See "notes" following the table for more information on its contents.
| Magazine | Rank | Total Score |
2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
| Phil Steele | 1 | 455.6 | 174 | 160.1 | 121.5 |
| Pick Six Previews | 2 | 464.6 | 169 | 160.1 | 135.5 |
| ESPN | 3 | 478.9 | 188 | 181.9 | 109 |
| Arena Fanatic | 4 | 480.9 | 169.5 | 178.9 | 132.5 |
| DRatings.com | 5 | 488 | 175 | 186 | 127 |
| McIllece Sports | 6 | 488.5 | 183 | 185.5 | 120 |
| CollegeFootballNews.com | 7 | 490 | 176.5 | 183 | 130.5 |
| Athlon | 8 | 490.4 | 180 | 183.4 | 127 |
| Lindy's | 9 | 504.1 | 190 | 187.1 | 127 |
| versus sports simulator (compughterratings.com) | 10 | 507.5 | 176.5 | 191 | 140 |
| CollegeFootballPoll.com | 11 | 524 | 201 | 196 | 127 |
This page shows the accuracy of preseason magazines' conference predictions for the three-year span 2019-2021 ("the last three years" going into the 2022 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 "2017-2021 (last five years)" table and a "2010-2019 (last ten years)" 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: