Preseason Prediction Accuracy (2005-2009)

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

Magazine	Rank	Total Score	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005
Phil Steele	1	709	140	135½	147½	153	133
Athlon	2	712	144	141	135	158	134
CPA Rankings [Web Site]	3	729½	137½	136½	141	170½	144
Southern College Sports [Web Site]	4	748½	148½	150	140	169	141
GamePlan	5	749	132	141	145	174	157
Lindy's	6	756	151	168	137	171	129
The Sporting News	7	742	150	154	140	170	145
Gold Sheet [Web Site]	8	765	160	143	154	179	129

This page shows the accuracy of preseason magazines' conference predictions for the five-year span 2005-2009 ("the last five years" going into the 2010 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 "2007-2009 (last three years)" table, a "2000-2009 (last ten years)" table, and a "1993-2009 (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.