The Rankings vs. the Committee
The polls are ballots. The committee is a room. Our ranking is a model that watched every snap of every game and never took a vote. Below: our PS Rating power ranking beside the AP Top 25, the Coaches Poll and the CFP committee, with every real disagreement flagged.
2025 season · model through January 20, 2026 · polls: week 16
| Team | Rec | Model | AP | CFP | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Indiana
Big Ten
|
16-0 | #1 | #1 | #1 | +0 |
|
Oregon
Big Ten
|
13-2 | #2 | #5 | #5 | +3 |
|
Ohio State
Big Ten
|
12-2 | #3 | #3 | #2 | -1 |
|
Georgia
SEC
|
12-2 | #4 | #2 | #3 | -1 |
|
Notre Dame
FBS Independents
|
10-2 | #5 | #9 | #11 | +6 |
|
Ole Miss
SEC
|
13-2 | #6 | #6 | #6 | +0 |
|
Miami
ACC
|
13-3 | #7 | #10 | #10 | +3 |
|
James Madison
Sun Belt
|
12-2 | #8 | #19 | #24 | +16 |
|
Texas
SEC
|
10-3 | #9 | #14 | #13 | +4 |
|
BYU
Big 12
|
12-2 | #10 | #12 | #12 | +2 |
|
Texas Tech
Big 12
|
12-2 | #11 | #4 | #4 | -7 |
|
Alabama
SEC
|
11-4 | #12 | #11 | #9 | -3 |
|
Utah
Big 12
|
11-2 | #13 | #15 | #15 | +2 |
|
SMU
ACC
|
9-4 | #14 | — | — | · |
|
Texas A&M
SEC
|
11-2 | #15 | #7 | #7 | -8 |
|
Washington
Big Ten
|
9-4 | #16 | — | — | · |
|
Michigan
Big Ten
|
9-4 | #17 | #18 | #18 | +1 |
|
Navy
American Athletic
|
11-2 | #18 | #22 | — | · |
|
Tulane
American Athletic
|
11-3 | #19 | #17 | #20 | +1 |
|
Oklahoma
SEC
|
10-3 | #20 | #8 | #8 | -12 |
|
Iowa
Big Ten
|
9-4 | #21 | — | #23 | +2 |
|
Vanderbilt
SEC
|
10-3 | #22 | #13 | #14 | -8 |
|
Penn State
Big Ten
|
7-6 | #23 | — | — | · |
|
USC
Big Ten
|
9-4 | #24 | #16 | #16 | -8 |
|
North Texas
American Athletic
|
12-2 | #25 | #23 | #25 | +0 |
|
Tennessee
SEC
|
8-5 | #28 | — | — | · |
|
Missouri
SEC
|
8-5 | #32 | #25 | — | · |
|
Virginia
ACC
|
11-3 | #37 | #20 | #19 | -18 |
|
Arizona
Big 12
|
9-4 | #39 | #21 | #17 | -22 |
|
Georgia Tech
ACC
|
9-4 | #41 | #24 | #22 | -19 |
|
Houston
Big 12
|
10-3 | #50 | — | #21 | -29 |
Model = our PS Rating power ranking, the composite of our Elo, Glicko and net-efficiency systems (every result, margin and schedule; no votes, no brand names). Gap = the CFP committee rank minus ours; positive means the humans have that team lower than the results do, negative means higher. The CFP committee publishes from roughly week 10, so its column is blank before then. Rankings shown are each poll's latest release for the season. The schedule evidence behind these gaps lives on the strength of schedule page. Graded in public.