Preseason Prediction Accuracy (2004-2008)

See "notes" following the table for more information on its contents.

Magazine	Rank	Total Score	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Phil Steele's	1	694	135½	147½	153	132	125
Athlon	2	715	141	135	158	134	147
Gold Sheet [Web Site]	3	735	143	154	179	129	130
The Sporting News	4	742	154	140	170	145	133
CPA Rankings [Web Site]	5	747	136½	141	170½	144	155
Lindy's	6	753	168	137	171	129	148
GamePlan	7	762	141	145	174	157	145
Blue Ribbon / ESPN [Web Site]	8	774½	159	145	172	147½	151

This page shows the accuracy of preseason magazines' conference predictions for the five-year span 2004-2008 ("the last five years" going into the 2009 season). In order to qualify for either table, a magazine must have been published for every year used in that table.

There is also a "2006-2008 (last three years)" table, a "1999-2008 (last ten years)" table, and a "1993-2008 (all-time)" table.

Tables with more years have the advantage of having a larger sample of data: a single unusually lucky or unlucky year has less impact on the standings. However, tables with fewer years have the advantage of including more magazines: several of the magazines available today were not published if one goes back far enough.

Notes:

Lower scores are "better." The lower the score, the closer the magazine's predictions were to the actual results.
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See the notes file for further information on the scoring process.