SJS College Football Extravaganza
SJS 114     published July 16, 1999

return to 1999 Forecast page

SJS 114 Preseason Rankings

With the season only a month and a half away, I have produced, for the second straight year, preseason rankings of all 114 teams. Conference previews will appear soon, and on those pages I will detail more the rationale behind the rankings.

There are several ways one might go about ranking the teams. One, trying to forecast the final postseason rankings of the BCS; two, putting teams in order of their relative strength; or three, going to the ridiculous trouble of picking every single game of every single team and then ranking them based on their predicted records. I have, of course, done the latter. The rankings can be viewed as my predicted rankings prior to championship games and bowls.

1 Arizona Wildcats 2 Florida State Seminoles 3 Nebraska Cornhuskers 4 Wisconsin Badgers 5 Florida Gators 6 Tennessee Volunteers 7 Texas A&M Aggies 8 Georgia Bulldogs 9 Penn State Nittany Lions 10 Miami Hurricanes 11 Texas Longhorns 12 Ohio State Buckeyes 13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 14 Mississippi Rebels 15 Michigan Wolverines 16 Virginia Tech Hokies 17 Georgia Tech Yellowjackets 18 Kansas State Wildcats 19 Miami Red Hawks 20 Louisiana State Tigers 21 Colorado Buffaloes 22 North Carolina Tar Heels 23 UCLA Bruins 24 Louisville Cardinals 25 Brigham Young Cougars 26 Virginia Cavaliers 27 Arkansas Razorbacks 28 North Carolina State Wolfpack 29 Michigan State Spartans 30 Texas Tech Red Raiders 31 Purdue Boilermakers 32 Southern Cal Trojans 33 Arizona State Sun Devils 34 Mississippi State Bulldogs 35 Oklahoma State Cowboys 36 Wyoming Cowboys 37 Idaho Vandals 38 Syracuse Orangemen 39 Alabama Crimson Tide 40 Washington Huskies 41 Boston College Eagles 42 California Golden Bears 43 Marshall Thundering Herd 44 Utah Utes 45 West Virginia Mountaineers 46 Air Force Falcons 47 Western Michigan Broncos 48 Southern Miss Golden Eagles 49 Rice Owls 50 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 51 Southern Methodist Mustangs 52 Oregon Ducks 53 Clemson Tigers 54 Indiana Hoosiers 55 Colorado State Rams 56 Oklahoma Sooners 57 Minnesota Gophers 58 Tulsa Golden Hurricane 59 Kansas Jayhawks 60 Fresno State Bulldogs 61 Houston Cougars 62 Nevada Wolfpack 63 Texas Christian Horned Frogs 64 New Mexico Lobos 65 Akron Zips 66 Wake Forest Demon Deacons 67 Missouri Tigers 68 Central Michigan Chippewas 69 Toledo Rockets 70 Army Cadets 71 Kentucky Wildcats 72 Bowling Green Falcons 73 Tulane Green Wave 74 South Carolina Gamecocks 75 Duke Blue Devils 76 Baylor Bears 77 Boise State Broncos 78 Illinois Illini 79 Central Florida Golden Knights 80 Ohio Bobcats 81 Utah State Aggies 82 Stanford Cardinal 83 Northeast Louisiana Indians 84 Navy Midshipmen 85 East Carolina Pirates 86 San Diego State Aztecs 87 Washington State Cougars 88 San Jose State Spartans 89 Northwestern Wildcats 90 Auburn Tigers 91 Rutgers Scarlet Knights 92 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 93 Iowa Hawkeyes 94 Iowa State Cyclones 95 Vanderbilt Commodores 96 Cincinatti Bearcats 97 Pittsburgh Panthers 98 UNLV Running Rebels 99 Oregon State Beavers 100 Temple Owls 101 Northern Illinois Huskies 102 Memphis Tigers 103 Arkansas State Indians 104 Maryland Terrapins 105 Ball State Cardinals 106 Kent Golden Flashes 107 Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders 108 UAB Blazers 109 Buffalo Bulls 110 Texas El Paso Miners 111 New Mexico State Aggies 112 Southwestern Louisiana Raging Cajuns 113 Eastern Michigan Eagles 114 North Texas Eagles

BOWL PREDICTIONS Sugar Bowl Arizona over Florida State Rose Bowl Wisconsin over Florida Orange Bowl Nebraska over Miami, FL Fiesta Bowl Tennessee over Texas A&M NEW WHIPPING BOYS This season, two new teams join Division 1A: the Buffalo Bulls of the MAC, and independent Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders. Both are predicted to have a tough road ahead. Unlike Marshall, which joined Division IA after winning some Division IAA national championships, these two are by no means IAA powers. Placed 113 and 114 by most preseason pubs, we here at the SJS home page realize the lower echelons of 1A contain plenty of deadwood; the Bulls and Blue Raiders won't necessarily be the most hideous. OUT OF STEP? A survey of some of the so-called professional sports publications suggests that tabbing Arizona as my #1 is a fairly original choice, though many magazines have the 'Cats in the top 5. I may be more out on a limb with Wisconsin at #4; most pubs like Penn State to win the Big Ten and perhaps even finish first overall. I consider my out on a limb picks to be Mississippi at #14, Miami, OH at #19, Louisville at #24, and Idaho at #37. By out on a limb, I mean that if they do well I shall beat my own drum until next preseason, and if they don't, then we shall never speak of them again. CHAMPIONS SEC Florida over Mississippi Big Twelve Nebraska over Texas A&M MAC Miami, OH over Western Michigan BEST CONFERENCES The Division IA landscape changes a little this year with the addition of the Mountain West conference, made up of the best teams from last year's 16-team WAC. Fans lose two ways: it gives us a new conference to ignore (the WAC), and it robs us of a championship game come December. Here's how the conferences rank in terms of strength: SEC Big Ten Big Twelve Pac Ten ACC Mountain West Big East Conference USA WAC MAC Independents Big West WOO-HOO and BOO-HOO Like last year, I'm predicting that three schools will survive the season without a loss: Arizona, Florida State, and Miami, OH. Arizona's toughest test comes the first week of the season, at Penn State, a team picked by many to finish first in the tough Big Ten. Florida State's toughest test is the last week of the season, at Florida. As for Miami, they get Marshall at home this year, and that was their only defeat last season. They must also beat two weak major conference foes: Northwestern and West Virginia. On the other end of the spectrum, I don't see North Texas or Eastern Michigan winning a game. Both teams play in wimpy conferences, however, so a win is not out of the question. I also have Southwestern Louisiana going 0 for Division IA, saved from the doughnut season by the season finale against Wofford.