2009 NCAA FOOTBALL S&P RATINGS

through games of 1/7/10

The S&P+ Ratings are a college football ratings system derived from the play-by-play data of all 800+ of a season's FBS college football games (and 140,000+ plays). There are three key components to the S&P+:

Success Rate: A common Football Outsiders tool used to measure efficiency by determining whether every play of a given game was successful or not. The terms of success in college football: 50 percent of necessary yardage on first down, 70 percent on second down, and 100 percent on third and fourth down.
EqPts Per Play (PPP): An explosiveness measure derived from determining the point value of every yard line (based on the expected number of points an offense could expect to score from that yard line) and, therefore, every play of a given game.
Opponent adjustments: Success Rate and PPP combine to form S&P, an OPS-like measure for football. Then each team's S&P output for a given category (Rushing/Passing on either Standard Downs or Passing Downs) is compared to the expected output based upon their opponents and their opponents' opponents. This is a schedule-based adjustment designed to reward tougher schedules and punish weaker ones.

The S&P+ figures used in the tables below only look at the plays that took place while a game was deemed "close," or competitive. The criteria for being "close" are as follows: a game within 24 points in the first quarter, with 21 points in the second quarter, and within 16 points in the second half.

Use the menu above for pages that give more details on offensive and defensive S&P+, or our other college football ratings, the drive-based FEI.

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	S&P+	LAST WK	CHANGE	OFF S&P+	RANK	DEF S&P+	RANK
1	Alabama	14-0	279.0	1	0	129.6	5	149.4	1
2	Florida	13-1	277.3	2	0	129.0	6	148.3	2
3	TCU	12-1	274.9	3	0	129.9	4	145.0	4
4	Virginia Tech	10-3	256.0	7	3	134.0	2	122.0	16
5	Texas	13-1	255.3	4	-1	124.1	13	131.2	9
6	Penn State	11-2	249.7	5	-1	121.8	17	127.9	10
7	Oklahoma	8-5	249.5	6	-1	101.9	56	147.6	3
8	Boise State	14-0	247.6	11	3	114.0	24	133.6	8
9	Ohio State	11-2	246.5	9	0	112.5	26	134.0	7
10	Oregon	10-3	243.6	8	-2	124.4	11	119.2	18
11	BYU	11-2	238.8	13	2	126.2	8	112.6	26
12	Miami-FL	9-4	237.4	14	2	124.3	12	113.1	24
13	LSU	9-4	237.0	17	4	110.1	30	126.8	12
14	Tennessee	7-6	235.6	12	-2	123.9	14	111.7	27
15	Wisconsin	10-3	234.3	18	3	119.9	18	114.4	23
16	Arkansas	8-5	233.5	10	-6	130.1	3	103.4	43
17	Cincinnati	12-1	233.5	16	-1	134.5	1	99.0	51
18	Nebraska	10-4	232.5	21	3	89.4	87	143.2	5
19	Iowa	11-2	232.5	15	-4	93.8	77	138.7	6
20	Clemson	9-5	228.6	20	0	103.4	48	125.2	14
RANK	TEAM	RECORD	S&P+	LAST WK	CHANGE	OFF S&P+	RANK	DEF S&P+	RANK
21	South Carolina	7-6	226.2	19	-2	103.4	49	122.8	15
22	Utah	10-3	225.9	23	1	104.7	42	121.2	17
23	Texas Tech	9-4	222.5	24	1	114.8	22	107.7	32
24	Pittsburgh	10-3	222.1	25	1	115.8	20	106.3	35
25	Auburn	8-5	221.7	22	-3	117.7	19	104.0	41
26	Air Force	8-5	219.6	38	12	93.9	76	125.7	13
27	Ole Miss	9-4	219.4	31	4	102.9	52	116.5	19
28	West Virginia	9-4	219.0	26	-2	104.3	45	114.7	22
29	Georgia Tech	11-3	218.9	29	0	128.2	7	90.7	77
30	Texas A&M	6-7	216.9	28	-2	123.2	15	93.8	65
31	Oklahoma State	9-4	216.7	27	-4	100.4	59	116.4	20
32	Florida State	7-6	216.5	40	8	126.2	9	90.3	80
33	Mississippi State	5-7	215.3	33	0	107.7	37	107.6	33
34	Michigan State	6-7	214.7	32	-2	114.6	23	100.1	49
35	USC	9-4	214.5	34	-1	110.7	28	103.8	42
36	Troy	9-4	214.5	39	3	108.3	36	106.1	37
37	North Carolina	8-5	213.8	43	6	86.3	97	127.6	11
38	Purdue	5-7	213.4	35	-3	102.2	53	111.2	28
39	Notre Dame	6-6	211.4	37	-2	112.7	25	98.7	52
40	Stanford	8-5	211.2	44	4	125.9	10	85.3	104
RANK	TEAM	RECORD	S&P+	LAST WK	CHANGE	OFF S&P+	RANK	DEF S&P+	RANK
41	Georgia	8-5	210.7	36	-5	110.7	29	100.1	50
42	Nevada	8-5	210.6	30	-12	115.0	21	95.6	60
43	Connecticut	8-5	209.7	45	2	109.1	33	100.6	48
44	Arizona	8-5	207.6	41	-3	106.4	41	101.2	47
45	Houston	10-4	205.5	46	1	123.2	16	82.4	105
46	South Florida	8-5	205.5	49	3	96.4	71	109.1	31
47	Middle Tennessee	10-3	205.4	50	3	89.7	84	115.8	21
48	East Carolina	9-5	204.3	54	6	98.1	68	106.3	36
49	Missouri	8-5	204.3	42	-7	111.0	27	93.2	69
50	Oregon State	8-5	204.1	48	-2	107.3	38	96.8	55
51	Boston College	8-5	204.0	52	1	91.4	81	112.6	25
52	Michigan	5-7	203.9	47	-5	109.5	32	94.5	63
53	Baylor	4-8	201.6	51	-2	106.4	40	95.2	61
54	Central Michigan	12-2	199.1	56	2	102.1	54	97.0	54
55	Kansas	5-7	198.8	55	0	110.0	31	88.8	86
56	Wake Forest	5-7	198.7	58	2	101.0	58	97.7	53
57	Virginia	3-9	198.1	57	0	87.9	92	110.1	29
58	Kentucky	7-6	198.0	53	-5	104.5	43	93.5	66
59	Colorado State	3-9	197.1	59	0	108.9	34	88.1	91
60	California	8-5	196.9	65	5	104.3	44	92.6	71
RANK	TEAM	RECORD	S&P+	LAST WK	CHANGE	OFF S&P+	RANK	DEF S&P+	RANK
61	Syracuse	4-8	195.6	60	-1	98.9	65	96.7	56
62	Navy	10-4	195.1	74	12	98.7	66	96.4	57
63	Bowling Green	7-6	193.9	63	0	100.0	61	93.9	64
64	Minnesota	6-7	193.7	64	0	89.4	86	104.3	40
65	Fresno State	8-5	193.6	62	-3	104.0	46	89.5	84
66	Louisiana Tech	4-8	192.3	68	2	90.8	82	101.4	45
67	Tulsa	5-7	192.1	69	2	95.8	72	96.2	58
68	Central Florida	8-5	192.0	61	-7	86.6	96	105.4	38
69	UAB	5-7	191.8	72	3	102.0	55	89.8	82
70	Indiana	4-8	191.4	70	0	103.1	51	88.3	90
71	UCLA	7-6	190.5	66	-5	85.3	100	105.3	39
72	Illinois	3-9	190.2	67	-5	99.0	64	91.2	75
73	Colorado	3-9	189.8	71	-2	82.6	105	107.2	34
74	Washington	5-7	189.3	73	-1	98.0	69	91.3	73
75	Northwestern	8-5	189.0	77	2	95.4	74	93.5	67
76	Southern Miss	7-6	187.9	78	2	99.2	62	88.7	88
77	Arizona State	4-8	186.4	75	-2	76.6	112	109.8	30
78	Rutgers	9-4	186.0	87	9	84.7	101	101.3	46
79	NC State	5-7	185.2	79	0	107.1	39	78.1	113
80	Marshall	7-6	185.2	86	6	91.9	80	93.3	68
RANK	TEAM	RECORD	S&P+	LAST WK	CHANGE	OFF S&P+	RANK	DEF S&P+	RANK
81	Ohio	9-5	184.7	76	-5	82.0	108	102.7	44
82	Utah State	4-8	184.3	80	-2	93.5	78	90.8	76
83	Idaho	7-6	183.9	85	2	103.6	47	80.3	109
84	UNLV	5-7	183.8	84	0	98.4	67	85.5	101
85	Wyoming	7-6	183.7	81	-4	87.7	94	96.0	59
86	Iowa State	7-6	183.5	82	-4	103.3	50	80.2	110
87	Hawaii	6-7	182.6	88	1	101.1	57	81.4	106
88	Buffalo	5-7	182.4	83	-5	94.6	75	87.7	93
89	Temple	9-4	181.5	89	0	95.7	73	85.8	99
90	Maryland	2-10	181.4	91	1	90.2	83	91.3	74
91	Northern Illinois	7-6	180.2	90	-1	91.9	79	88.3	89
92	Florida Atlantic	5-7	180.0	92	0	108.7	35	71.3	120
93	UTEP	4-8	178.6	95	2	97.9	70	80.6	108
94	Memphis	2-10	178.2	96	2	87.7	95	90.5	78
95	Louisville	4-8	178.2	93	-2	89.0	89	89.3	85
96	Vanderbilt	2-10	177.3	94	-2	82.1	107	95.2	62
97	San Diego State	4-8	176.2	99	2	88.4	90	87.8	92
98	Toledo	5-7	176.0	97	-1	100.1	60	75.9	116
99	UL-Monroe	6-6	175.5	98	-1	88.4	91	87.1	96
100	North Texas	2-10	175.5	100	0	99.0	63	76.5	115
RANK	TEAM	RECORD	S&P+	LAST WK	CHANGE	OFF S&P+	RANK	DEF S&P+	RANK
101	New Mexico	1-11	175.4	103	2	87.9	93	87.5	94
102	SMU	8-5	175.0	106	4	85.3	99	89.7	83
103	Duke	5-7	175.0	102	-1	89.0	88	86.0	97
104	Kansas State	6-6	174.8	101	-3	89.5	85	85.4	103
105	Miami-OH	1-11	172.2	104	-1	80.3	110	91.9	72
106	Akron	3-9	167.8	105	-1	82.3	106	85.5	102
107	Florida International	3-9	167.8	108	1	80.3	111	87.5	95
108	Arkansas State	4-8	167.3	107	-1	81.7	109	85.6	100
109	San Jose State	2-10	165.9	109	0	75.4	114	90.5	79
110	UL-Lafayette	6-6	165.8	110	0	85.6	98	80.2	111
111	Western Michigan	5-7	163.7	111	0	83.6	102	80.1	112
112	Kent State	5-7	163.0	112	0	72.8	115	90.2	81
113	Tulane	3-9	161.0	113	0	82.9	103	78.1	114
114	Ball State	2-10	157.7	114	0	71.8	116	85.8	98
115	Army	4-8	157.1	116	1	68.3	118	88.7	87
116	Western Kentucky	0-12	156.4	115	-1	82.8	104	73.6	118
117	Rice	2-10	151.9	117	0	70.6	117	81.3	107
118	New Mexico State	4-9	149.4	118	0	56.7	119	92.7	70
119	Eastern Michigan	1-11	147.8	119	0	76.5	113	71.3	119
120	Washington State	1-11	125.3	120	0	50.6	120	74.7	117