Week 13 Computer Rankings….

I’ve mentioned to a number of friends and coworkers over the last month or so that one of the things that I find so ridiculously cool about these rankings is how the conference rankings stack up.  I don’t publish it on this blog site (but I do provide the data in a separate e-mail release that I send to family, friends, and coworkers), but I track the average ranking of conference members to give a rough idea of how the conferences rank relative to each other.  No data structure or design mechanism exists in my system to distinguish conferences.  The teams are simply represented as ID numbers, 1-120, alphabetically.  And yet, the conference rankings break out in a way that pretty closely matches the general human perception.  Check it out (with average ranking of conference members in paretheses):

1.) SEC (46.50)
2.) Big Ten (48.17)
3.) Big 12 (49.70)
4.) ACC (56.00)
5.) Pac-12 (57.08)
6.) Independents (61.75)
7.) Big East (62.13)
8.) Conference USA (62.17)
9.) MAC (68.77)
10.) Sun Belt (72.56)
11.) Mountain West (73.25)
12.) WAC (79.50)

As a computer scientist, it is always exciting when something works correctly.  My intent was to have a computer ranking system that would provide an unbiased an realistic evaluation of the 120 teams.  And unintended (and undesigned-for) consequence that has been fabulous is how well those conference rankings are represented.  It has pleased me immensely!

And now…  The week 13 team rankings (as always, you can go here to see the general design of the rankings):

1.) LSU (12-0)
2.) Houston (12-0)
3.) Stanford (11-1)
4.) Alabama (11-1)
5.) Virginia Tech (11-1)
6.) Michigan (10-2)
7.) Oklahoma State (10-1)
8.) Oregon (10-2)
9.) Southern California (10-2)
10.) Boise State (10-1)
11.) Wisconsin (10-2)
12.) Southern Mississippi (10-2)
13.) Arkansas (10-2)
14.) Georgia (10-2)
15.) Michigan State (10-2)
16.) South Carolina (10-2)
17.) Oklahoma (9-2)
18.) Tulsa (8-4)
19.) TCU (9-2)
20.) Nebraska (9-3)
21.) Penn State (9-3)
22.) Arkansas State (9-2)
23.) Ohio (9-3)
24.) Notre Dame (8-4)
25.) Florida International (8-4)
26.) Florida State (8-4)
27.) Clemson (9-3)
28.) BYU (8-3)
29.) West Virginia (8-3)
30.) Temple (8-4)
31.) Kansas State (9-2)
32.) Rutgers (8-4)
33.) Northern Illinois (9-3)
34.) Toledo (8-4)
35.) Georgia Tech (8-4)
36.) Cincinnati (8-3)
37.) Baylor (8-3)
38.) Virginia (8-4)
39.) Texas (7-4)
40.) Missouri (7-5)
41.) Louisiana Tech (8-4)
42.) North Carolina (7-5)
43.) SMU (7-5)
44.) Western Michigan (7-5)
45.) Louisiana – Lafayette (8-4)
46.) Iowa (7-5)
47.) California (7-5)
48.) Western Kentucky (7-5)
49.) Texas A&M (6-6)
50.) Auburn (7-5)
51.) Marshall (6-6)
52.) Utah (7-5)
53.) Louisville (7-5)
54.) UCLA (6-6)
55.) Ohio State (6-6)
56.) Purdue (6-6)
57.) Washington (7-5)
58.) Mississippi State (6-6)
59.) Wake Forest (6-6)
60.) Nevada (6-5)
61.) Illinois (6-6)
62.) Ball State (6-6)
63.) North Carolina State (7-5)
64.) San Diego State (7-4)
65.) Vanderbilt (6-6)
66.) East Carolina (5-7)
67.) Florida (6-6)
68.) Northwestern (6-6)
69.) Arizona State (6-6)
70.) Miami – FL (6-6)
71.) UCF (5-7)
72.) Wyoming (7-4)
73.) San Jose State (5-7)
74.) Eastern Michigan (6-6)
75.) Air Force (7-5)
76.) Texas Tech (5-7)
77.) Tennessee (5-7)
78.) Utah State (6-5)
79.) Bowling Green (5-7)
80.) Kentucky (5-7)
81.) South Florida (5-6)
82.) Rice (4-8)
83.) Connecticut (5-6)
84.) Hawaii (6-6)
85.) North Texas (4-7)
86.) Iowa State (6-5)
87.) UTEP (5-7)
88.) New Mexico State (4-8)
89.) Miami – OH (4-8)
90.) Pittsburgh (5-6)
91.) Arizona (4-8)
92.) Navy (4-7)
93.) Syracuse (5-6)
94.) Kent State (5-7)
95.) Colorado (3-10)
96.) Boston College (4-8)
97.) UAB (3-9)
98.) Washington State (4-8)
99.) Louisiana – Monroe (3-8)
100.) Minnesota (3-9)
101.) Fresno State (4-8)
102.) Duke (3-9)
103.) Oregon State (3-9)
104.) Army (3-8)
105.) Troy (3-8)
106.) Buffalo (3-9)
107.) Tulane (2-11)
108.) Central Michigan (3-9)
109.) Maryland (2-10)
110.) Memphis (2-10)
111.) Middle Tennessee State (2-9)
112.) Colorado State (3-8)
113.) Mississippi (2-10)
114.) Idaho (2-9)
115.) Kansas (2-10)
116.) Florida Atlantic (1-10)
117.) UNLV (2-9)
118.) New Mexico (1-10)
119.) Akron (1-11)
120.) Indiana (1-11)

Advertisement