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). Rankings come from my most recent power rankings: http://rpubs.com/ditrapani4/420947.
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.
| Rank | Away | Home | Score | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 Stanford | AT | 19 Oregon | 12.13 | 8:00pm |
| 2 | 12 Mississippi St | AT | 21 Kentucky | 13.03 | 7:00pm |
| 3 | 28 Texas AM | AT | 2 Alabama | 18.89 | 3:30pm |
| 4 | 32 Wisconsin | AT | 26 Iowa | 19.87 | 8:30pm |
| 5 | 5 Georgia | AT | 35 Missouri | 20.06 | 12:00pm |
| 6 | 35 NC State | AT | 47 Marshall | 22.61 | 7:00pm |
| 7 | 42 Michigan State | AT | 33 Indiana | 24.16 | 7:30pm |
| 8 | 43 South Carolina | AT | 52 Vanderbilt | 24.29 | 4:00pm |
| 9 | 17 TCU | AT | 50 Texas | 25.12 | 4:30pm |
| 10 | 43 Arizona St | AT | 15 Washington | 25.34 | 10:30pm |
| 11 | 48 Kansas State | AT | 13 West Virginia | 27.64 | 3:30pm |
| 12 | 7 Notre Dame | AT | 57 Wake Forest | 28.78 | 12:00pm |
| 13 | 50 Texas Tech | AT | 7 OK State | 28.81 | 7:00pm |
| 14 | 52 FAU | AT | 16 UCF | 29.21 | (Fri) 7:00pm |
| 15 | 56 Akron | AT | 60 Iowa State | 29.24 | 12:00pm |
| 16 | 41 Louisville | AT | 67 Virginia | 29.55 | 12:30pm |
| 17 | 35 Washington St | AT | 72 USC | 31.8 | (Fri) 10:30pm |
| 18 | 64 Florida | AT | 61 Tennessee | 32.3 | 7:00pm |
| 19 | 7 Penn State | AT | 70 Illinois | 33.61 | (Fri) 9:00pm |
| 20 | 64 Troy | AT | 83 UL Monroe | 33.62 | 7:00pm |
| 21 | 31 Minnesota | AT | 77 Maryland | 33.9 | 12:00pm |
| 22 | 62 Louisiana Tech | AT | 1 LSU | 34.19 | 7:00pm |
| 23 | 66 Army | AT | 6 Oklahoma | 35.54 | 7:00pm |
| 24 | 3 Clemson | AT | 76 Georgia Tech | 36.15 | 3:30pm |
| 25 | 35 N Texas | AT | 90 Liberty | 38.04 | 6:00pm |
| 26 | 62 Buffalo | AT | 100 Rutgers | 39.22 | 12:00pm |
| 27 | 82 Ohio | AT | 54 Cincinnati | 39.4 | 12:00pm |
| 28 | 85 Air Force | AT | 75 Utah State | 39.69 | 10:30pm |
| 29 | 73 Navy | AT | 106 SMU | 40.39 | 12:00pm |
| 30 | 84 E Michigan | AT | 39 San Diego St | 40.84 | 10:30pm |
| 31 | 87 UNLV | AT | 55 Arkansas St | 41.22 | 7:00pm |
| 32 | 90 Nevada | AT | 74 Toledo | 41.53 | 12:00pm |
| 33 | 94 Arizona | AT | 96 Oregon State | 42.23 | 4:00pm |
| 34 | 93 Co Carolina | AT | 79 UL Lafayette | 42.42 | 7:00pm |
| 35 | 94 N Illinois | AT | 81 Florida State | 42.7 | 3:30pm |
| 36 | 87 FIU | AT | 20 Miami | 42.93 | 3:30pm |
| 37 | 89 Nebraska | AT | 24 Michigan | 43.47 | 12:00pm |
| 38 | 43 Pittsburgh | AT | 111 North Carolina | 44.27 | 12:20pm |
| 39 | 98 Kansas | AT | 68 Baylor | 44.65 | 3:30pm |
| 40 | 103 W Michigan | AT | 112 Georgia St | 44.89 | 2:00pm |
| 41 | 105 Charlotte | AT | 126 Umass | 45.38 | 3:30pm |
| 42 | 109 Tulsa | AT | 117 Temple | 46.75 | (Thurs) 7:30pm |
| 43 | 101 Uconn | AT | 33 Syracuse | 47.4 | 4:00pm |
| 44 | 107 S Alabama | AT | 68 Memphis | 47.83 | 8:00pm |
| 45 | 104 Kent State | AT | 39 Ole Miss | 48.17 | 12:00pm |
| 46 | 18 Boston College | AT | 119 Purdue | 49.07 | 12:00pm |
| 47 | 118 Rice | AT | 99 Southern Miss | 50.32 | 7:00pm |
| 48 | 110 E Carolina | AT | 26 S Florida | 50.98 | 8:00pm |
| 49 | 120 W Kentucky | AT | 92 Ball State | 51.27 | 3:00pm |
| 50 | 124 Texas St | AT | 121 UTSA | 51.53 | 7:00pm |
| 51 | 108 Tulane | AT | 3 Ohio State | 51.54 | 3:30pm |
| 52 | 125 Miami OH | AT | 114 Bowling Green | 52.1 | 3:00pm |
| 53 | 13 Virginia Tech | AT | 129 Old Dominion | 52.66 | 3:30pm |
| 54 | 130 N Mexico St | AT | 128 UTEP | 53.25 | 7:30pm |
| 55 | 115 Arkansas | AT | 10 Auburn | 53.61 | 7:30pm |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | 109 Tulsa | AT | 117 Temple | 46.75 | (Thurs) 7:30pm |
| 14 | 52 FAU | AT | 16 UCF | 29.21 | (Fri) 7:00pm |
| 19 | 7 Penn State | AT | 70 Illinois | 33.61 | (Fri) 9:00pm |
| 17 | 35 Washington St | AT | 72 USC | 31.8 | (Fri) 10:30pm |
| 5 | 5 Georgia | AT | 35 Missouri | 20.06 | 12:00pm |
| 12 | 7 Notre Dame | AT | 57 Wake Forest | 28.78 | 12:00pm |
| 15 | 56 Akron | AT | 60 Iowa State | 29.24 | 12:00pm |
| 21 | 31 Minnesota | AT | 77 Maryland | 33.9 | 12:00pm |
| 26 | 62 Buffalo | AT | 100 Rutgers | 39.22 | 12:00pm |
| 27 | 82 Ohio | AT | 54 Cincinnati | 39.4 | 12:00pm |
| 29 | 73 Navy | AT | 106 SMU | 40.39 | 12:00pm |
| 32 | 90 Nevada | AT | 74 Toledo | 41.53 | 12:00pm |
| 37 | 89 Nebraska | AT | 24 Michigan | 43.47 | 12:00pm |
| 45 | 104 Kent State | AT | 39 Ole Miss | 48.17 | 12:00pm |
| 46 | 18 Boston College | AT | 119 Purdue | 49.07 | 12:00pm |
| 38 | 43 Pittsburgh | AT | 111 North Carolina | 44.27 | 12:20pm |
| 16 | 41 Louisville | AT | 67 Virginia | 29.55 | 12:30pm |
| 40 | 103 W Michigan | AT | 112 Georgia St | 44.89 | 2:00pm |
| 49 | 120 W Kentucky | AT | 92 Ball State | 51.27 | 3:00pm |
| 52 | 125 Miami OH | AT | 114 Bowling Green | 52.1 | 3:00pm |
| 3 | 28 Texas AM | AT | 2 Alabama | 18.89 | 3:30pm |
| 11 | 48 Kansas State | AT | 13 West Virginia | 27.64 | 3:30pm |
| 24 | 3 Clemson | AT | 76 Georgia Tech | 36.15 | 3:30pm |
| 35 | 94 N Illinois | AT | 81 Florida State | 42.7 | 3:30pm |
| 36 | 87 FIU | AT | 20 Miami | 42.93 | 3:30pm |
| 39 | 98 Kansas | AT | 68 Baylor | 44.65 | 3:30pm |
| 41 | 105 Charlotte | AT | 126 Umass | 45.38 | 3:30pm |
| 51 | 108 Tulane | AT | 3 Ohio State | 51.54 | 3:30pm |
| 53 | 13 Virginia Tech | AT | 129 Old Dominion | 52.66 | 3:30pm |
| 8 | 43 South Carolina | AT | 52 Vanderbilt | 24.29 | 4:00pm |
| 33 | 94 Arizona | AT | 96 Oregon State | 42.23 | 4:00pm |
| 43 | 101 Uconn | AT | 33 Syracuse | 47.4 | 4:00pm |
| 9 | 17 TCU | AT | 50 Texas | 25.12 | 4:30pm |
| 25 | 35 N Texas | AT | 90 Liberty | 38.04 | 6:00pm |
| 2 | 12 Mississippi St | AT | 21 Kentucky | 13.03 | 7:00pm |
| 6 | 35 NC State | AT | 47 Marshall | 22.61 | 7:00pm |
| 13 | 50 Texas Tech | AT | 7 OK State | 28.81 | 7:00pm |
| 18 | 64 Florida | AT | 61 Tennessee | 32.3 | 7:00pm |
| 20 | 64 Troy | AT | 83 UL Monroe | 33.62 | 7:00pm |
| 22 | 62 Louisiana Tech | AT | 1 LSU | 34.19 | 7:00pm |
| 23 | 66 Army | AT | 6 Oklahoma | 35.54 | 7:00pm |
| 31 | 87 UNLV | AT | 55 Arkansas St | 41.22 | 7:00pm |
| 34 | 93 Co Carolina | AT | 79 UL Lafayette | 42.42 | 7:00pm |
| 47 | 118 Rice | AT | 99 Southern Miss | 50.32 | 7:00pm |
| 50 | 124 Texas St | AT | 121 UTSA | 51.53 | 7:00pm |
| 7 | 42 Michigan State | AT | 33 Indiana | 24.16 | 7:30pm |
| 54 | 130 N Mexico St | AT | 128 UTEP | 53.25 | 7:30pm |
| 55 | 115 Arkansas | AT | 10 Auburn | 53.61 | 7:30pm |
| 1 | 11 Stanford | AT | 19 Oregon | 12.13 | 8:00pm |
| 44 | 107 S Alabama | AT | 68 Memphis | 47.83 | 8:00pm |
| 48 | 110 E Carolina | AT | 26 S Florida | 50.98 | 8:00pm |
| 4 | 32 Wisconsin | AT | 26 Iowa | 19.87 | 8:30pm |
| 10 | 43 Arizona St | AT | 15 Washington | 25.34 | 10:30pm |
| 28 | 85 Air Force | AT | 75 Utah State | 39.69 | 10:30pm |
| 30 | 84 E Michigan | AT | 39 San Diego St | 40.84 | 10:30pm |