WhatIfSports college football Week 1 power rankings: reigning champs are No. 1

By foxsports
Published

WhatIfSports.com utilizes its college football simulation engine to present a comprehensive and unbiased ranking of all 128 FBS teams. We simulate thousands of games and use those winning percentages to evaluate every team. All 128 teams are ranked below with their average points for and against from the simulated games. Simulations are based on updated rosters and depth charts.

College Football Week 1 Power Rankings 
  Team Win Pct PS/G PA/G
1. Alabama Crimson Tide 73.9 29.6 21.4
2. Oklahoma Sooners 72.2 31.4 23.7
3. Michigan Wolverines 71.9 30.9 23.5
4. Clemson Tigers 70.1 31.5 24.7
5. Tennessee Volunteers 68.5 30.0 23.9
6. Ohio State Buckeyes 68.2 29.8 23.6
7. LSU Tigers 67.9 30.7 24.7
8. Stanford Cardinal 67.7 31.6 25.4
9. Florida State Seminoles 67.1 31.0 25.0
10. Georgia Bulldogs 67.0 29.7 23.7
11. Houston Cougars 66.0 30.5 25.1
12. Washington Huskies 65.7 30.5 25.2
13. Ole Miss Rebels 65.6 30.9 25.2
14. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 65.3 31.4 25.9
15. Michigan State Spartans 64.7 29.2 24.1
16. Iowa Hawkeyes 64.5 28.4 23.5
17. TCU Horned Frogs 64.1 30.2 25.3
18. UCLA Bruins 63.3 30.5 25.5
19. Baylor Bears 63.1 30.9 26.4
20. Oklahoma State Cowboys 62.9 31.0 26.5
  Team Win Pct PS/G PA/G
21. USC Trojans 62.6 31.5 26.9
22. Arkansas Razorbacks 62.0 29.5 25.4
23. Oregon Ducks 62.0 32.0 27.8
24. Louisville Cardinals 61.5 28.6 24.9
25. North Carolina Tar Heels 61.5 31.1 26.8
26. Auburn Tigers 60.8 29.1 25.5
27. Texas A&M Aggies 60.2 29.5 25.9
28. Wisconsin Badgers 60.2 27.2 23.6
29. Florida Gators 60.0 27.2 23.7
30. Washington State Cougars 59.5 32.8 29.4
31. San Diego State Aztecs 58.9 29.3 26.3
32. Boise State Broncos 58.9 30.4 27.4
33. West Virginia Mountaineers 58.8 28.1 25.2
34. Nebraska Cornhuskers 58.6 29.8 27.0
35. Miami (FL) Hurricanes 58.4 29.3 26.6
36. Penn State Nittany Lions 58.4 28.9 26.2
37. BYU Cougars 58.3 28.7 25.9
38. Virginia Tech Hokies 58.3 27.8 24.9
39. Utah Utes 58.2 27.3 24.5
40. Mississippi State Bulldogs 57.9 29.8 26.8
  Team Win Pct PS/G PA/G
41. Texas Tech Red Raiders 57.9 32.2 29.7
42. South Florida Bulls 57.3 29.1 26.8
43. Pittsburgh Panthers 57.0 27.9 25.3
44. Navy Midshipmen 56.2 29.4 27.4
45. California Golden Bears 56.2 30.6 28.7
46. Toledo Rockets 56.0 29.9 28.4
47. Arizona State Sun Devils 54.9 28.7 27.0
48. Appalachian State Mountaineers 54.7 29.7 28.1
49. Arizona Wildcats 54.7 30.0 28.5
50. Temple Owls 54.6 27.5 26.2
51. Northwestern Wildcats 54.5 25.7 24.0
52. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 54.1 32.2 30.8
53. Texas Longhorns 53.6 27.4 26.1
54. Air Force Falcons 53.6 29.2 28.0
55. North Carolina State Wolfpack 53.5 27.2 25.7
56. Duke Blue Devils 53.2 27.4 26.5
57. Cincinnati Bearcats 53.2 29.3 28.6
58. South Carolina Gamecocks 53.0 28.0 27.4
59. Kansas State Wildcats 53.0 26.9 25.9
60. Kentucky Wildcats 52.4 28.5 27.7
  Team Win Pct PS/G PA/G
61. Missouri Tigers 52.1 24.9 24.3
62. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 51.7 27.2 26.1
63. Virginia Cavaliers 50.9 27.4 27.1
64. Indiana Hoosiers 50.9 29.0 28.9
65. Memphis Tigers 50.8 28.1 27.5
66. Western Michigan Broncos 50.6 30.6 30.6
67. Northern Illinois Huskies 50.3 27.4 27.5
68. Southern Miss Golden Eagles 50.0 29.5 29.9
69. Maryland Terrapins 49.9 27.3 27.1
70. Minnesota Golden Gophers 48.8 27.4 27.6
71. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 48.2 29.3 29.9
72. Marshall Thundering Herd 48.0 27.5 28.1
73. Illinois Fighting Illini 47.4 27.1 27.9
74. Vanderbilt Commodores 47.4 25.3 25.5
75. Arkansas State Red Wolves 47.3 27.2 28.3
76. Colorado Buffaloes 47.3 27.2 28.0
77. Bowling Green Falcons 46.7 29.0 29.9
78. Iowa State Cyclones 46.7 27.0 28.1
79. Georgia Southern Eagles 46.6 28.1 29.0
80. Ohio Bobcats 45.8 27.7 29.4
  Team Win Pct PS/G PA/G
81. Connecticut Huskies 45.8 25.5 27.0
82. Wake Forest Demon Deacons 45.6 25.6 26.6
83. Utah State Aggies 45.3 28.2 30.0
84. Tulsa Golden Hurricane 44.8 28.0 29.9
85. Boston College Eagles 44.8 22.6 24.2
86. East Carolina Pirates 44.3 27.1 28.8
87. Syracuse Orange 43.9 25.5 27.5
88. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 43.8 27.8 30.0
89. San Jose State Spartans 42.2 27.5 30.0
90. Oregon State Beavers 41.9 25.9 28.7
91. Rutgers Scarlet Knights 41.8 27.2 30.0
92. Colorado State Rams 41.6 27.3 30.2
93. Nevada Wolf Pack 41.2 27.7 30.3
94. Central Michigan Chippewas 41.2 26.5 28.9
95. FIU Golden Panthers 40.9 27.0 30.6
96. Troy Trojans 40.2 26.0 29.4
97. Georgia State Panthers 40.1 27.1 30.6
98. New Mexico Lobos 39.9 26.2 29.6
99. Akron Zips 38.9 25.0 28.4
100. Purdue Boilermakers 38.9 26.4 30.1
  Team Win Pct PS/G PA/G
101. Old Dominion Monarchs 37.7 27.4 31.4
102. Florida Atlantic Owls 37.7 23.8 27.8
103. Ball State Cardinals 37.5 27.8 32.4
104. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns 37.4 27.0 31.2
105. Buffalo Bulls 37.2 26.0 30.6
106. Fresno State Bulldogs 36.6 26.1 30.6
107. UCF Knights 36.2 25.5 30.2
108. Kansas Jayhawks 36.1 24.1 28.7
109. Rice Owls 35.9 26.3 31.4
110. Kent State Golden Flashes 35.7 23.5 28.3
111. SMU Mustangs 35.7 25.4 30.4
112. Wyoming Cowboys 35.4 26.4 31.4
113. Miami (OH) RedHawks 35.1 25.2 30.6
114. UNLV Rebels 35.0 26.5 31.2
115. South Alabama Jaguars 34.3 25.3 30.4
116. UTEP Miners 33.9 25.8 31.1
117. Eastern Michigan Eagles 33.8 27.3 33.2
118. Army West Point Black Knights 33.8 25.8 31.4
119. UTSA Roadrunners 33.0 23.9 29.5
120. Tulane Green Wave 33.0 23.8 29.7
  Team Win Pct PS/G PA/G
121. Idaho Vandals 32.9 25.9 32.0
122. New Mexico State Aggies 32.1 26.1 32.2
123. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 32.0 24.2 30.7
124. Texas State Bobcats 31.4 25.8 32.3
125. Massachusetts Minutemen 30.0 25.3 32.6
126. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks 29.9 25.0 31.9
127. North Texas Mean Green 24.9 23.7 33.1
128. Charlotte 49ers 23.1 20.6 30.4

In addition, view our Week 1 predictions or visit our college football archive for power rankings from past weeks.