 | 16.4 | 24 | 158.8 | 97 |
| 8 | -3 | Stanford | 0.845 | 0.537 | 49 | 33.6 | 3 | 17.1 | 28 | 156.7 | 106 |
| 9 | -- | Oklahoma St. | 0.837 | 0.602 | 23 | 29.6 | 10 | 15.4 | 13 | 180.6 | 4 |
| 10 | -- | Arkansas | 0.817 | 0.639 | 10 | 31.8 | 7 | 17.5 | 29 | 167.9 | 33 |
| 11 | +2 | Michigan St. | 0.813 | 0.672 | 4 | 25.0 | 25 | 13.9 | 4 | 161.9 | 72 |
| 12 | +3 | USC | 0.812 | 0.539 | 48 | 29.0 | 11 | 16.2 | 22 | 162.8 | 60 |
| 13 | +3 | Notre Dame | 0.807 | 0.584 | 31 | 25.4 | 24 | 14.4 | 8 | 163.2 | 58 |
| 14 | -2 | Florida St. | 0.806 | 0.554 | 43 | 26.9 | 16 | 15.2 | 11 | 154.2 | 114 |
| 15 | +7 | Ohio St. | 0.796 | 0.531 | 53 | 27.4 | 15 | 15.9 | 19 | 157.5 | 104 |
| 16 | -5 | South Carolina | 0.791 | 0.617 | 13 | 26.6 | 18 | 15.6 | 16 | 154.5 | 112 |
| 17 | -3 | Michigan | 0.790 | 0.710 | 1 | 32.3 | 6 | 19.1 | 45 | 156.1 | 108 |
| 18 | +6 | Nebraska | 0.779 | 0.606 | 20 | 26.2 | 20 | 15.8 | 18 | 162.7 | 63 |
| 19 | -- | Texas A&M | 0.759 | 0.603 | 22 | 22.8 | 39 | 14.4 | 7 | 184.1 | 1 |
| 20 | -3 | Virginia Tech | 0.754 | 0.525 | 57 | 24.3 | 29 | 15.5 | 14 | 155.0 | 111 |
| 21 | -3 | Florida | 0.746 | 0.609 | 17 | 23.6 | 34 | 15.3 | 12 | 158.5 | 99 |
| 22 | +1 | Missouri | 0.725 | 0.577 | 36 | 22.1 | 45 | 15.0 | 10 | 169.8 | 26 |
| 23 | NA | Texas | 0.720 | 0.531 | 54 | 22.6 | 41 | 15.5 | 15 | 161.4 | 77 |
| 24 | NA | West Virginia | 0.718 | 0.505 | 66 | 28.4 | 12 | 19.5 | 48 | 172.8 | 16 |
| 25 | -5 | Georgia | 0.718 | 0.536 | 50 | 27.8 | 13 | 19.2 | 46 | 162.2 | 69 |
Rankings through games of 2012-09-01
It's been almost eight months since Alabama and LSU were clearly the two best teams in FBS and not much has changed. The Crimson Tide continue their reign of dominance in that they're currently better than the best team in last year's champions countdown, the 2005 Texas Longhorns. LSU is no slouch either, as they're on par with the 2004 USC Trojans team that clocked in at third on our countdown. In most years a team with a 0.932 expected winning percentage would be a solid #1, but Alabama has just been on an other-wordly streak of success.
So who can challenge them? Obviously it's too early to make any solid projections, but based on what we saw in the first week we know it won't be any of these teams:
- Boise State. They lost too many starters and couldn't even defeat Michigan State;
- Wisconsin. Their offensive efficiency is probably the best we've ever seen, but having the 42nd-best defense is no way to win a title;
- Stanford. [insert obligatory "out of Luck" tripe]; or
- Michigan. Ouch. Just ... ouch.
Oregon is looking competitive, and we'll have to see how USC does against serious competition. Oklahoma is looking both strong and shaky, an art form they've perfected over the last few years.
Currently, though, we're pretty much where we left off last year: Alabama, LSU, and everyone else.
New entries: Texas, West Virginia.
Dropped out: Houston, Temple.
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