Preseason Prediction Accuracy (2011-2013)

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

Magazine	Rank	Total Score	2013	2012	2011
Phil Steele	1	404	119	137	148
Cap Heresy	2	417½	120	147	150½
Compughter Ratings	3t	422	135	141	146
Lindy's	3t	422	132	139	151
GamePlan	5	424	130	147	147
Athlon	6	426	138	134	154
CPA Rankings	7	428	129	142	157
Football Outsiders	8	432	146	145	141
USA Today	9	462	142½	161½	158
College Football Matrix	10t	463	155	146	162
The Sporting News	10t	463	148	141	174
College Football Poll	12	472	125	168	179

This page shows the accuracy of preseason magazines' conference predictions for the three-year span 2011-2013 ("the last three years" going into the 2014 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 "2009-2013 (last five years)" table, a "2004-2013 (last ten years)" table, and a "1993-2013 (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.