SportsRatings

Big changes could be coming next week as this is perhaps the most important regular-season week of the year. A total of 7 games between teams in the Committee Top 25, six of them in the SportsRatings projected Final Top 25. I will post results below the rankings as they come in. The Big Games , previewed in order of importance: #1 Miami at #3 Notre Dame : Sadly this is only #1 vs. #11 in the Committee's eyes, but this game will have a huge effect. Notre Dame needs a win or they're in trouble for the Playoff; Miami won't end up the #1 seed without beating the Irish. In 1988 this game—#1 AP Miami vs. #4 AP Notre Dame—was the de facto national championship game. The Irish were favored by 3.5 until word came back that Malachi Toney won't play, which made the line jump to 7 points. Our power rating has Notre Dame by 6 and of course can't modify itself for injury reports, oh well. Maybe need to add some AI and a Reuters feed. #2 Georgia at #6 Mississippi : Another underso...

The first Committee rankings are out and there are really no surprises, and no changes to the projected Playoff field as a result. Notre Dame was #11, a bit lower than expected (#10). UCLA was pretty low (#8) for being undefeated; there isn't much on their resume but their SOR is #3 per ESPN and we rank them #3 in Success, so I still thought they'd be #4. Alabama at #5 was about 3 spots higher than I thought. How does it affect our projections from last Sunday? Not very much. Alabama is up a projected spot and +5.2%, Texas is up a few positions to #7. Indiana slips one despite a solid #4 rank from the Committee (but they gain Playoff Odds and Bye Odds too). LSU is up a spot—the entire SEC did well—while Ohio State slipped to #10 and dropped 3.1%. UCLA also shed 4.6%, remaining at #11. #12 Kentucky gained 2% and has higher odds than #11 UCLA, but the Bruins have the better average finish spot so they are designated Last Team In. All the Big Twelve teams were bled a bit, U...

Notre Dame's reign as projected #1 was always in jeopardy as long as a power conference team can go 13-0 (or even 12-1), and the Irish slip to #3 following a lackluster 35-13 win over Navy (14-13 at the half). Georgia's solid 28-9 win over Florida almost took the Bulldogs from #4 to #1 but it was #2 Miami , 38-35 survivor at North Carolina, who takes the top spot by a nose. The Canes can still finish 13-0 with a win over Notre Dame, but their 90.1% Playoff Odds reflect the chance that they could lose to the Irish and struggle against another opponent like they did UNC, and fall out of the Playoff picture. In short, I think ESPN's FPI is out of its mind with Miami at 98.5%.  Utah can also finish 13-0 and we favor them the rest of the way; they're up 15.5% at #4 after beating Cincy 49-25. Ohio State's loss to USC created room for upward movement but it's interesting which SEC teams moved: Mississippi beat Auburn 45-15 while Texas dominated Mississippi State ...

How the projected final top 25 fared for week 9: Will this week be another upset-laden weekend like the last two? The top three teams all play away from home, with #3  Ohio State showing a small Vegas spread due to their QB issues, and #4 Georgia hosting #19 Florida . The only other game between ranked teams is #14 Texas Tech vs. #21 Arizona , a potential breakthrough for the Wildcats. #24 Wisconsin travels to Iowa where the Hawkeyes are favored and might jump right back into the top 25 with a win. There are some mismatches too, like #1 Notre Dame vs. Navy in Massachusetts and #11 UCLA for some reason hosting Nevada.  LW Team Conf Rec Odds This weekend(Vegas/SR odds) RESULTS 1. Notre Dame Ind 6-1 88.6 =Navy(2-5) (+30.5/+33) ND 35-13(-11) 2. Miami FL *ACC 7-0 86.8 @UNC(4-3) (+14/+17) MIAMI 38-35(-14) 3. Ohio State *B10 6-1 82.3 @USC(6-2) (+6.5/+14) USC 30-18(-26) 4. Georgia *S...

It's October 25, 2026, and only three FBS teams are still unbeaten. But turn to Division II and we find TEN teams that are 8-0. Here is how we rank them overall, compared to the AFCA coaches:   #   Team                   AFCA    rec    Overall   Strength      Success 1. Slippery Rock 7 8-0 55.87 [ 1] 39.93 [ 2] 15.94 [ 1] 2. Ferris St 1 8-0 52.48 [ 2] 40.10 [ 1] 12.38 [ 2] 3. Minn St-Mankato 5 8-0 46.69 [ 3] 35.92 [ 4] 10.76 [ 5] 4. Harding 2 8-0 40.86 [ 4] 29.03 [ 7] 11.82 [ 4] ... 6. Colorado St-Pueblo 4 8-0 38.35 [ 6] 29.14 [ 6] 9.21 [ 7] 7. Kutztown 3 8-0 37.88 [ 7] 29.31 [ 5] 8.56 [ 8] 8. Emporia St 8 8-0 34.59 [ 8] 24.69 [ 9] 9.89 [ 6] 9. Northwood 10 8-0 30.11 [ 9] 18.08 [ 24] 12.02 [ 3]...

Two weekends of upsets and what has changed in the Playoff picture? Just two teams in aggregate. Last week BYU entered and Texas left; this week Texas entered and BYU departed. That means the only change over the past two weeks is LSU in, Texas Tech out. Ok, there's also the G6 slot, but more on that later. Nothing is different at the top where idle Notre Dame holds down the fort at #1. They say if the Irish lose to Miami they'll be out of the Playoff but it's hard to see how. Yes they'll be in the same jam as last season but it seems more accepted this year that Notre Dame is among the top teams, and most people think they got screwed last year. Now, if they lose to SMU, too, that's different. For now the Irish are by far the most likely national title winner at 16%, and that's coming off a loss and idle week! Miami beat Pitt convincingly enough to move to #2, up 10% in Playoff Odds and 12.5% in Bye odds. But the ACC has a problem: no one else is close. The h...

Disappointed there wasn't much change at the top of the projected Final Top 25 last week? Well prepare for more disappointment this week as all three top teams— Notre Dame , Georgia , and Ohio State —are idle this weekend.  #4 Miami might be able to push past the Buckeyes with a solid win over Pitt, but other than that the top spots will remain the same. #6  Indiana and #7  BYU might get road tests vs. Central Florida and Michigan, but the first of two big games is #8  Mississippi visiting #15  Texas where the 5-1 Rebels are underdogs to the Longhorns! Not sure that would swap the teams out in the Playoff though—probably would put them both right on the bubble, and add to the SEC parity problem. The only other intra-Top 25 game is #13 Houston at #11 Utah . A Cougar win here probably would swap the teams out, while a Utah win would put the Utes pretty close to #5 Texas Tech . Right now Utah has zero good wins. This one would be big and it would diminish the ...