Act II: College Football archive

All articles originally appeared on the main page. They appear here in the same inverse order as the main page.

Wednesday, September 13th, 2017

Here are all predictions for Week 3 of the NCAA Division 1 college football games:

	Week of:	Saturday, Sept 16th					Power Five
Handicap	Atl Coast: ATL	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
37	Boston College	Notre Dame	24+	+ 10	+ 13.5	+ 18.6
13	Clemson	@ Louisville	20-	- 4	- 3	- 6.0
15	Florida St	Miami-FL	23+ +	- 10	*	*	POSTPONE	15
20	Louisville	Clemson	13+	+ 4	+ 3	+ 6.0
27	North Carolina St	Furman	46+	- 23		- 35.9
35	Syracuse	Central Michigan	39+ +	- 8	- 10.5	- 7.9
28	Wake Forest	Utah State	42+	- 17	- 13.5	- 17.9
Handicap	Atl Coast: CSTL	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
28	Duke	Baylor	34+	- 9	- 14	- 13.4
24	Georgia Tech	@ UCF	30-	- 3	*	- 5.5	CANCEL	24
23	Miami-FL	@ Florida State	b2b 15-	+ 10	*	*	POSTPONE	23
30	North Carolina	@ Old Dominion	38-	- 5	?	- 8.2
28	Pitt	Oklahoma State	14+	+ 11	+ 13.5	+ 9.8
38	Virginia	U Conn	42+	- 7	- 10	- 9.1
23	Virginia Tech	@ East Carolina	42-	- 16	- 21	- 22.0
								SW (short week), B2B (b2b2b, b4b: back-to-back road games), D (difficult stretch), LR (long rest -bye),Z (sleeper)
Handicap	Big Ten: East	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
32	Indiana	Florida International	47+	- 18	*	- 27.5	CANCEL	32
30	Maryland	BYE						30
17	Michigan	Air Force	34+ -	- 20	- 24.5	- 21.9
30	Michigan St	BYE						30
14	Ohio St	Army-WP	35+	- 26	- 30	- 31.5
14	Penn St	Georgia State	46+	- 42.5	- 38	- 45.5
41	Rutgers	Morgan State	59+	- 21.5		- 38.2
Handicap	Big Ten: West	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
36	Illinois	(Fr) @ South Florida	26-	+ 13	+ 18	+ 8.6
26	Iowa	North Texas	43+	- 20	- 21.5	- 25.1
26	Minnesota	Middle Tennessee	38+	- 15	?	- 13.2
28	Nebraska	Northern Illinois	37+	- 12	- 14	- 14.1
29	Northwestern	Bowling Green	45+	- 19	- 22	- 21.1
36	Purdue	@ Missouri	34-	+ 5	+ 7	+ 1.2
19	Wisconsin	@ BYU	31-	- 8	?	- 14.7

Handicap	Big Twelve	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
34	Baylor	@ Duke	28-	+ 9	+ 14	+ 13.4
34	Iowa St	@ Akron	42-	- 5	- 9.5	- 12.8
42	Kansas	@ Ohio	38-	+ 7	+ 7.5	+ 9.1
21	Kansas State	@ Vanderbilt	29-	- 5	- 4	- 9.3
12	Oklahoma	Tulane	37+	- 32	- 33.5	- 40.2
14	Oklahoma St	@ Pitt	28-	- 11	- 13.5	- 9.8
22	TCU	SMU	33+	- 14	- 18	- 23.0
23	Texas	@ USC	14-	+ 12	+ 15.5	+ 13.5
30	Texas Tech	Arizona State	lr 34+	- 8	- 7.5	- 7.0
23	West Virginia	Delaware State	59+	- 48.5		- 67.9

Handicap	Independents	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
35	Army	@ Ohio State	14-	+ 26	+ 30	+ 31.5
31	BYU	Wisconsin	19+	+ 8	?	+ 14.7
24	Notre Dame	@ Boston College	37-	- 10	- 13.5	- 18.6
48	U Mass	(Fr) @ Temple	35-	+ 16	+ 14.5	+ 21.6

Handicap	Pac 12: North	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
32	California	Ole Miss	28+	+ 1	+ 3.5	+ 1.5
23	Oregon	@ Wyoming	34-	- 8	- 13.5	- 14.6
40	Oregon St	@ Washington St	25-	+ 18	+ 21.5	+ 20.6
18	Stanford	@ San Diego State	30-	- 9	- 9.5	- 7.9
14	Washington	Fresno State	41+ +	- 36.5	- 33.5	- 36.3
25	Washington St	Oregon State	40+	- 18	- 21.5	- 20.6
Handicap	Pac12: South	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
31	Arizona	(Fr) @ UTEP	49-	- 15	- 20	- 20.2
34	Arizona St	@ Texas Tech	30- lr	+ 8	+ 7.5	+ 7.0
25	Colorado	Northern Colorado	46+ lr	- 23		- 39.8
25	UCLA	@ Memphis	32-	- 4	- 3	+ 0.4
14	USC	Texas	23+	- 12	- 15.5	- 13.5
26	Utah	San Jose State	45+ b2b	- 24.5	- 27	- 30.3

Handicap	SEC: East	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
22	Florida	Tennessee	23+	- 4	- 5.5	+ 0.5
21	Georgia	Samford	42+	- 26		- 30.7
30	Kentucky	@ South Carolina	27-	+ 6	+ 6.5	+ 9.8
34	Missouri	Purdue	36+	- 5	- 7	- 1.2
27	South Carolina	Kentucky	30+	- 6	- 6.5	- 9.8
23	Tennessee	@ Florida	22-	+ 4	+ 5.5	- 0.5
29	Vanderbilt	Kansas State	21+	+ 5	+ 4	+ 9.3
Handicap	SEC:West	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
10	Alabama	Colorado State	32+	- 27.5	- 28.5	- 34.0
28	Arkansas	BYE						28
18	Auburn	Mercer	41+	- 29		- 43.0
16	LSU	@ Mississippi State	23-	- 4	- 7	- 5.7
23	Mississippi St	LSU	16+	+ 4	+ 7	+ 5.7
28	Ole Miss	@ California	32-	- 1	- 3.5	- 1.5
26	Texas A&M	UL-Lafayette	44+	- 21.5	- 23.5	- 25.5
Rivalry Game	Week of:	Saturday, Sept 16th		playing down 1 level	playing UP 1 level		Group of Five
Handicap	AAC: East	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
40	Cincinnati	@ Miami-OH	37-	+ 6	+ 4.5	- 4.3
42	Connecticut	@ Virginia	38-	+ 7	+ 10	+ 9.1
42	East Carolina	Virginia Tech	23+	+ 16	+ 21	+ 22.0
26	South Florida	(Fr) Illinois	36+	- 13	- 18	- 8.6
35	Temple	(Fr) U Massachusetts	48+	- 16	- 14.5	- 21.6
30	U Central Florida	Georgia Tech	24+	+ 3	*	+ 5.5	CANCEL	30
Handicap	AAC: West	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
30	Houston	Rice	45+	- 18	- 22.5	- 25.6
32	Memphis	UCLA	25+	+ 4	+ 3	- 0.4
33	Navy	BYE						33
33	SMU	@ TCU	22-	+ 14	+ 18	+ 23.0
37	Tulane	@ Oklahoma	12-	+ 32	+ 33.5	+ 40.2
34	Tulsa	@ Toledo	31-	+ 6	+ 9.5	+ 10.8
								SW (short week), B2B (b2b2b, b4b: back-to-back road games), D (difficult stretch), LR (long rest -bye),Z (sleeper)
Handicap	ConfUSA East:	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
49	Charlotte	North Carolina A&T	42+	+ 4		+ 5.4
43	FAU	Bethune-Cookman	50+ ++	- 12		- 16.4
47	FIU	@ Indiana	32-	+ 18	*	+ 27.5	CANCEL	47
40	Marshall	Kent State	46+	- 9	- 14	- 13.7
38	Middle Tenn	@ Minnesota	26-	+ 15	?	+ 13.2
38	Old Dominion	North Carolina	28+	+ 7	?	+ 8.2
34	Western Kentucky	Louisiana Tech	38+	- 7	- 7	- 6.2
Handicap	ConfUSA:West	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
38	Louisiana Tech	@Western Kentucky	34-	+ 7	+ 7	+ 6.2
43	North Texas	@ Iowa	26-	+ 20	+ 21.5	+ 25.1
45	Rice	@ Houston	30-	+ 18	+ 22.5	+ 25.6
36	Southern Miss	@ UL-Monroe	45-	- 6	- 6	- 5.6
49	UAB	Coastal Carolina	45+ lr	+ 2	+ 2	+ 1.9
49	UTEP	(Fr) Arizona	31+	+ 15	+ 20	+ 20.2
37	UTSA	Southern	50+ +	- 17

Handicap	MidAm: East	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
42	Akron	Iowa State	34+	+ 5	+ 9.5	+ 12.8
45	Bowling Green	@ Northwestern	29-	+ 19	+ 22	+ 21.1
44	Buffalo	Colgate	45+	- 4		- 10.4
46	Kent St	@ Marshall	40-	+ 9	+ 14	+ 13.7
37	Miami-OH	Cincinnati	40+	- 6	- 4.5	+ 4.3
38	Ohio	Kansas	42+	- 7	- 7.5	- 9.1
Handicap	MidAm: West	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
42	Ball St	Tennessee Tech	49+ +	- 11		- 18.0
39	Central Michigan	@ Syracuse	35-	+ 7	+ 10.5	+ 7.9
40	Eastern Michigan	BYE						40
37	Northern Illinois	@ Nebraska	28-	+ 12	+ 14	+ 14.1
31	Toledo	Tulsa	34+	- 6	- 9.5	- 10.8
34	Western Michigan	Idaho	45+	- 14	- 20	- 20.4

Handicap	MtnWst: West	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
41	Fresno St	@ Washington	B2B 14-	+ 36.5	+ 33.5	+ 36.3
40	Hawaii	BYE						40
40	Nevada	Idaho State	58+ ++	- 24.5		- 27.7
30	San Diego St	Stanford	18+	+ 9	+ 9.5	+ 7.9
45	San Jose St	@ Utah	B2B 26-	+ 24.5	+ 27.5	+ 30.3
44	UNLV	BYE						44
Handicap	MtnWst: Mount	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
34	Air Force	@ Michigan	17-	+ 20	+ 24.5	+ 21.9
29	Boise St	(Th) New Mexico	38+	- 12	- 16.5	- 20.4
32	Colorado St	@ Alabama	10-	+ 27.5	+ 28.5	+ 34.0
38	New Mexico	(Th) @ Boise State	29-	+ 12	+ 16.5	+ 20.4
42	Utah St	@ Wake Forest	28-	+ 17	+ 13.5	+ 17.9
34	Wyoming	@ Oregon	23-	+ 14	+ 13.5	+ 14.6
								SW (short week), B2B (b2b2b, b4b: back-to-back road games), D (difficult stretch), LR (long rest -bye),,Z (sleeper)
Handicap	Sun Belt Conf	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Vegas	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
31	Appalachian St	@ Texas State	49-	- 15	- 23.5	- 20.1
36	Arkansas St	Arkansas-PB	65+	- 38		- 60.4
45	Coastal Carolina	@ UA-B	49- +	- 2	- 2	- 1.9
42	Georgia Southern	BYE						42
46	Georgia St	@ Penn State	14-	+ 42.5	+ 38	+ 45.5
45	Idaho	@ Western Michigan	34-	+ 14	+ 20	+ 20.4
44	New Mexico St	Troy	34+	+ 7	+ 7	+ 8.3
45	South Alabama	Alabama A&M	57+	- 15		- 42.5
49	Texas St	Appalachian State	31+	+ 15	+ 23.5	+ 20.1
34	Troy	@New Mexico State	44-	- 7	- 7	- 8.3
44	UL-Lafayette	@ Texas A&M	26-	+ 21.5	+ 23.5	+ 25.5
45	UL-Monroe	Southern Miss	36+	+ 6	+ 6	+ 5.6
	Week of:	Saturday, Sept 16th		playing up 2 levels	playing down 1 level	playing UP one level	FCS (1-AA)
Handicap	Big Sky	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
44	Cal Poly SLO	BYE						44
43	Eastern Washington	@ Fordham	48-	- 2		- 8.6
58	Idaho State	@ Nevada	LR, b2b 40-	+ 24.5		+ 27.7
43	Montana	Savannah State	59+ +	- 20		- 35.0
46	Montana State	BYE						46
36	North Dakota	@ South Dakota	40-	- 1		+ 1.4
47	Northern Arizona	BYE						47
46	Northern Colorado	@ Colorado	b2b 25-	+ 23		+ 39.8
46	Portland State	UC Davis	LR 48+	- 7		- 4.1
51	Sacramento State	Weber State	39+	+ 9		+ 9.6
43	Southern Utah	Northern Iowa	42+	- 2		+ 7.2
48	UC Davis	@ Portland State	46- -	+ 7		+ 4.1
39	Weber State	@ Sacramento State	51-	- 9		- 9.6

Handicap	Big South	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
41	Charleston Southern	@ Elon	52-	- 8		- 10.4
52	Gardner-Webb	Western Carolina	46+	+ 3		+ 4.2
43	Kennesaw St	@ Alabama State	58-	- 12		- 19.6
35	Liberty	Indiana State	48+ +	- 17		- 3.0
48	Monmouth	@ Albany	42-	+ 9		+ 5.0
57	Presbyterian	Campbell	57+	- 3		- 16.0

Handicap	Colonial AA	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
42	Albany	Monmouth	48+	- 9		- 5.0
47	Delaware	Cornell	52+ +	- 9		- 21.9
52	Elon	Charleston Southern	41+	+ 8		+ 10.4
30	James Madison	Norfolk State	57+	- 35		- 45.1
43	Maine	BYE						43
41	New Hampshire	@ Holy Cross	b2b 47-	- 3		- 9.2
52	Rhode Island	Harvard	47+ +	+ 1		+ 16.9
39	Richmond	Howard	55++	- 20		- 30.8
45	Stony Brook	Sacred Heart	52+ +	- 11		- 11.5
52	Towson	@ St Francis-PA	b2b 51-	+ 5		+ 8.3
40	Villanova	Lafayette	56+	- 19		- 30.2
45	William & Mary	Bucknell	51+	- 9		- 13.3
								SW (short week), B2B (b2b2b, b4b: back-to-back road games), D (difficult stretch), LR (long rest -bye),Z (sleeper)
Handicap	Missouri Valley	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
37	Illinois State	@ Eastern Illinois	47-	- 7		- 10.5
48	Indiana State	@ Liberty	b2b 35-	+ 17		+ 3.0
53	Missouri State	Murray State	52+	- 2		- 7.7
27	North Dakota State	BYE						27
42	Northern Iowa	@Southern Utah	43-	+ 2		- 7.2
40	South Dakota	North Dakota	36+	+ 1		- 1.4
34	South Dakota State	Drake	56+	- 27.5		- 44.0
43	Southern Illinois	@ SE Missouri State	52-	- 6		- 14.9
39	Western Illinois	BYE						39
37	Youngstown State	Central Connecticut State	59+	- 27.5		- 33.8

Handicap	Northeast Conf	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
63	Bryant	@ Brown	52- +	+ 13		+ 6.1
59	Central Connecticut	@ Youngstown State	37-	+ 27.5		+ 33.8
52	Duquesne	@ Dayton	b2b2b 50-	+ 7		- 5.1
58	Robert Morris	VMI	57+	- 2		- 0.7
52	Sacred Heart	@ Stony Brook	b2b 45-	+ 11		+ 11.5
51	St. Francis - PA	Towson	52+ +	- 5		- 8.3
57	Wagner	@ Columbia	54- + -	+ 6		- 3.7

Handicap	Ohio Valley	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
58	Austin Peay	Morehead State	59+ +	- 5		- 16.2
47	Eastern Illinois	Illinois State	37+	+ 7		+ 10.5
48	Eastern Kentucky	BYE						48
37	Jacksonville State	BYE						37
52	Murray State	@ Missouri State	53-	+ 2		+ 7.7
52	SE Missouri State	Southern Illinois	43+	+ 6		+ 14.9
45	Tennessee State	Flor A&M (@ Tampa)	54 -	- 6		- 18.3
49	Tennessee Tech	@ Ball State	b2b 42-	+ 11		+ 18.0
44	UT-Martin	@ Chattanooga	b2b 40-	+ 8		+ 3.9
Rivalry Game	Week of:	Saturday, Sept 16th		ascending range of importance or interest of the game			FCS (1-AA)
Handicap	Patriot League	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
51	Bucknell	@ William & Mary	45-	+ 9		+ 13.3
45	Colgate	@ Buffalo	44-	+ 4		+ 10.4
48	Fordham	Eastern Washington	43+	+ 2		+ 8.6
54	Georgetown	Marist	57+	- 6		- 9.7
47	Holy Cross	New Hampshire	41+	+ 3		+ 9.2
56	Lafayette	@ Villanova	40-	+ 19		+ 30.2
46	Lehigh	Yale	49+ +	- 7		- 10.1
								SW (short week), B2B (b2b2b, b4b: back-to-back road games), D (difficult stretch), LR (long rest -bye),Z (sleeper)
Handicap	Pioneer FL	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
61	Butler	Taylor	*	*		*
57	Campbell	@ Presbyterian	57-	+ 3		+ 16.0
65	Davidson	Guilford	*	*		*
50	Dayton	Duquesne	52-	+ 1		+ 5.1
56	Drake	@ South Dakota State	34-	+ 27.5		+ 44.0
57	Jacksonville	Walsh	LR	*		*
57	Marist	@ Georgetown	54-	+ 6		+ 9.7
59	Morehead State	@ Austin Peay	b2b 58-	+ 5		+ 16.2
50	San Diego	@ Princeton	b2b 46-	+ 8		+ 11.7
64	Stetson	Dartmouth	49+	+ 12		+ 28.5
60	Valparaiso	@ Trinity International	*	*		*

Handicap	Southern Conf	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
40	Chattanooga	UT- Martin	44+	- 8		- 3.9
53	E Tennessee St	The Citadel	36+	+ 14		+ 24.4
46	Furman	@ North Carolina State	27-	+ 23		+ 35.9
41	Mercer	@ Auburn	18-	+ 29		+ 43.0
41	Samford	@ Georgia	21-	+26		+ 30.7
36	The Citadel	@ E Tennessee State	53-	- 14		- 24.4
57	VMI	@ Robert Morris	58-	+ 2		+ 0.7
46	Western Carolina	@ Gardner-Webb	52-	- 3		- 4.2
38	Wofford	BYE						38

Handicap	Southland	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
50	Abilene Christian	Houston Baptist	49+ ++	- 4		- 11.3
39	Central Arkansas	SE Louisiana	47+	- 11		- 14.8
49	Houston Baptist	@ Abilene Christian	b2b2b 50-	+ 4		+ 11.3
53	Incarnate Word	@ Stephen F Austin	b2b2b 52-	+ 6		+ 19.4
53	Lamar	@ Northwestern St	52-	+ 4		- 2.6
42	McNeese State	@ Alcorn State	53-	- 8		- 10.3
43	Nicholls State	Prairie View A&M	50- -	- 3		- 17.1
52	Northwestern St	Lamar	53+	- 4		+ 2.6
35	Sam Houston St	BYE						35
47	SE Louisiana	@ Central Arkansas	39-	+ 11		+ 14.8
52	Stephen F Austin	Incarnate Word	53+ ++	- 6		- 19.4
playing UP one level	Week of:	Saturday, Sept 16th		playing up 2 levels	playing down 1 level		Ivy/HBC
Handicap	Ivy League	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
52	Brown	Bryant	63+ -	- 13		- 6.1
54	Columbia	Wagner	57+ -	- 6		+ 3.7
52	Cornell	@ Delaware	47- -	+ 9		+ 21.9
49	Dartmouth	@ Stetson	64- -	- 12		- 28.5
47	Harvard	@ Rhode Island	52- -	+ 1		- 16.9
46	Penn	Ohio Dominican	*	*		*
46	Princeton	San Diego	50+ + -	- 8		- 11.7
49	Yale	@ Lehigh	46- -	+ 7		+ 10.1
								SW (short week), B2B (b2b2b, b4b: back-to-back road games), D (difficult stretch), LR (long rest -bye),Z (sleeper)
Handicap	MEAC	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
50	Bethune-Cookman	@ Florida Atlantic	b2b2b 43-	+ 12		+ 16.4
59	Delaware State	@ West Virginia	b2b2b 23-	+ 48.5		+ 67.9
54	Florida A&M	Tennessee St (@Tampa)	LR 45	+ 6		+ 18.3
56	Hampton	Livingstone	*	*		*
55	Howard	@ Richmond	b2b2b 39-	+ 20		+ 30.8
59	Morgan State	@ Rutgers	41-	+ 21.5		+ 38.2
42	NC A&T	@ Charlotte	49-	- 4		- 5.4
50	NC Central	BYE						50
57	Norfolk State	@ James Madison	30-	+ 35		+ 45.1
59	Savannah State	@ Montana	b2b 43-	+ 20		+ 35.0
50	SC State	Johnsons C Smith	*	*	*	*

Handicap	SWAC East	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
57	Alabama A&M	@ South Alabama	45-	+ 15		+ 42.5
58	Alabama State	Kennesaw State	43+	+ 12		+ 19.6
53	Alcorn State	McNeese State	42+	+ 8		+ 10.3
58	Jackson State	@ Grambling State	b2b2b 45-	+ 18		+ 22.7
67	Miss Valley St	BYE						67
Handicap	SWAC West	Week 3 Opponent	OppHdcp	FF margin	Line	Sagarin	Final score	Handicap
65	Ark-Pine Bluff	@ Arkansas State	B2B 36-	+ 38		+ 60.4
45	Grambling St	Jackson State	58+	- 18		- 22.7
50	Prairie View A&M	@ Nicholls State	43-	+ 3		+ 17.1
50	Southern	@ UTSA	b2b 37-	+ 17		+ 31.9
57	Texas Southern	BYE						57

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

With the end of the (American college) football season,...

...let's take a look at the final order of teams at both the FCS and FBS levels. The "FF Rating" is strictly from our own FOLLOWING FOOTBALL "Elo-style" system; the ranking combines those rating tiers with evaluations from several external sources (Massey, Sagarin, CP, FPI, and so forth). Even though Clemson defeated 'Bama last night, for example, the difference in their ratings leading up to the title game was more than the literal last-second touchdown compensated for.

Rank	FBS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating	Rank	FBS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating
1	Alabama	SECw	A+10	17	Oklahoma St	B12	C
2	Clemson	ACCa	A+7	18	Miami-FL	ACCc	D -
3	Ohio St	B10e	A+2	19	Louisville	ACCa	D
4	Washington	PACn	A +	20	Florida	SECe	D
5	Michigan	B10e	A +	21	Virginia Tech	ACCc	D +
6	Penn St	B10e	C	22	Tennessee	SECe	F +
7	Oklahoma	B12	A+4	23	Iowa	B10w	E -
8	Wisconsin	B10w	B -	24	Washington St	PACn	E
9	USC	PACs	B +	25	North Carolina	ACCc	D -
10	Florida St	ACCa	B -	26	Texas A&M	SECw	E -
11	LSU	SECw	B +	27	Pitt	ACCc	E
12	Western Michigan	MACw	C	28	Utah	PACs	E +
13	Stanford	PACn	D	29	South Florida	AACe	F -
14	Auburn	SECw	C -	30	Kansas State	B12	E
15	Colorado	PACs	D -	31	Georgia Tech	ACCc	G
16	West Virginia	B12	D -	32	Minnesota	B10w	F +

Rank	FBS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating	Rank	FBS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating
33	Boise St	MWm	G +	49	Kentucky	SECe	I +
34	Nebraska	B10w	G -	50	Vanderbilt	SECe	H -
35	Western Kentucky	C-Ue	C -	51	Toledo	MACw	E -
36	Georgia	SECe	E -	52	Air Force	MWm	H +
37	Temple	AACe	E -	53	TCU	B12	F +
38	BYU	Ind	E +	54	Mississippi St	SECw	F
39	Houston	AACw	E +	55	Baylor	B12	F -
40	San Diego St	MWw	D -	56	California	PACn	G -
41	Tulsa	AACw	E -	57	Troy	Sun	J
42	Appalachian St	Sun	F -	58	Notre Dame	Ind	E +
43	Northwestern	B10w	F	59	UCLA	PACs	H +
44	Arkansas	SECw	E -	60	Indiana	B10e	I +
45	North Carolina St	ACCa	F -	61	Colorado St	MWm	I
46	Navy	AACw	E +	62	Oregon	PACn	H -
47	Ole Miss	SECw	F	63	Texas	B12	G -
48	Memphis	AACw	F	64	Louisiana Tech	C-Uw	F -

Rank	FBS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating	Rank	FBS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating
65	South Carolina	SECe	J -	81	Arizona	PACs	J -
66	Wake Forest	ACCa	K	82	Syracuse	ACCa	K -
67	New Mexico	MWm	J	83	Ohio	MACe	I -
68	Wyoming	MWm	I -	84	Iowa St	B12	I +
69	Boston College	ACCa	L +	85	Army	Ind	K
70	Texas Tech	B12	G	86	Middle Tenn	C-Ue	K
71	Old Dominion	C-Ue	J -	87	SMU	AACw	L
72	Arkansas St	Sun	H	88	Northern Illinois	MACw	K +
73	Oregon St	PACn	J -	89	Southern Miss	C-Uw	K +
74	Arizona St	PACs	J -	90	Georgia Southern	Sun	J -
75	Idaho	Sun	K +	91	Eastern Michigan	MACw	K -
76	Maryland	B10e	L +	92	Central Michigan	MACw	K
77	Missouri	SECe	J	93	UL-Lafayette	Sun	K -
78	Duke	ACCc	I +	94	Illinois	B10w	K
79	UCF	AACe	J +	95	Miami-OH	MACe	K +
80	Michigan St	B10e	H +	96	Cincinnati	AACe	K +

Rank	FBS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating	Rank	FBS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating
97	Hawaii	MWw	N	113	Kansas	B12	M -
98	UTSA	C-Uw	L +	114	UL-Monroe	Sun	P +
99	South Alabama	Sun	L +	115	North Texas	C-Uw	O +
100	Virginia	ACCc	K	116	Connecticut	AACe	O
101	Tulane	AACw	M	117	New Mexico St	Sun	P +
102	Utah St	MWm	K	118	FIU	C-Ue	M +
103	Purdue	B10w	M +	119	Kent St	MACe	N +
104	Nevada	MWw	K +	120	Charlotte	C-Ue	P
105	East Carolina	AACe	L -	121	UTEP	C-Uw	O +
106	San Jose St	MWw	N -	122	U Mass	Ind	O +
107	Akron	MACe	L	123	Marshall	C-Ue	N +
108	Bowling Green	MACe	J -	124	Rice	C-Uw	O
109	UNLV	MWw	N	125	FAU	C-Ue	O -
110	Ball St	MACw	K -	126	Buffalo	MACe	O -
111	Rutgers	B10e	O	127	Texas St	Sun	S +
112	Georgia St	Sun	K -	128	Fresno St	MWw	O

Rank	FCS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating	Rank	FCS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating
1	James Madison	CAA	F +	17	Richmond	CAA	K -
2	North Dakota State	MVC	E -	18	North Dakota	BigSk	L
3	Eastern Washington	BigSk	G -	19	Grambling St	SWAC	L -
4	Youngstown State	MVC	H -	20	Samford	Southld	M
5	Jacksonville State	OVC	H +	21	Western Illinois	MVC	L
6	Sam Houston St	Southrn	I -	22	New Hampshire	CAA	L +
7	South Dakota State	MVC	H -	23	San Diego	Pioneer	L -
8	Wofford	Southld	K -	24	South Dakota	MVC	M
9	The Citadel	Southld	K -	25	Southern Utah	BigSk	K
10	Chattanooga	Southld	J +	26	Lehigh	Patriot	L
11	Central Arkansas	Southrn	K	27	Cal Poly SLO	BigSk	N -
12	(Coastal Carolina)	BigSou	J -	28	Princeton	Ivy	K +
13	Northern Iowa	MVC	H	29	Mercer	Southld	P -
14	Charleston Southern	BigSou	J	30	Liberty	BigSou	N -
15	Villanova	CAA	K -	31	Maine	CAA	O
16	Illinois State	MVC	J	32	UT-Martin	OVC	L

Rank	FCS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating	Rank	FCS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating
33	Southern Illinois	MVC	M -	49	Stony Brook	CAA	O -
34	Fordham	Patriot	L +	50	McNeese State	Southrn	K -
35	Montana	BigSk	L	51	Colgate	Patriot	L
36	Northern Arizona	BigSk	M	52	Northern Colorado	BigSk	Q
37	Albany	CAA	O -	53	Southern	SWAC	O -
38	Indiana State	MVC	M -	54	Gardner-Webb	BigSou	P
39	Kennesaw St	BigSou	P +	55	Missouri State	MVC	S -
40	Eastern Illinois	OVC	M -	56	Harvard	Ivy	N +
41	Penn	Ivy	L +	57	SE Louisiana	Southrn	P +
42	NC A&T	MEAC	N	58	Montana State	BigSk	O
43	Weber State	BigSk	P +	59	Delaware	CAA	P -
44	Furman	Southld	M -	60	Towson	CAA	O
45	NC Central	MEAC	Q	61	Western Carolina	Southld	Q +
46	William & Mary	CAA	N	62	Dayton	Pioneer	P +
47	Tennessee Tech	OVC	O	63	Tennessee State	OVC	P -
48	Duquesne	NEC	O -	64	Portland State	BigSk	N

Rank	FCS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating	Rank	FCS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating
65	St. Francis - PA	NEC	R +	81	Yale	Ivy	Q -
66	Nicholls State	Southrn	P +	82	Sacred Heart	NEC	S
67	SE Missouri State	OVC	O	83	Cornell	Ivy	S +
68	Murray State	OVC	Q +	84	Brown	Ivy	R -
69	Dartmouth	Ivy	N	85	Rhode Island	CAA	T -
70	VMI	Southld	R -	86	Drake	Pioneer	T
71	E Tennessee St	Southld	U +	87	Columbia	Ivy	R +
72	Prairie View A&M	SWAC	Q -	88	Lamar	Southrn	Q
73	Monmouth	BigSou	S +	89	SC State	MEAC	R -
74	Stephen F Austin	Southrn	Q -	90	Alcorn State	SWAC	S
75	Eastern Kentucky	OVC	O	91	Presbyterian	BigSou	T
76	UC Davis	BigSk	R	92	Idaho State	BigSk	T +
77	Bryant	NEC	R -	93	Houston Baptist	Southrn	V
78	Wagner	NEC	S -	94	Sacramento State	BigSk	U +
79	Bucknell	Patriot	P -	95	Elon	CAA	U -
80	Holy Cross	Patriot	Q	96	Bethune-Cookman	MEAC	Q

Rank	FCS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating	Rank	FCS TEAMS	Conf	FF Rating
97	Abilene Christian	Southrn	Q -	112	Morehead State	Pioneer	U +
98	Lafayette	Patriot	T -	113	Northwestern St	Southrn	S
99	Jacksonville	Pioneer	S +	114	Valparaiso	Pioneer	X +
100	Incarnate Word	Southrn	T -	115	Stetson	Pioneer	W -
101	Hampton	MEAC	T +	116	Jackson State	SWAC	W +
102	Georgetown	Patriot	T +	117	Savannah State	MEAC	X
103	Marist	Pioneer	U	118	Austin Peay	OVC	V +
104	Alabama A&M	SWAC	T	119	Morgan State	MEAC	V +
105	Central Connecticut	NEC	W +	120	Butler	Pioneer	W +
106	Norfolk State	MEAC	V	121	Howard	MEAC	W -
107	Texas Southern	SWAC	V -	122	Miss Valley St	SWAC	aa -
108	Alabama State	SWAC	T -	123	Ark-Pine Bluff	SWAC	ac +
109	Campbell	Pioneer	V +	124	Delaware State	MEAC	Y -
110	Florida A&M	MEAC	X +	125	Davidson	Pioneer	Y
111	Robert Morris	NEC	W

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2nd:

In advance of the announcement tomorrow afternoon of the four CFP teams, the twelve "BCS bowl" teams, and the (gulp) 80 bowl teams, here are our final ratings and rankings for the 128 FBS schools, top to bottom. (For an explanation of our CFP philosophy, see the article dated today on the main page.)

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

while, except for one story from Australia I'd like to share with you

ACC) Got Duke over UNC correct, missed Virginia covering against Miami. (But that's ok, because I like Miami's coach Mark Richt, the most devout Christian in the business. Watching his new team do better than his old team is a delight I shouldn't feel as a forgiving Christian...)
Big Ten) Everyone missed Iowa over Michigan, including us.
Big XII) We thought Texas might pull the upset, and they almost did. Almost.
Pac-12) Missed UW's loss, like everyone else.
SEC) We were wrong on Arkansas over LSU, but we nailed Tex A&M within a point of Ole Miss.

AAC) Wrong on Memphis over USF (but they did beat the spread), and right on Navy winning, although by game time the odds had shifted in their favor as well.
Conf USA) Great results for us here: Charlotte only lost by one (Rice had to come back with two late TDs to win), and Marshall won big over MTSU.
MWC) So much for our overhyped spreads for San Diego St and Boise St. They won by a combined 66 points this weekend.
Sun Belt) Wrong across the board! (Yay us!) OVERALL, we went 18-34 against the Vegas lines last week. Sucky.
But we DID go 12-4 in our FCS picks this week (Weber St, Tenn Tech, Wofford, and Cornell won against our picks).

AS FOR THE UPCOMING WEEK...

FBS schools - Here are the games where our point spreads differ significantly from the professionals...of course, after last week, that probably means we're wrong...
ACC) We see FSU@ Syracuse (+21 in Vegas) and Louisville @ Houston (+14) as much closer than they do (we have FSU -12 and Clemson -3.5). We also are picking NC State over Miami (-3), although as mentioned earlier, our heart's not in it. Finally, we have Notre Dame a six point fave, not one.
Big Ten) We agree with the chalk here, although we see NW@ Minnesota (+1) as a tossup.
Big XII) Vegas likes K-State over Baylor by 2.5; we see the Bears as TD favorites. Curiously, we have the two biggest games (OU/WV and TCU/OSU) exactly as the oddsmakers do (-3 for OU, -4.5 for TCU).
Pac 12) No disagreements; just wanted to point out that Oregon St is actually a favorite this week, over Arizona.
SEC) The rescheduled Florida@LSU game, where the Gators gave up a home date AND the home game against LSU, is listed as the Tigers by two TDs; we see it at one. Also, we like Arkansas over Mississippi St (-1.5).
MAC) Tonight, Vegas has Ohio (-1) at Central Michigan; we have it even. Tomorrow, we;re taking upstart Eastern Michigan over Northern Illinois (-3) in the upset!
MWC) We actually see three upsets in the Mountain West this weekend (neither San Diego nor Boise is involved, however): we like Fresno St (+2.5) against Hawaii, Nevada (+6) versus Utah State, and Colorado St over UNM.
SunBelt) Finally, we think Georgia St can pull off one last upset this season over rival Georgia Southern (-2.5).

Lots of rivalry games in this last regular season weekend for the FCS schools before the playoffs start (PLAYOFFS? What a novel concept!). All these odds are from FOLLOWING FOOTBALL's computer...

Big Sky - Eastern Washington (-8) can clinch a tie with idle North Dakota for the title with a win over Portland St.
Big South - Liberty's 4-1 in conference; the winner of the Charleston Southern (-16)/Kennesaw St game joins them there.
Colonial - James Madison wraps up an 8-0 conference with a win over Elon (+35). [But UNH@ Maine (+2), Stony Brook @ Albany (-3), and Richmond @ William&Mary (+8) should all be great games!]
Missouri Valley - THE conference in FCS is still North Dakota St's to win, with a victory over South Dakota (+11.5). SDSU can share the title by beating Northern Iowa (+7).
NEC - St. Francis (-1.5) can win the conference Saturday with a win at Wagner.
Ohio Valley - The game of the season: Jacksonville St (-13) hosts UT-Martin for the title.
Patriot - Lehigh (-19.5) faces rival Lafayette in hopes of finishing a 6-0 conference slate.
Pioneer - Similarly, San Diego hopes to finish 8-0 and win the auto-bid with a win over Campbell (+14.5).
Southern - Liberty's already won the conference with an 8-0 record, but puts its perfect season in jeopardy at North Carolina(-16) this weekend.
Southland - The game of the season: Sam Houston St (-4) hosts Central Arkansas for the title. Both 8-0 in conference, both playoff bound regardless.
Ivy League - Yale@Harvard (-16.5). The Game. And then that's it - the Ivy League chooses to then go back to class and not bother with the peon playoffs...
MEAC - Again, the "game of the season"! North Carolina A&T (-7) at North Carolina Central, Both 7-0 in conference, but only one goes to the "Celebration Bowl" against the SWAC titlist.
SWAC - NEXT week is the "game of the season", as usual, between Southern and Grambling St, but Alcorn St (-9) at Jackson St should be pretty good this Saturday, too!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8th...

Here are the rankings to go with each conference's current standings - figure about two points per letter across, plus/minus three for home field advantage, and you're pretty close to our point spreads at FOLLOWING FOOTBALL!

Atl Coast: ATL	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Clemson	6-0 9-0	A+4
Louisville	6-1 8-1	A -
Florida St	3-3 6-3	D +
Wake Forest	3-2 6-3	K +
Syracuse	2-3 4-5	K +
Boston College	1-5 4-5	M +
North Carolina St	1-4 4-5	G
Atl Coast: CSTL	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
North Carolina	5-1 7-2	D
Virginia Tech	5-1 7-2	D -
Pitt	2-3 5-4	F -
Miami-FL	2-3 5-4	E -
Georgia Tech	2-4 5-4	I +
Virginia	1-4 2-7	J +
Duke	0-5 3-6	H

Big Ten: East	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Michigan	6-0 9-0	A+4
Ohio St	5-1 8-1	A+3
Penn St	5-1 7-2	E +
Indiana	3-3 5-4	I
Maryland	2-4 5-4	K
Michigan St	0-6 2-7	H
Rutgers	0-6 2-7	M -
Big Ten: West	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Minnesota	4-2 7-2	G
Nebraska	4-2 7-2	F -
Wisconsin	4-2 7-2	C +
Iowa	3-3 5-4	F -
Northwestern	3-3 4-5	F
Illinois	2-4 3-6	J +
Purdue	1-5 3-6	M +

Big Twelve	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Oklahoma	6-0 7-2	B +
Oklahoma St	5-1 7-2	D
West Virginia	4-1 7-1	E +
Kansas State	3-3 5-4	G
TCU	3-3 5-4	D +
Texas	3-3 5-4	E -
Baylor	3-2 6-2	D -
Texas Tech	2-4 4-5	G -
Iowa St	0-6 1-8	I -
Kansas	0-6 1-8	O +

Independents	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Army	5-4 (0-1)	K -
BYU	5-4	E
Notre Dame	3-6	E +
U Mass	2-8	N -

Pac 12: North	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Washington	6-0 9-0	A +
Washington St	6-0 7-2	D
Stanford	4-3 6-3	E
California	2-4 4-5	H
Oregon	1-5 3-6	G -
Oregon St	1-5 2-7	L +
Pac12: South	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Colorado	5-1 7-2	E -
USC	5-2 6-3	D +
Utah	4-2 7-2	E
Arizona St	2-4 5-4	H -
UCLA	1-5 3-6	F
Arizona	0-6 2-7	J

SEC: East	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Florida	4-2 6-2	D -
Kentucky	4-3 5-4	I -
Georgia	3-4 5-4	F
South Carolina	3-4 5-4	I -
Tennessee	2-3 6-3	F +
Vanderbilt	1-4 4-5	I -
Missouri	0-5 2-7	J -
SEC:West	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Alabama	6-0 9-0	A+5
Auburn	5-1 7-2	B -
Texas A&M	4-2 7-2	E +
LSU	3-2 5-3	C
Arkansas	2-3 6-3	D +
Mississippi St	2-3 4-5	F
Ole Miss	1-4 4-5	C -
AAC: East	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Temple	5-1 7-3	F -
South Florida	4-1 7-2	F -
UCF	3-2 5-4	J +
Cincinnati	1-4 4-5	J
East Carolina	1-4 3-7	K +
Connecticut	1-6 3-7	M -
AAC: West	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Navy	4-1 6-2 (0-1)	E
Tulsa	4-1 7-2	F -
Houston	4-2 7-2	D
Memphis	3-2 6-3	F
SMU	2-3 4-5	L +
Tulane	0-5 3-6	N

ConfUSA East:	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Western Kentucky	5-1 7-3	E +
Old Dominion	4-1 6-3	K -
Middle Tenn	3-2 6-3	I -
Charlotte	3-2 4-5	P +
FIU	3-3 3-7	N +
FAU	1-4 2-7	O
Marshall	1-4 2-7	M +
ConfUSA:West	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Louisiana Tech	5-1 7-3	E -
UTSA	4-2 5-4	L -
Southern Miss	3-2 5-4	K +
North Texas	2-3 4-5	N
UTEP	1-4 3-6	O
Rice	0-6 1-8	P +

MidAm: East	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Ohio	5-1 7-3	I -
Miami-OH	4-2 4-6	K +
Akron	3-3 5-4	K -
Kent St	2-3 3-6	M +
Buffalo	1-4 2-7	O -
Bowling Green	0-5 1-8	L
MidAm: West	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Western Michigan	5-0 9-0	C -
Toledo	4-1 7-2	E
Northern Illinois	3-2 3-6	K +
Eastern Michigan	2-3 5-4	L
Central Michigan	2-4 5-5	K
Ball St	1-4 4-5	K +

MtnWst: West	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
San Diego St	5-0 8-1	D
UNLV	2-3 3-6	M
San Jose St	2-4 3-7	N -
Hawaii	2-4 5-5	M -
Nevada	1-4 3-6	L +
Fresno St	0-6 1-9	O
MtnWst: Mount	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Wyoming	5-0 7-2	H -
Boise St	4-1 8-1	F -
New Mexico	4-1 6-3	K +
Colorado St	3-2 5-4	K +
Air Force	2-3 6-3 (2-0!)	I +
Utah St	1-5 3-6	J

Sun Belt Conf	Conference/Overall	FF Tier/Rank
Appalachian St	5-0 7-2	F -
Troy	4-0 7-1	J +
Arkansas St	4-0 4-4	I +
Idaho	3-2 5-4	M -
Georgia Southern	3-2 4-5	J +
UL-Lafayette	2-3 3-5	M -
UL-Monroe	1-2 2-4	P -
New Mexico St	1-3 2-6	P -
Georgia St	1-4 2-7	I
South Alabama	1-5 4-5	K
Texas St	0-4 2-6	P

Monday, October 31, 2016

Current FOLLOWING FOOTBALL tiers and rankings for Power Five, Group of Five, and FCS conference teams after nine weeks of the season... See our post of Oct 31 for our commentary on these...

	Power Five rankings	Oct 30
1	Alabama	A+5
2	Michigan	A+2
3	Clemson	A +
4	Ohio St	A
5	Washington	B +
6	Oklahoma	B +
7	Louisville	B -
8	Auburn	B -
9	Wisconsin	C
10	LSU	C
11	Baylor	C
12	Ole Miss	C -
13	Florida St	D +
14	Oklahoma St	D
15	USC	D
16	Texas A&M	D -
17	Florida	D -
18	Virginia Tech	D -
19	West Virginia	E +
20	North Carolina	E +
21	Notre Dame	E +
22	Stanford	E +
23	Utah	E
24	Washington St	E
25	Georgia	E
26	Arkansas	E
27	TCU	E
28	Penn St	E -
29	Nebraska	E -
30	BYU	E -
31	Pitt	F +
31	Iowa	F +
31	Northwestern	F +
31	Texas	F +
31	UCLA	F +
36	Miami-FL	F
36	Tennessee	F
38	Mississippi St	F -
39	Colorado	G +
40	North Carolina St	G
40	Minnesota	G
40	Kansas State	G
40	Texas Tech	G
40	California	G
40	Oregon	G
46	Michigan St	H +
47	Georgia Tech	H
48	Duke	H
49	Arizona St	H -
50	Indiana	I
51	Arizona	I
52	Kentucky	I -
53	South Carolina	I -
54	Iowa St	I -
54	Virginia	J +
55	Syracuse	J +
56	Vanderbilt	J +
57	Illinois	J
58	Maryland	J -
59	Missouri	J -
60	Wake Forest	K +
61	Army	K +
62	Boston College	L +
63	Oregon St	L
64	Purdue	M +
65	Rutgers	M -
66	U Mass	N
67	Kansas	O +

	Group of Five	Oct 30
1	Western Michigan	D +
2	Houston	D
3	Western Kentucky	E +
4	Navy	E
5	San Diego St	E
6	Louisiana Tech	E -
7	Toledo	F +
8	Boise St	F
9	South Florida	F -
10	Appalachian St	F -
11	Temple	G +
12	Tulsa	G
13	Memphis	G
14	Georgia St	H
15	Middle Tenn	H -
16	Wyoming	I
17	Southern Miss	I -
17	Ohio	I -
17	Air Force	I -
17	Utah St	I -
17	Arkansas St	I -
22	Troy	J +
23	Georgia Southern	J +
24	Cincinnati	J +
25	East Carolina	J
25	Central Michigan	J
27	UCF	J -
28	SMU	K +
29	New Mexico	K +
30	South Alabama	K +
31	Akron	K +
32	Colorado St	K -
33	Northern Illinois	K -
34	Bowling Green	K -
35	Nevada	L +
36	Miami-OH	L +
37	Marshall	L
38	Old Dominion	L
39	Eastern Michigan	L
40	Ball St	L -
41	Hawaii	L -
42	UL-Lafayette	M +
43	Kent St	M +
44	UTSA	M +
45	UNLV	M
46	Connecticut	M
47	Tulane	M -
48	FIU	N +
49	Idaho	N
50	North Texas	N
51	Fresno St	N -
52	Rice	O +
52	San Jose St	O +
54	UTEP	O -
54	Buffalo	O -
56	FAU	P
56	Texas St	P
58	New Mexico St	P -
59	UL-Monroe	Q +
60	Charlotte	Q

	FCS rankings for	Oct 30
1	North Dakota State	F -
2	Jacksonville State	G
3	Northern Iowa	H +
4	South Dakota State	I
5	Eastern Washington	I
6	James Madison	I
7	Charleston Southern	I -
8	Central Arkansas	I -
9	Richmond	J +
10	Youngstown State	J
11	Sam Houston St	J
12	Chattanooga	J
12	The Citadel	J
14	Coastal Carolina	J -
15	Montana	J -
16	Lehigh	J -
17	Illinois State	K +
18	Western Illinois	K
19	New Hampshire	K -
20	McNeese State	L +
21	Northern Arizona	L +
22	Penn	L +
23	Harvard	L
24	Princeton	L
25	North Dakota	L
25	Villanova	L
27	UT-Martin	L -
28	Colgate	L -
28	Samford	L -
30	Indiana State	M +
31	Cal Poly SLO	M +
31	Southern Utah	M +
33	South Dakota	M
34	Fordham	M
35	NC A&T	M
36	Wofford	M
37	Liberty	M -
38	San Diego	M -
39	Dartmouth	M -
40	Portland State	N +
40	Eastern Illinois	N +
40	Furman	N +
40	Grambling St	N +
44	Southern Illinois	N
44	Eastern Kentucky	N
46	Stony Brook	N -
47	William & Mary	O +
47	SE Missouri State	O +
49	Montana State	O -
49	Maine	O -
49	Tennessee State	O -
52	Weber State	P +
52	Albany	P +
52	Towson	P +
55	Holy Cross	P
55	Dayton	P
55	Mercer	P
55	Lamar	P
55	SE Louisiana	P
55	Southern	P
61	Kennesaw St	P -
61	Delaware	P -
61	Murray State	P -
61	Western Carolina	P -
65	Duquesne	Q +
65	Bucknell	Q +
65	Nicholls State	Q +
68	Gardner-Webb	Q
68	Tennessee Tech	Q
68	Stephen F Austin	Q
68	Bethune-Cookman	Q
72	St. Francis - PA	Q -
72	Abilene Christian	Q -
74	Northern Colorado	R +
74	Missouri State	R +
74	Jacksonville	R +
74	Yale	R +
78	UC Davis	R
78	Northwestern St	R
78	Brown	R
78	NC Central	R
78	Prairie View A&M	R
83	Sacred Heart	R -
83	VMI	R -
83	Cornell	R -
86	Monmouth	S +
87	Bryant	S
87	Columbia	S
87	SC State	S
87	Alabama A&M	S
91	Presbyterian	S -
91	Georgetown	S -
91	Hampton	S -
94	Elon	T +
95	Idaho State	T
95	Lafayette	T
97	Morgan State	T -
97	Alabama State	T -
97	Alcorn State	T -
100	Wagner	U +
100	Marist	U +
100	Incarnate Word	U +
103	Sacramento State	U
103	Austin Peay	U
105	Drake	U -
105	E Tennessee St	U -
107	Central Connecticut	V +
107	Butler	V +
107	Morehead State	V +
110	Robert Morris	V
110	Stetson	V
112	Rhode Island	V -
112	Campbell	V -
112	Houston Baptist	V -
112	Jackson State	V -
112	Texas Southern	V -
117	Norfolk State	W +
118	Howard	W -
119	Davidson	X +
119	Florida A&M	X +
121	Savannah State	X
122	Valparaiso	X -
123	Delaware State	Y -
124	Ark-Pine Bluff	Z -
125	Miss Valley St	ZZ

Monday, October 17, 2016

FBS and FCS rankings - from FOLLOWING FOOTBALL'S exclusive Tiered System!

It may seem strange that a theistic blog site has so much interest in football, but God gave us entertainments for a reason!

After the weekend of Oct 14-16 (in which we went one game under .500 in our predictions compared to the professionals in Las Vegas), here's our entire FBS college rankings, one through 128. There will be plenty of ties because we don't break the ties in our tiering system except where there's an obvious change (a major injury usually). And, as with ALL such adventures, it's all "non-binding" - it's all for fun. These are just conversation starters, really -"how could they possibly put my team so low!" - which is why I've highlighted certain teams of readers I know are fans! Enjoy!

	FBS tier rankings
1	Alabama
2	Ohio St
3	Michigan
4	Clemson
5	Washington
6	Ole Miss
7	Houston
8	Baylor
8	Oklahoma
10	Louisville
10	Wisconsin
12	Western Michigan
13	Florida St
13	LSU
15	TCU
15	Arkansas
15	Auburn
18	USC
18	Georgia
20	West Virginia
20	Texas A&M
22	Oklahoma St
22	Navy
24	Washington St
24	Toledo
26	Notre Dame
26	Stanford
28	North Carolina St
28	North Carolina
28	Virginia Tech
28	Utah
28	Florida
33	Miami-FL
33	BYU
33	Memphis
36	Pitt
36	Nebraska
36	UCLA
36	Tennessee
36	Iowa
41	Northwestern
41	Texas
41	South Florida
41	Western Kentucky
41	Louisiana Tech
41	Boise St
47	Mississippi St
47	San Diego St
49	California
50	Michigan St
50	Kansas State
50	Appalachian St
53	Colorado
54	Penn St
54	Minnesota
54	Texas Tech
57	Oregon
58	Arizona St
58	Temple
58	Middle Tenn
61	Duke
62	Georgia Tech
63	Arizona
63	Georgia Southern
65	Illinois
65	Tulsa
65	Utah St
68	Indiana
68	Air Force
70	Central Michigan
71	Cincinnati
71	Southern Miss
73	Iowa St
73	Missouri
75	Syracuse
75	South Carolina
75	Vanderbilt
75	Akron
79	Virginia
79	Army
79	Kentucky
79	Arkansas St
79	Troy
84	Wake Forest
85	Ohio
86	Bowling Green
87	Wyoming
87	Georgia St
87	South Alabama
90	UCF
91	East Carolina
92	Maryland
92	Marshall
92	Old Dominion
92	Nevada
96	Purdue
96	Connecticut
96	Eastern Michigan
96	New Mexico
100	SMU
100	Northern Illinois
100	UNLV
103	Oregon St
103	Colorado St
105	Ball St
106	Boston College
107	UTSA
107	Hawaii
109	Tulane
110	Kent St
110	Miami-OH
112	Kansas
112	FIU
112	Rice
112	UL-Lafayette
116	Rutgers
116	U Mass
116	San Jose St
116	Idaho
120	Fresno St
121	FAU
122	North Texas
123	Texas St
124	UL-Monroe
125	UTEP
125	Buffalo
127	New Mexico St
128	Charlotte

And if that didn't irritate you, try these: the FCS rankings, from 1 through 125!

1 North Dakota State

2 Jacksonville State

3 South Dakota State

4 Northern Iowa

5 Montana

6 Charleston Southern

7 Youngstown State

8 Coastal Carolina

8 James Madison

8 Richmond

8 Chattanooga

8 The Citadel

8 Central Arkansas

14 Eastern Washington

15 Sam Houston St

16 Western Illinois

17 Illinois State

18 North Dakota

19 Villanova

19 Fordham

19 Dartmouth

19 Harvard

23 Lehigh

23 McNeese State

25 Cal Poly SLO

25 Northern Arizona

25 New Hampshire

25 Eastern Illinois

25 Samford

25 Penn

31 Southern Utah

31 Southern Illinois

31 Eastern Kentucky

31 UT-Martin

31 Colgate

36 South Dakota

36 Wofford

36 Princeton

36 NC A&T

40 Liberty

40 Indiana State

42 Portland State

43 San Diego

44 Towson

44 William & Mary

44 Furman

47 Stony Brook

48 Montana State

48 SE Missouri State

48 Holy Cross

51 Lamar

52 Tennessee State

53 Grambling St

54 Maine

55 Weber State

55 SE Louisiana

57 Dayton

57 Mercer

57 Southern

60 Albany

60 Delaware

60 Western Carolina

63 Gardner-Webb

63 Duquesne

63 Northwestern St

66 Bethune-Cookman

67 Monmouth

67 Sacred Heart

67 Murray State

67 Tennessee Tech

67 Bucknell

67 Yale

73 Missouri State

73 Cornell

75 Northern Colorado

75 Nicholls State

77 VMI

77 Abilene Christian

77 Stephen F Austin

80 NC Central

81 UC Davis

81 Kennesaw St

81 St. Francis - PA

84 Jacksonville

84 Brown

84 Hampton

84 Prairie View A&M

88 Elon

89 Presbyterian

89 Bryant

89 Incarnate Word

92 SC State

92 Alabama A&M

94 Georgetown

94 Columbia

96 Idaho State

97 Lafayette

98 Alabama State

98 Alcorn State

100 Wagner

100 Marist

102 Sacramento State

102 Rhode Island

102 Austin Peay

105 Morgan State

105 Texas Southern

107 Morehead State

107 E Tennessee St

109 Central Connecticut

109 Drake

111 Butler

111 Campbell

111 Stetson

114 Norfolk State

115 Houston Baptist

116 Jackson State

117 Robert Morris

117 Davidson

119 Howard

120 Valparaiso

120 Savannah State

122 Florida A&M

123 Delaware State

123 Ark-Pine Bluff

125 Miss Valley St

Friday, October 14, 2016

FOLLOWING FOOTBALL predictions for the weekend of Oct 14-16

The NCAA has many more games, and twenty-two conferences to watch in Division One alone: ten in the FBS and twelve in the FCS. We'll take a quick scan and touch on the games we think will be most interesting...

We think Duke loses by less than 35 to Louisville... Syracuse stays closer than 20 against VaTech at home...Georgia Southern will NOT be eleven point losers to GaTech: we have it as a virtual tie!... Maryland is favored at Minnesota: we have it the other way around!... we also like Texas Tech at home against the one-point favorite Mountaineers of WVU... USC is NOT eight points better than Arizona on the road... and as much as I'd love it to be true, Colorado is NOT two TDs better than AZ State... LSU can't be 26 points better than Southern Miss if they can't score 26 points!...

Temple at home should be favored over UCF, not the other way around...we also like Western Kentucky over Middle Tennessee, unlike Vegas...Bowling Green is truly awful this year, but the FF tiers still don't think they're thirty points worse than Toledo. (I'm not sure it's right about this one.)... We are taking underdog Nevada over San Jose St, despite the travel... We are huge Boise State fans, but 31 points is too many against Colorado State. They might cover, but I'm not going to bet that way (we see three TDs, not 4 1/2)... UL-Monroe, at home, is NOT a touchdown worse than Texas State... finally, although we are also impressed with Troy this season and hope the best for them, seventeen points is too high a spread against a decent Georgia State team that just wiped out that TxSt team we just discussed last week.

Moving into the FCS, we'll give you OUR point spreads, since Vegas doesn't officially put out lines on FCS games... Cal Poly SLO @ Portland State (-4.5) should be good...Northern Colorado is only a half-point underdog at UC Davis on our board...My own alma mater, Sacramento State, has it tough, playing my ex's school, Montana (-29.5), while our son's current school, Idaho State, is also a heavy underdog @ Northern Arizona (-19)... It'll be interesting to see Liberty at Kennesaw State, a second year program who's only a six point underdog... Huge games in the Colonial, where James Madison is a two point favorite at New Hampshire, and Richmond is a five point fave hosting Villanova... The most interesting game in the uber-powerful Missouri Valley this week is Northern Iowa at one-point favorite Youngstown State... If you watch car wrecks, bottom feeder Austin Peay should be 42 point underdogs at last year's FCS finalist Jacksonville State in the Ohio Valley conference... One of the Pioneer League games of the year is also in Jacksonville (this time the one in Florida, not Alabama), when Dayton travels to play the Dolphins, whom we have as two-point favorites... There are other close games in the PFL this week, especially if you follow the weakest teams in the weakest conference in football: Butler at Davidson (favored by 1 even with the lowest Sagarin rating in football), and Marist at Morehead State (-1.5)...The Southern conference has its two best teams meeting Saturday, when Chattanooga plays at the Citadel (we have this as a dead-heat!)...Two of the best of the Southland conference meet as upstart Central Arkansas goes to McNeese State (-3)...Of interest to me is the game between Nicholls St and Houston Baptist, two teams on their way up from terrible-ness towards respectability. (NSU is farther along the journey - they should've beaten Georgia, for heaven's sake!)

Finally, let's look at the "fringe" FCS conferences - the HBCs first: Southern @ Jackson State is the game of the week in the SWAC, with the Jaguars up by ten on our chart...The most interesting game, the closest game on our MEAC board, is the two lowest teams, where Florida A&M plays at Delaware State (we have the home field advantage as the only difference)... Then, the two "elite school" conferences - the Ivy League and the Patriot League have some interesting games across the league lines, namely Holy Cross @ Harvard (-4) and Yale @ Fordham (-14.5), where the two home teams are the current league favorites for the Ivy and Patriot, respectively. Again, as usual.

Last week, our tiers balanced out to the accuracy where our predictions were back to being BETTER than Vegas finally, at 29-18 (we'd been consistently better last year), so we're pretty confident in most of our FF system's forecasts.

Monday, October 10, 2016

A quick football forecasting report...

For the first time this year, our college football predictions had a better record than the Vegas oddsmakers. Usually we hit that mark a little earlier than the sixth game of the season, but that's the way it bounces sometimes - since we start with pretty close to LAST year's rankings, and college teams CHANGE more from year to year than professionals do, it takes a few weeks for our tiers to adjust to the new reality. (That's why we start with such broad tiers - in fact, we probably didn't start broadly enough this season, and that's why it's taken longer to improve our accuracy.)

So this week, for the FBS games (the only ones Vegas places odds on, we were closer to the real final score on 29 games, whereas the oddsmakers managed to outperform us on only 18. (There were a handful of games where either we had the same line on a game, or we ended up equidistant from the final score - one game we had as a 13 point spread, Vegas had it at 17, and the game ended up 15. Oh well.) So we're tooting our own horn here, and we're ready to start giving you our favorite bets beforehand, probably on Thursdays or so.

By the way, with tonight left to go, we're at 6-6 on the NFL games with the professional gamblers in Vegas. (We have Carolina as a 13 point favorite over Tampa, and the oddsmakers are more willing to take Cam's absence into account with a six-point spread.) We do NOT mess with the raw numbers - if Cam's out, so what? We've learned that we're better off not second-guessing the original FOLLOWING FOOTBALL computer system!

Posted by Act II at 12:29 PM

Sunday, October 2, 2016

If you read our FOLLOWING FOOTBALL blog...

...then you'll want to know that we've moved ALL of our blogging onto our ACT II site. While we'll probably touch on Christian themes about half the time, I spend quite a lot of time and energy tracking both FBS and FCS college football, using an exclusive tiered rating system I've developed over the last few years. It's loosely based on the ELO or chess rating systems, which are "zero-sum" productions where depending on how big an "upset" a result is (or isn't), one team moves up the same amount as the other moves down. (Especially in college, especially early in the season, I'm not wedded to that zero-sum-ness - sometimes teams just need to be adjusted.) To introduce all of you FF-rating "virgins" to the system, here are the current tiers (A being the best, Z the worst) within each conference:

ACC) Clemson (A), Louisville (C), Florida St (D+), UNC (D), Miami (E), VaTech (E-), NCSU and Pitt (F), Duke (H+), GaTech (I+), Syracuse and Virginia (J+), Wake (K-), and BC (L+).

Big Ten) OSU (A+), Michigan (A-), Wisconsin (C-), MSU, Iowa, and Nebraska (F+), NW (G+), Penn St (H+), Minnesota (H), Illinois (I+), Indiana (I), Maryland (J-), Purdue (L), and Rutgers (M+).

Big Twelve) Baylor and OU (C), TCU (C-), OSU (E+), Texas Tech and WVU (F), Texas (F-), KSU (G+), Iowa St (I), and Kansas (N).

Pac 12) UW (C+), Stanford (D), Utah (E), USC (E-), UCLA (F+), WSU (F), Cal and Oregon (F-), Arizona and ASU (G-), Colorado (H), and Oregon St (M+).

SEC) Alabama (A+), Ole Miss (B+), UGA (D+), Arkansas (D), LSU (D-), Tennessee and Texas A&M (E+), Auburn (E), MSU and Florida (E-), So Carolina (J+), Kentucky (J), and Vanderbilt (J-).

Independents) Notre Dame (D+), BYU (F), Army (K), and UMass (M).

AAC) Houston (A), Navy and Memphis (E-), USF (F), Temple (H), Cincy and Tulsa (J+), ECU and UCF (K), UConn (K-), SMU (L-), and Tulane (M).

Conference USA) WKU (F+), LaTech (G), SoMiss (G-), MTSU (H), Marshall (J-), ODU (L+). Rice (N+), FAU, FIU, and UTSA (N), UTEP (O-), North Texas (P+), and Charlotte (R-).

MAC) Toledo and WMU (D-), Akron (I), CMU (I-), Ohio (J+), BGSU (K+), NIU (L), Ball St and EMU (L-), Miami-OH (M), Kent St (N-), and Buffalo (O+).

Mountain West) Boise St and SDSU (F-), Air Force (H), Utah St (H-), Nevada, Wyoming, and UNM (K-), UNLV (L), CSU (M), Hawaii and SJSU (M-), and Fresno St (N-).

Sun Belt) App St (G-), GaSouthern (H+), Troy and Arkansas St (J), SoAlabama (K+), Georgia St (K), ULL (M-), Texas St (N-), ULM (O+), Idaho (O), and NMSU (P).

If we haven't completely lost you yet, here are the twelve FCS conferences, and they use the SAME system, so you can compare teams up and down the leagues...

Big Sky) Eastern Washington (J-), Montana (K+), SoUtah (L), Portland St (L-), NoDakota (M), Cal Poly SLO and NAU (M-), MSU (N+), NoColorado (Q-), WeberSt (Q), UCDavis (S+), Sacramento St and Idaho St (S-).

Big South) Charleston Southern (I-), *Coastal Carolina (J - transitioning to FBS), Liberty (N+), GardnerWebb (Q), Monmouth (Q-), Kennesaw St (R), and Presbyterian (S).

Colonial) JMU (J), Richmond (J-), Villanova (L+), UNH (L-), Towson (M-), Wm&Mary (N), StonyBrk (O+), Maine and Delaware (P), Albany (Q+), Elon (S+), and URI (U).

Missouri Valley) NoDakotaSt (F+), NoIowa (H-), SoDakotaSt (I-), IllinoisSt (J), YoungstownSt (J-), Western Illinois (J-), SoIllinois (M+), IndianaSt and SoDakota (M-), and MissouriSt (Q+).

Northeast) Duquesne (P-), Sacred Heart and St. Francis (Q-), Bryant (R), Wagner (U+), CCSU (U-), and Robert Morris (W-).

Ohio Valley) Jacksonville St (G-), EIU (L), UT Martin (M+), EKU (M), SEMO (N-), Tenn St (P+), Tenn Tech and Murray St (Q), and Austin Peay (V+).

Patriot) Fordham (L), Colgate (M+), Lehigh (M), HC (O+), Bucknell (Q), Georgetown (R), and Lafayette (S-).

Pioneer) San Diego (P), Dayton and Jacksonville (Q-). Marist and Morehead St (U), Drake (U-), Butler (V+), Campbell (V), Stetson (W+), Valparaiso and Davidson (X).

Southern Conf) Chattanooga (I-), Citadel (K), Wofford (M-), Samford (N+), Furman (N-), WCU (P+), Mercer (P-), VMI (R), and ETSU (T+).

Southland) McNeese (J-), SamHouston St and Central Ark (K), Lamar (P), NW St (Q+), SFA (Q), Nicholls St and SE LA(R+), Abilene Christian (S+), Incarnate Word (S), and Houston Baptist (W+).

Finally there are the three FCS conferences who do not participate (by choice) in the national championship tournament: the Ivy League and the two "Historically Black College" conferences...

Ivy League) Dartmouth and Harvard (K-), Penn (M+), Princeton (N), Brown and Cornell (Q), Yale (R+), and Columbia (S-).

MEAC) NC A&T (N), Bethune-Cookman (P-), NC Central and Hampton (R-), SC St (S), Morgan St (U), Norfolk St (V+), Howard (W+), Savannah St (W-), Delaware St (Y), and Fla A&M (Y-).

SWAC) Grambling St (O-), Southern (P), Prairie View (R), Ala A&M (S+), Ala St and Tx Southern (U), Alcorn St (U-), Jackson St (W+), Ark-PB (Y+), MVSU (Y-).

Act II

College Football archive