Week 1, 2012

Week 1 is in the books, and my first rankings are out! The Big 12 went undefeated this weekend, so their rankings are all very high due to the inflated strength of schedule that comes with that (for more explanation on this, check out #4 here. In fact, if you haven't read that introduction yet, please go read it now). Always remember, these are just for fun and will end up looking much less crazy as the season progresses.

 

1	Oklahoma State
2	Texas Tech
3	Texas
4	Kansas State
5	Oklahoma
6	West Virginia
7	Baylor
8	Iowa State
9	Arizona State
10	USC
11	Kansas
12	Missouri
13	Alabama
14	Arizona
15	North Carolina
16	Utah
17	South Florida
18	UCLA
19	Miami (FL)
20	Notre Dame
21	Ohio State
22	Florida State
23	Maryland
24	Michigan State
25	Florida
26	Duke
27	Wisconsin
28	Mississippi State
29	New Mexico
30	Utah State
31	Stanford
32	Wake Forest
33	LSU
34	Arkansas
35	South Carolina
36	Illinois
37	Purdue
38	Ole Miss
39	New Mexico State
40	Virginia
41	Rutgers
42	Temple
43	Nebraska
44	Tennessee
45	LA-Lafayette
46	Virginia Tech
47	Connecticut
48	Iowa
49	Texas State
50	Indiana
51	Washington
52	Oregon
53	Clemson
54	Georgia
55	Ball State
56	Louisville
57	Minnesota
58	Troy
59	BYU
60	Western Kentucky
61	FAU
62	UCF
63	Northwestern
64	Nevada
65	Air Force
66	Colorado State
67	East Carolina
68	Kent State
69	Ohio
70	Central Michigan
71	UTSA
72	TCU
73	Texas A&M
74	Oregon State
75	Louisiana Tech
76	ULM
77	Army
78	Cincinnati
79	Fresno State
80	Northern Illinois
81	Syracuse
82	South Alabama
83	Georgia Tech
84	Memphis
85	San Jose State
86	UNLV
87	Vanderbilt
88	Boise State
89	Colorado
90	Middle Tennessee
91	Toledo
92	California
93	Auburn
94	Boston College
95	San Diego State
96	Penn State
97	UAB
98	Eastern Michigan
99	Tulane
100	Bowling Green
101	NC State
102	Pittsburgh
103	Tulsa
104	UTEP
105	Idaho
106	Western Michigan
107	Houston
108	Kentucky
109	Wyoming
110	FIU
111	Buffalo
112	Arkansas State
113	Washington State
114	Rice
115	Michigan
116	North Texas
117	Southern Miss
118	SMU
119	Marshall
120	UMass
121	Hawai'i
122	Navy
123	Akron
124	Miami (OH)

 As always, I also rank the conferences, including the four independent schools, using the same formula as the individual teams. The Big 12 benefits from being undefeated after one week of play, while the MAC begins the season with some struggles. The B1G, despite its second-best winning percentage and high strength of schedule, suffers from its many close games this weekend, which decreased its overall margin of victory. Every BCS automatic qualifying conference is ranked higher than the non-AQs. Last year, no AQ conference was ever ranked lower than the non-AQs, although the Independents were for the first few weeks.

 

1	Big 12
2	Pac-12
3	SEC
4	Independents
5	ACC
6	Big Ten
7	Big East
8	WAC
9	Sun Belt
10	Mountain West
11	Conference USA
12	Mid-American