From the Rankings Desk

October 5, 2026

I am introducing some power rankings in addition to the Win Rankings. While Win Rankings show which teams have had the most impressive wins during the season, the power rankings show which teams would be more likely to beat other teams. A less talented team that upsets a better team will be rewarded with Win Ranking points, but may not get a huge bump in its power ranking because upsets do not mean a team is truly better than another team. For example, in week six Troy is a 10.5 point favorite by the line over Southern Miss and my power rankings have Troy favored by 9.45 points. Troy is clearly the better team by all accounts. But there is a still a 28% chance that Southern Miss will pull the upset. So around 1 out of 4 times they play, the lesser talented team will win. So the power rankings take upsets in account and there might not be a major shift in t\each team's power rating. There could be a pretty big change. But there might just be a 0.5 point change.

Alabama is number one in the all important Win Rankings after their dominant win over previously unbeated Miss. St. Alabama plays Georgia this weekend. The winner will get a huge number of Win Ranking points. In terms of the power predictions, my system likes Alabama by 2.99 (3 points).

In terms of playoffs, I still maintain that the Win Rankings is the most important factor because every game should matter.

September 29, 2026

The college Win Rankings are starting to take shape and will continue to do so. Miss. St. shot up to number one, edging out Texas for the number one spot. Miss St. has wins over two one loss Power Four teams (Minnesota and Missouri). Miss. St. probably would not edge out Texas but for the number of wins Miss. St.' opponents' opponents have, which is a small factor in the rankings. Texas will be off this week, so it will have to rely on gaining points from previous opponents picking up wins this weekend.

No doubt the big match up (with the most points on the line) will be #1 Miss. St. vs. #4 Alabama. It will be hard for any other team to get more points than the winner of that game will get.

Florida would be number one, but they have only three FBS games. They can gain significant points by gaining a road win over Missouri this weekend. Florida got a big feather in its cap with its win over Ole Miss this past weekend, which will continue to gain points for Florida as Ole Miss wins more games.

Ohio St. and Georgia are not ranked that high but that is due to a weak schedule so far. Ohio St. plays undefeated Iowa this weekend, so a win there should continue to send Ohio St. upward. And, of course, Texas, gains points with every win Ohio St. gets. Meanwhile, Ohio St. gets no points for Texas' future wins (because Texas beat Ohio St.). This is why wins matter.

You can see that some teams with losses (Ole Miss and Auburn for example) are ranked higher that undefeated Georgia. The reason for that is they have had the tougher schedule. But also because losses do not hurt in the early rankings as much as later in the season. Losses hurt by missed opportunities. With a loss, you will never get any points for that game. Auburn will never get any points credit as Florida continues to win. That will really add up as the season goes on. Georgia has Vanderbilt (3-1) this weekend and Alabama (4-0) the next. So, if Georgia wins both of those, it will probably be in the Top 5. 

The top five biggest point gainers for this past weekend were (in order): Oregon, Miss. St., Florida, Texas, and Iowa. 

Turning to the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs moved up to number one. The reason for that is their opponents have better records than the opponents of the other undefeated teams.

September 22, 2026

In the NFL, after two weeks of play, Minnesota has the highest Win Ranking Points because Minnesota has had the most difficult schedule among the undefeated teams. Of course, that can rapidly change as more teams win (and lose).

This coming college football weekend has some games with a lot of Win Ranking Points on the line. Ole Miss, currently ranked 2nd in Win Ranking Points following its win over LSU, will travel to Gainsville to play #10 Florida, fresh off its road win over Auburn. The winner of the game will get over 4 Win Ranking Points and that is not counting additional points if any of their prior oppoents win. It is very likely the winner of Ole Miss vs. Florida will be the new number one. 

Current #1 USC has an advantage because it had a FBS game in Week 0. So USC has 4 wins, more than any other team. They take on Oregon. Oregon has been a disappointment this year. They struggled against Boise St. (winning by 7) and then lost to big underdog Oklahoma St. the following week. Oregon last week destroyed a non-FBS team. So, Oregon currently does not have many Win Ranking Points to give to USC should USC win. But over the course of the season (assuming Oregon wins more as expected), this win could be a big feather in the cap of USC. On the other hand, if Oregon can beat USC, they will gain around 6 WR Points and will sky rocket near the top of the rankings. Oregon is a 3 point favorite.

Other games with a lot of current WR Points on the line are: Tennessee hosting Texas, Georgia hosting Oklahoma, Miss. St. hosting Missouri, LSU v. Texas A&M, and Michigan v. Iowa.

September 20, 2026

We had an exciting weekend of college football this past weekend and the Win Rankings Points are starting to take shape. USC is now number one. USC has an advantage in that it has 4 FBS wins (no other team does). The five biggest point gainers this weekend were: Ole Miss, Alabama, Notre Dame, Florida, and Miami (FL). Ole Miss travels to Florida this coming weekend. A lot of WR points will be on the line for that one. Alabama was aided with Kentucky beating Texas A&M.  Alabama easily beat Kentucky in Week 2. So Kentucky beating a good A&M team added points to Alabama Win Ranking Points total.

September 15, 2026

The NFL rankings are posted after week one. You can see clearly how the rankings work. Teams that won on the road received 1.430 points. Teams that won at home received 1.300 points. And San Francisco that won on a neutral field received 1.365 points. Away wins count 10% more than home wins. Neutral field wins count for 5% more than home wins. Right now, no team received additional win points for their opponents' wins (because in week one, no defeated team had a prior win). As the season goes along, winning teams will receive additional points when their prior opponents win games and their prior opponents' opponents win games.

September 13, 2026

This past weekend had some exciting college football games that will have long lasting implications in our Win Rankings Rankings. Texas' dramatic comeback win over Ohio State will no doubt result in 9 WR Points or more near season's end because Ohio State is expected to win many games. The reason some Group of Six teams are still high in the rankings is because many Power Four teams have played Group of Six teams early. As the season goes along, we will see separation as Power Four teams stay in conference. 

USC is number one this week because they have played three FBS games. Most teams have only played two and many have only played one. Because of the few games teams have played, losses do not have as much impact now. That is because wins gain points based upon the number of wins your opponents have had (and your opponents' opponents). Most opponents of teams who have won have no or at most one win. Most that are ranked higher is because here early their opponents have won at least one game. Other winners have yet to beat a team who has beaten another team. As the season goes along that will change. Just like with Texas gaining points every time Ohio State wins, other teams will experience that same bump. Michigan will gain points every time Oklahoma will win. One the other end, losses have consequences. Ohio State will get no added points every time Texas wins, because Ohio State lost to Texas. It takes a while for the wins (and losses) to add up. As I have stated, by early October we should start to see valid separation as to who has the best resume to date.

September 8, 2026

NFL Consensus Predictions for Week 1 are now posted. I should have the college consensus predictions posted tomorrow. The college predictions were on fire in week 1 with over 60% correct against the spread. You can see the results by clicking here.

Of course, the college rankings mean very little at this point because most teams have only played one game. So most of those that have won a game have done so against a team who has won zero games. It is your opponents' number of wins that greatly increase your WR Ranking Points, so we really won't see much meaniful separation until the end of September. Memphis is currently #1. If you are wondering why they are ranked higher than USC (both of whom have one win against a winless Group of Six team and one win against a one win Group of Six Team), it is because one of Memphis' wins was on the road. Both of USC's wins were at home.

After Week 0 and Week 1, the SEC leads all conferences with a perfect record of 10-0 against Non-SEC FBS opponents, which included two wins against Power Four conferences. The Big 10 is second to the SEC at 10-2. 

I have decided to as a factor a team's opponents' opponents' average number of wins. You can see how that affects one's WR Points by going to the Win Ranking Methodology page.

September 2, 2026

Predictions for this weekend are now posted.

August 30, 2026

The 0 week of college football had eight FBS vs. FBS games. Virginia's impressive win on the road at NC State earned them the most WR points for the weekend at 1.1 (because they beat a winless Power Four team on the road). This win could win Virginia substantially more points as the season progresses because NC State will probably have several wins this season, which translates into more WR points for Virginia. 

The same can be said for North Carolina's win over TCU. TCU was a borderline Top 25 team. They are expected to win several games, which will help North Carolina's WR point totals as the season progresses. This is why wins are so important. If you lose a close game, you will earn zero WR points for that game the entire season. Whereas if you win, you can continue to earn WR points from that win provided your opponent wins games.

Among the Group of Six winners, Memphis got the most WR points at 0.77 by beating a Group of Six opponent on the road.

Our consensus picks, while missing the Virginia win over NC State, was 75% against the spread. Of course, it was only eight games, so there is not a huge sample size there. Still, the consensus out performed the mid-week line by average miss, median miss, and the number of games within 3 of the actual score. So that is a good start. Next week's predictions will probably post on Tuesday.

August 26, 2026

The first week of college football is almost here (albiet there are not many games). On August 29th, there are only eight FBS vs. FBS games. (WinRankings.com does not log games of FBS vs. Non-FBS opponents.) To earn Win Ranking Points, a team must win the game obviously. Since no opponent currently has any Win Ranking Points, the most a team can earn this weekend is 1.1 WR Points. That is when an Away team beats a Power Four Team. The most a Home team can earn this weekend is 1 point. For more information on the methodology, CLICK HERE.

August 18, 2026

The website just first published today.