Prestige Rankings: Nos. 21-119
Who is No. 1? That debate rages weekly during each college football season, and often long after the season is over and the trophies have been handed out. The debate is as much a part of the annual ritual as the touchdowns, fight songs and bowl games.
If you think that process can spark a debate, try ranking each FBS team’s all-time position in college football history.
But the ESPN Research Department devised a plan to settle the argument. Their system lets the numbers do the talking.
ESPN’s Prestige Rankings are a numerical method of ranking the best FBS college football programs since the 1936 season. Point values were assigned for certain successes (win a national title, earn 25 points) and failures (get your program banned from the postseason, lose two points). They ran all the numbers through the computer to come up with the No. 1 program (and Nos. 2-119) of the past 72 seasons.
ESPN.com will be rolling out the rankings all week. First stop: teams 119-21. Take a look:
21. Auburn Tigers
Total points: 579
espn.com
1/19/09
Magnolia Tribune
