The College Football Blog: 2010 Season Résumé Rankings (After Week 1)

Season Résumé Rankings after Week 1

Note about the season résumé rankings: I started doing these rankings for the first time last year. These rankings are based on a team’s body of work during the season. In the beginning they are weird because we don’t have much evidence and it’s difficult to determine strength of opponent. Early on we still have to rely a lot on preconceived beliefs about teams in order to judge what is or is not an impressive victory. We also have to rely on those preconceived beliefs in order to separate one blowout win over an FCS opponent from another. As the season progresses these rankings will take on more meaning and will likely differ greatly from the power rankings.

1. Boise State (1-0)
2. TCU (1-0)
3. Michigan (1-0)
4. Fresno State (1-0)
5. Utah (1-0)
6. Alabama (1-0)
7. Ohio State (1-0)
8. Oregon (1-0)
9. Georgia (1-0)
10. Miami (1-0)

Explanation: These rankings could obviously change completely after next week. The first week’s rankings are pretty easy to explain. The top 10 can be neatly separated into two parts: the top half and the bottom half. This wasn’t intentional; that’s just how things ended up. There were 5 teams who had wins over opponents that I expect to be pretty good this season. I ranked those teams 1-5 based on how impressive their victory was and how good I actually think those teams are. The other half of the top 10 is made up of teams that I think are some of the best in the country who also blew out weaker opponents in week 1. I ranked these teams 6-10 using the same criteria that I use to make up the power rankings. Essentially, which team I think is better overall.