Preseason Prediction Accuracy (2013-2015)

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

Magazine	Rank	Total Score	2015	2014	2013
Phil Steele	1	384½	131	134½	119
Cap Heresy	2t	398	139	139	120
McIllece Sports	2t	398	130	136	132
Pick Six Previews	4	402	135	137	130
Arena Fanatic	5t	407	127½	145½	134
CPA Rankings	5t	407	135	143	129
GamePlan	7	410	133	147	130
Compu-Picks	8	412	140	144	128
Lindy's	9	418	141	145	132
Gold Sheet	10	421	139	156	126
Athlon	11	422	133	151	138
USA Today	12	425	145½	137	142½
Media Polls	13	427½	145	143	139½
compughterratings.com	14	441	157	149	135
The Sporting News	15	452	153	151	148
Football Outsiders	16	460	148	166	146
College Football Poll	16	461½	161½	175	125

This page shows the accuracy of preseason magazines' conference predictions for the three-year span 2013-2015 ("the last three years" going into the 2016 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 "2011-2015 (last five years)" table, a "2006-2015 (last ten years)" table, and a "1993-2015 (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.