On a weekend of college football games, it is often quite overwhelming sifting through all of the matchups. If only there was a way of knowing which games were the most appealing in some objective way. If you ever have faced this conundrum, you’ve come to the right place! Using my power rankings of a given week, I have created a formula that calculates a “game score” for every matchup for the upcoming weekend, and ranks all of the games accordingly.
My formula is based off of two components: overall team quality and team rankings similarities. Unsurprisingly, games featuring better teams will be scored better than games with weaker schools. However, the “closeness” of the teams is taken into account as well. Where the game is played is also taken into account (I would rather watch #5 at #20 than #20 at #5, for example).
Things that are NOT included are factors like the general reputation of the schools involved, the style of play that the teams use, and the past history of a given matchup. Certainly rivalry games are more fun regardless of the quality of the teams, but that is not considered here.
A few quick notes about Week 1’s games. First of all, I have not updated my rankings from this previous Saturday, where four FBS games took place (the main victims of the weekend were Colorado State and New Mexico State, who would be lower if I did update). The other main thing you will notice is that there are lots of ties in my preseason rankings (you can see those rankings here: http://rpubs.com/ditrapani4/414109), which is apparent when you look at the game matchups below. For example, many of the teams are ranked 32nd, which corresponds to a bin “0” team, as explained on the rankings page.
Another thing is that this only cntains matchups between two FBS teams. So no FCS-FBS matchups here unfortunately.
Also, I should mention that I will not be posting updated rankings after this week and won’t be posting game rankings for next week. Blame it on my upcoming wedding this Saturday and honeymoon right after!
| Rank | Away | Home | Score | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 Washington | VS | 8 Auburn | 7.07 | 3:30pm |
| 2 | 8 Michigan | AT | 8 Notre Dame | 7.41 | 7:30pm |
| 3 | 8 Miami | VS | 20 LSU | 14 | (Sun) 7:30pm |
| 4 | 20 Virginia Tech | AT | 20 Florida State | 14.16 | (Mon) 8:00pm |
| 5 | 16 Boise State | AT | 32 Troy | 17.76 | 6:00pm |
| 6 | 32 Texas Tech | VS | 32 Ole Miss | 18.38 | 12:00pm |
| 7 | 29 FAU | AT | 5 Oklahoma | 19.24 | 12:00pm |
| 8 | 32 Northwestern | AT | 32 Purdue | 19.74 | (Thurs) 8:00pm |
| T9 | 32 App State | AT | 8 Penn State | 20.57 | 3:30pm |
| T9 | 32 San Diego St | AT | 8 Stanford | 20.57 | (Fri) 9:00pm |
| 11 | 32 Louisville | VS | 1 Alabama | 20.86 | 8:00pm |
| 12 | 20 Texas | VS | 61 Maryland | 31.86 | 12:00pm |
| T13 | 61 Army | AT | 32 Duke | 32.2 | (Fri) 7:00pm |
| T13 | 61 North Carolina | AT | 32 California | 32.2 | 4:00pm |
| T13 | 61 N Illinois | AT | 32 Iowa | 32.2 | 3:30pm |
| 16 | 61 Tennessee | VS | 16 West Virginia | 32.24 | 3:30pm |
| 17 | 32 Wake Forest | AT | 80 Tulane | 34.87 | (Thurs) 8:00pm |
| 18 | 32 Washington St | AT | 86 Wyoming | 36.94 | 3:30pm |
| 19 | 61 Colorado | VS | 86 Colorado St | 38.12 | (Fri) 9:30pm |
| T20 | 61 Syracuse | AT | 97 W Michigan | 38.32 | (Fri) 6:00pm |
| T20 | 61 Indiana | AT | 97 FIU | 38.32 | 7:00pm |
| T20 | 61 Marshall | AT | 97 Miami OH | 38.32 | 3:30pm |
| T23 | 80 SMU | AT | 61 N Texas | 38.36 | 7:30pm |
| T23 | 80 Mid Tennessee | AT | 61 Vanderbilt | 38.36 | 7:30pm |
| 25 | 86 Louisiana Tech | AT | 97 S Alabama | 39.48 | 7:00pm |
| 26 | 80 BYU | AT | 32 Arizona | 39.67 | 10:45pm |
| T27 | 86 Umass | AT | 32 Boston College | 41.94 | 1:00 pm |
| T27 | 86 Cincinnati | AT | 32 UCLA | 41.94 | 7:00pm |
| 29 | 86 Utah State | AT | 8 Michigan State | 43.21 | (Fri) 7:00pm |
| 30 | 86 Oregon State | AT | 1 Ohio State | 43.6 | 12:00pm |
| 31 | 97 Old Dominion | AT | 123 Liberty | 44.23 | 6:00pm |
| T32 | 97 N Mexico St | AT | 61 Minnesota | 44.59 | (Thurs) 7:00pm |
| T32 | 97 UTSA | AT | 61 Arizona St | 44.59 | 10:30pm |
| T34 | 97 Akron | AT | 32 Nebraska | 46 | 8:00pm |
| T34 | 97 C Michigan | AT | 32 Kentucky | 46 | 3:30pm |
| 36 | 32 Navy | AT | 116 Hawaii | 46.84 | 11:00pm |
| 37 | 97 UNLV | AT | 8 USC | 47.29 | 4:00pm |
| 38 | 97 W Kentucky | AT | 5 Wisconsin | 47.46 | (Fri) 9:00pm |
| 39 | 20 UCF | AT | 116 Uconn | 47.93 | (Thurs) 7:00pm |
| 40 | 32 Houston | AT | 123 Rice | 49.05 | 12:00pm |
| 41 | 123 Kent State | AT | 86 Illinois | 52.54 | 12:00pm |
| 42 | 123 Texas St | AT | 80 Rutgers | 52.81 | 12:00pm |
| 43 | 116 Bowling Green | AT | 20 Oregon | 53.41 | 8:00pm |
| 44 | 123 Co Carolina | AT | 20 South Carolina | 55.84 | 12:00pm |
Before a long day of sitting on the couch watching game after game, it is nice to be able to get an idea of what the best games are for a given time slot. Here, I sort the rankings from above by the time in which the game is played, so readers can examine which games are best at a given time.
| Rank | Away | Home | Score | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T32 | 97 N Mexico St | AT | 61 Minnesota | 44.59 | (Thurs) 7:00pm |
| 39 | 20 UCF | AT | 116 Uconn | 47.93 | (Thurs) 7:00pm |
| 8 | 32 Northwestern | AT | 32 Purdue | 19.74 | (Thurs) 8:00pm |
| 17 | 32 Wake Forest | AT | 80 Tulane | 34.87 | (Thurs) 8:00pm |
| T20 | 61 Syracuse | AT | 97 W Michigan | 38.32 | (Fri) 6:00pm |
| T13 | 61 Army | AT | 32 Duke | 32.2 | (Fri) 7:00pm |
| 29 | 86 Utah State | AT | 8 Michigan State | 43.21 | (Fri) 7:00pm |
| T9 | 32 San Diego St | AT | 8 Stanford | 20.57 | (Fri) 9:00pm |
| 19 | 61 Colorado | VS | 86 Colorado St | 38.12 | (Fri) 9:30pm |
| 38 | 97 W Kentucky | AT | 5 Wisconsin | 47.46 | (Fri) 9:00pm |
| 6 | 32 Texas Tech | VS | 32 Ole Miss | 18.38 | 12:00pm |
| 7 | 29 FAU | AT | 5 Oklahoma | 19.24 | 12:00pm |
| 12 | 20 Texas | VS | 61 Maryland | 31.86 | 12:00pm |
| 30 | 86 Oregon State | AT | 1 Ohio State | 43.6 | 12:00pm |
| 40 | 32 Houston | AT | 123 Rice | 49.05 | 12:00pm |
| 41 | 123 Kent State | AT | 86 Illinois | 52.54 | 12:00pm |
| 42 | 123 Texas St | AT | 80 Rutgers | 52.81 | 12:00pm |
| 44 | 123 Co Carolina | AT | 20 South Carolina | 55.84 | 12:00pm |
| T27 | 86 Umass | AT | 32 Boston College | 41.94 | 1:00 pm |
| 1 | 5 Washington | VS | 8 Auburn | 7.07 | 3:30pm |
| T9 | 32 App State | AT | 8 Penn State | 20.57 | 3:30pm |
| T13 | 61 N Illinois | AT | 32 Iowa | 32.2 | 3:30pm |
| 16 | 61 Tennessee | VS | 16 West Virginia | 32.24 | 3:30pm |
| 18 | 32 Washington St | AT | 86 Wyoming | 36.94 | 3:30pm |
| T20 | 61 Marshall | AT | 97 Miami OH | 38.32 | 3:30pm |
| T34 | 97 C Michigan | AT | 32 Kentucky | 46 | 3:30pm |
| T13 | 61 North Carolina | AT | 32 California | 32.2 | 4:00pm |
| 37 | 97 UNLV | AT | 8 USC | 47.29 | 4:00pm |
| 5 | 16 Boise State | AT | 32 Troy | 17.76 | 6:00pm |
| 31 | 97 Old Dominion | AT | 123 Liberty | 44.23 | 6:00pm |
| T20 | 61 Indiana | AT | 97 FIU | 38.32 | 7:00pm |
| 25 | 86 Louisiana Tech | AT | 97 S Alabama | 39.48 | 7:00pm |
| T27 | 86 Cincinnati | AT | 32 UCLA | 41.94 | 7:00pm |
| 2 | 8 Michigan | AT | 8 Notre Dame | 7.41 | 7:30pm |
| T23 | 80 SMU | AT | 61 N Texas | 38.36 | 7:30pm |
| T23 | 80 Mid Tennessee | AT | 61 Vanderbilt | 38.36 | 7:30pm |
| 11 | 32 Louisville | VS | 1 Alabama | 20.86 | 8:00pm |
| T34 | 97 Akron | AT | 32 Nebraska | 46 | 8:00pm |
| 43 | 116 Bowling Green | AT | 20 Oregon | 53.41 | 8:00pm |
| T32 | 97 UTSA | AT | 61 Arizona St | 44.59 | 10:30pm |
| 26 | 80 BYU | AT | 32 Arizona | 39.67 | 10:45pm |
| 36 | 32 Navy | AT | 116 Hawaii | 46.84 | 11:00pm |
| 3 | 8 Miami | VS | 20 LSU | 14 | (Sun) 7:30pm |
| 4 | 20 Virginia Tech | AT | 20 Florida State | 14.16 | (Mon) 8:00pm |