Here's the CFN belief when it comes to
ranking teams: From the preseason until the end of the bowls, you must
rank teams based on how good you believe they are at that time. However,
once the year is complete, it's only fair to take the subjectivity out
of it and go by what actually happened on the field. To do that, we've
created the CFN Formula used to rank every team in every year in order to properly
compare and contrast seasons from different eras.
Two things to keep in mind. 1) This takes into account the entire
season punishing ugly losses and pumping up good wins. A win at the
beginning of the year counts the same as a win at the end, so there
might be some head-to-head discrepancies; they're unavoidable in any
ranking system. Remember, the formula looks at year from start to finish and not
just which team beat another.
- CFN Final 2007 Rankings -
The Top Ten
- CFN Final 2007 Rankings -
No. 26 to 119 & Opinion Rankings
- CFN Final 2006 Rankings
11. Oregon (9-4) CFN Score:
18.58
2006 Score: 11.17 2006 Ranking: 43
Oh what might have been. Would the Ducks have been playing for the
national title if Dennis Dixon didn't tear up his knee? An ugly
three-game slide closed out the regular season to ruin an almost certain
run to a BCS game of some sort, and then they pulled off one of the
stunners of the bowl season with a 56-21 blasting of South Florida in
the Sun Bowl. It's easy to forget about the wins over Michigan and USC
with the way the season closed out.
12. Tennessee (10-4) CFN Score: 18.44
2006 Score: 15.02 2006 Ranking: 27
Everyone was waiting for the Vols to collapse, and it never happened.
After getting blasted 41-17 by Alabama, they appeared ready to step
aside for Georgia or Florida to take over in the East, and then they won
five in a row before losing to LSU in the SEC Championship. Beating
Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl is better than it seems.
13. Cincinnati (10-3) CFN Score: 17.55
2006 Score: 13.06 2006 Ranking: 36
One of best under-the-radar teams of 2007, Cincinnati was terrific in
Brian Kelly's first season with wins over Oregon State, Rutgers and
South Florida. The three losses to Louisville, Pitt and West Virginia
were by four, seven and five, respectively. Beating Southern Miss in
PapaJohns.com Bowl set the tone for next year when the expectations will
be to compete for the Big East title.
14. Florida (9-4) CFN Score: 16.90
2006 Score: 27.20 2006 Ranking: 1
Yeah, this seems sort of high for a team with four losses, but wins over
teams like Troy and Florida Atlantic, who finished with winning records,
boosted the overall score. However, after a 59-20 win over Tennessee,
the second best win came over Florida State. Losing to Michigan in the
Capital One puts the pressure on for 2008.
15. Illinois (9-4) CFN Score: 16.73
2006 Score: 1.56 2006 Ranking: 103
The season might have ended with a crashing thud in a 49-17 Rose Bowl
loss to USC, but that doesn't diminish what Ron Zook was able to
accomplish with a nine-win season beating Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio
State along the way. The running offense led the Big Ten and was fifth
in the nation averaging 257 yards per game.
16. Texas (10-3) CFN Score: 16.63
2006 Score: 16.81 2006 Ranking: 20
Texas sort of plodded along with back-to-back losses to Kansas State and
Oklahoma basically ending Big 12 title dreams, and then things got
really, really interesting starting with a Jamaal Charles track meet in
the fourth quarter against Nebraska followed up by a similar performance
the week after against Oklahoma State as part of a five-game winning
streak. Just when everything was rolling along, then came a loss to
Texas A&M to ruin everything and get the fan base grumbling about Mack
Brown. A blowout Holiday Bowl win over Arizona State ended all that.
17. BYU (11-2) CFN Score: 16.60
2006 Score: 19.47 2006 Ranking: 9
Is it time to put BYU back into the elite category again after
back-to-back Mountain West championships and 22 wins in two years under
Bronco Mendenhall? It's not exactly USC Provo, but it closed out the
year with ten straight wins thanks to a stout defense and balanced
offense. Wins over Arizona and UCLA never look bad for a non-BCS school.
18. Hawaii (12-1) CFN Score: 16.50
2006 Score: 18.23 2006 Ranking: 15
You'd think a 12-0 regular season would mean a bigger, better final
score, but Hawaii didn't beat anyone of note. Wins over Fresno State and
Boise State were nice, but both came at home and there was nothing,
nothing from the non-conference schedule. Washington? It's too
simplistic to say Georgia exposed the Warriors, but it did put a damper
on a great year that only got worse with June Jones leaving for SMU.
19. South Florida (9-4) CFN Score: 15.66
2006 Score: 13.73 2006 Ranking: 33
If 9-4 for South Florida can feel empty, it happened this season after
rising to No. 2 in the rankings based on wins over Auburn and West
Virginia before crashing against Rutgers, Connecticut and Cincinnati for
a three-game stretch. Just when it looked like the Bulls were going to
end the year as one of the nation's most impressive teams, averaging 48
points per game over the last three, they went out and got their doors
blown off by Oregon in the Sun Bowl.
20. Auburn (9-4) CFN Score: 15.64
2006 Score: 18.76 2006 Ranking: 11
Nine wins is relatively impressive considering the offense struggled to
average 335 yards per game. The defense was among the best in the
country and was first in the SEC in scoring D including a mid-season
stretch allowing seven points or fewer in four of five games. There was
a loss to Mississippi State and a stunner, at the time, against South
Florida, but there were also wins against Florida, Alabama, and in the
Chick-fil-A Bowl against Clemson.
21. Penn State (9-4) CFN Score: 15.10
2006 Score: 12.72 2006 Ranking: 37
Outside of a late collapse in the regular season ending loss to Michigan
State, it was a straight chalk year with the Nittany Lions beating all
the average teams it was supposed to (at least in hindsight) while
losing to Michigan, Illinois and Ohio State. The defense was great against
the mediocre, and struggled against the good teams while the offense
wasn't nearly as explosive as it should've been.
22. UCF (10-4) CFN Score: 15.01
2005 Score: 17.23 2005 Ranking: 9
It took all season before the world finally woke up and noticed Kevin
Smith and his dash to 2,000 yards. More importantly, the Knights won the
Conference USA title and ten wins before losing to Mississippi State in
the Liberty Bowl. Beating Tulsa twice was nice, but losing to Texas and
South Florida kept UCF from getting much in the way of national respect.
23. Boise State (10-3) CFN Score: 14.97
2006 Score: 23.12 2006 Ranking: 3
This might not have been the Boise State season everyone has gotten used
to with losses to Hawaii and East Carolina to close things out, but it
was yet another double-digit win campaign helped by a nine-win stretch
before the loss to the Warriors. The offense put up plenty of yards and
points, but there wasn't a signature win (not counting the four-overtime
shootout with Nevada).
24. Michigan (9-4) CFN Score: 14.70
2006 Score: 20.08 2006 Ranking: 6
Lose at home to Appalachian State, get a lousy overall score. Even with
injuries to Mike Hart and Chad Henne, the team had a nice stretch of
eight straight wins book-ended around a pair of losses at the beginning
and the end of the regular season. The win over Florida in the Capital
One Bowl legitimized the season, and now the bar has been set even
higher for Rich Rodriguez.
25. Tulsa (10-4) CFN Score: 14.55
2005 Score: 17.42 2005 Ranking: 7
Todd Graham came over from Rice and made a good offense jaw-dropping
finishing first in the nation in yards and sixth in scoring. The attack
scored more than 20 points in every game. Over the last six games it
scored 49, 56, 49, 48, 25, and then it set a record for the biggest
blowout in a bowl game beating Bowling Green 63-7 in the GMAC.
-
CFN Final 2007 Rankings -
The Top Ten
- CFN Final 2007 Rankings -
No. 26 to 119 & Opinion Rankings
- CFN Final 2006 Rankings
