Preseason Prediction Accuracy (2009-2018)

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

Magazine	Rank	Total Score	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009
Athlon	1	1,365	109	146	137	133	151	138	134	154	119	144
Phil Steele	2	1,368	126½	158½	148	131	134½	119	137	148	125½	140
GamePlan	3	1,385	122	157	149	133	147	130	147	147	121	132
Lindy's	4	1,399	120	157	148	141	145	132	139	151	115	151
compughterratings.com	5	1,424½	129½	159½	154½	157	149	135	141	146	126	127
Street & Smith / The Sporting News	6	1,486	119	178	147	153	151	148	141	174	125	150
CollegeFootballPoll.com	7	1,539	131	162½	150	161½	175	125	168	179	148	139

This page shows the accuracy of preseason magazines' conference predictions for the ten-year span 2009-2018 ("the last ten years" going into the 2019 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 "2016-2018 (last three years)" table, a "2014-2018 (last five years)" table, and a "1993-2018 (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.