College Football Playoff Chase November 15, 2024

The four criteria.

College Football Playoff Chase

I have shifted my process for the College Football Playoff Chase. I am using the same criteria, but will no longer try to crunch them into a single number. Instead, I separated the criteria into five separate rankings, four of which really matter (shown here), and one tie-breaker ranking (to be explained at the end).

The higher a team is ranked in each category, the higher their overall ranking. Entering Week 12, I assembled the 34 teams with seven or more wins and ranked them in these categories.

1. Wins: There are two 10-win teams, which lead the nation. They are both ranked “1” in the “Wins” column below. The three teams with nine wins are all tied with a “3” ranking. Twelve teams have eight wins and are tied with a “6.” Seventeen teams have seven wins and are ranked “18” in wins.
2. Strength of Wins (SW below): Ranking teams by the combined number of wins of the teams it has beaten. For instance, The ten teams Oregon has beaten have combined to win 44 FBS games, leading the nation. Remarkably, Alabama (16th overall) is second in this ranking. Despite beating just seven teams so far, those teams have combined to win 43 FBS games. (Wins against FCS teams count, but the wins by FCS teams, against FCS…