Preseason Prediction Accuracy (2009-2011)

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

Magazine	Rank	Total Score	2011	2010	2009
Compughter Ratings [Web Site]	1	399	146	126	127
Game Plan	2	400	147	121	132
USA Today	3	408	158	108	142
Phil Steele's	4	413½	148	125½	140
Athlon	5t	417	154	119	144
Lindy's	5t	417	151	115	151
CPA Rankings [Web Site]	7	424½	157	130	137½
Football Outsiders	8	437	141	152½	143½
The Sporting News	9	449	174	125	150
College Football Poll [Web Site]	10	466	179	148	139

This page shows the accuracy of preseason magazines' conference predictions for the three-year span 2009-2011 ("the last three years" going into the 2012 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 "2007-2011 (last five years)" table, a "2002-2011 (last ten years)" table, and a "1993-2011 (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.