Preseason Prediction Accuracy (2009-2013)

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

Magazine	Rank	Total Score	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009
Phil Steele	1	669½	119	137	148	125½	140
compughterratings.com	2	675	135	141	146	126	127
GamePlan	3	677	130	147	147	121	132
Lindy's	4	688	132	139	151	115	151
Athlon	5	689	138	134	154	119	144
CPA Rankings	6	695½	129	142	157	130	137½
USA Today	7	712	142½	161½	158	108	142
Football Outsiders	8	723	146	145	141	152½	143½
The Sporting News	9	738	148	141	174	125	150
College Football Poll	10	759	125	168	179	148	139

This page shows the accuracy of preseason magazines' conference predictions for the five-year span 2009-2013 ("the last five 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 "2011-2013 (last three 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.