SoS

Best average FBS opponent

I have modified this listing from the procedure I followed previously. I now average the final opponents ratings of all FBS opponents. This is not the same as the final ratings that appear on the side bar, but this is a later step in the process than the ratings I used previously. These WILL correlate better to an understanding of why one team might be ahead of another. If two teams have an identical record the team with the higher rating below can be lower, however, because I consider it worse to lose to one of the worst opponents a team plays than it is to lose to one of the better opponents even if all the other games are wins. For instance, Oklahoma St. is behind Baylor in the overall ratings on Dec. 1, 2013, despite a better schedule with the same record because Oklahoma St. lost to a much worse team (#100 West Virginia rather than #12 Oklahoma St.). Also, as I've tried to make clear, the list below does not factor in FCS opponents. Since most FCS teams are inferior to FBS teams, those teams listed below who haven't had any FCS opponents have probably played slightly tougher schedules than at least some teams listed above them.

It's hard to give a correlation between opponents' rating and overall rating. The range is 0 to around 6 for opponents (cannot be lower than 0, but can be higher than 6), and the range for overall ratings is about -3.5 to 1.5 by the end of the year. During the first ratings, the overall range is about -2 to 0.6. The worst teams will continue to get worse and the best teams will continue to get better, but usually the teams make more of a bell curve as the season goes on.

**Old Dominion is not included among the rankings because a majority of its games have been against I-AA/FCS opponents, but their average is included at the bottom.