NCAAF 2017 Rankings after Week 9

NCAA Football Top 25 Rankings

Updated: Week 9, 30 OCT 2017

(Delta Calc'd from Week 8, 23 OCT 2017)

(Click here for a more detailed explanation of my NCAAF rating system)

Some of these rankings my surprise you, but keep in mind that there is no bias towards any team or preconceived notions, and the only thing considered is what each team has accomplished so far.

(For those viewing from a phone, tap the rankings and rotate to enlarge)

An IMPORTANT NOTE about my ratings: My ratings are completely objective, meaning that they have no biases and are completely statistical. Due to this, when you have an incomplete data set (or an incomplete season), some anomalies can appear. Teams like UCF and Memphis can appear overrated due to the fact they have a good record and, in some cases, have played better competition than the teams ranked just below them. I expect that this will straightened itself out. As the Power 5 conference schools get into the meat of their conference schedules, we will see them gain more credit for wins than UCF and Memphis. Also, as more data become available (more game completed), we will learn more about their opponents. Because my rankings are iterative, this will factor into their rating as well. Bottom line: The dangers of releasing a completely statistical rating system are that you may have some outliers. And that's ok... it will correct itself over time.

Notes:

• #2 UCF?!  See my Important Note (above).
• Ohio State defeats Penn State to move up ten spots to #5 in my rankings. Note that PSU is #4, just above Ohio State. Fear not, Buckeye fans. OSU still has the strength of its conference schedule coming up in November. If the Buckeyes win these games, OSU will easily jump PSU.
• Also, both one-loss teams OSU and PSU are ranked above undefeated Wisconsin. Wisconsin's opponents haven't earned them as much credit as their fellow Big Ten teams.
• Alabama dropped six spots to #8 during their bye week. It wasn't just other teams playing and passing Alabama... they actually lost 8.11 points. How is this possible??  Well, first of all, their competition has left much to be desired. Even during Alabama's bye week, my rating system uses results of all teams to gain additional learning about every team. It just so happened that Alabama's opponents were found to be less impressive than they were judged to be the previous week (e.g. Florida St. lost again). In fact, their win against FSU looks less and less impressive every week and is now their 3rd best win, according to my rankings. Do I think there are 7 teams better than Alabama? No. See my Important Note above. Alabama just hasn't accomplished as much as the teams ranked above them. This is straighten itself out as more games are played
• Oklahoma is ranked #11 in my rankings, despite beating #5 Ohio State. What factors into this is the strength of Ohio State's opponent relative Oklahoma's (SoS rank 20 vs 80, respectively.
• Top 10 // Top 25  Teams for each conferences:
• ACC: 2 // 4 
• Big Ten: 3 // 6
• Big 12: 0 // 4
• Pac 12: 0 // 4
• SEC: 2 // 4

Poll Comparison

Conference Comparison

As always, please leave questions/comments below! If you would like to see more than just the Top 25, or any ratings for Div I-AA, Div-II, or Div-III, just let me know!