Preseason Prediction Accuracy (2015-2019)

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

Magazine	Rank	Total Score	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
ESPN	1	649	109	126	133	146	135
Athlon	2	652	127	109	146	137	133
Arena Fanatic	3	671½	132½	132	134	145½	127½
Pick Six Previews	4	681½	135½	119	150½	141½	135
Gold Sheet	5	682	130	107	158	148	139
Phil Steele	6t	685½	121½	126½	158½	148	131
McIllece Sports	6t	685½	120	132½	156	147	130
Lindy's	8t	693	127	120	157	148	141
Media polls	8t	693	131	123	145	149	145
DRatings.com	10	727½	127	129½	159½	154½	157
Street & Smith / The Sporting News	11	731	134	119	178	147	153
CollegeFootballPoll.com	12	732	127	131	162½	150	161½
compughterratings.com	13	740½	140	129½	159½	154½	157

This page shows the accuracy of preseason magazines' conference predictions for the five-year span 2015-2019 ("the last five years" going into the 2020 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 "2017-2019 (last three years)" table, a "2010-2019 (last ten years)" table, and a "1993-2019 (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.
Click here to visit the reviews index.
See the notes file for further information on the scoring process.