With so few top teams playing in Week 11, it was easy to assume we wouldn't see much movement atop either the polls or computer rankings. The SP+ ratings still managed to do some shuffling, though.
Wisconsin's second dominant performance of the season again allowed the Badgers to jump idle Clemson into third, while Notre Dame's comprehensive win over Boston College gave the Fighting Irish just enough juice to hop Florida into fifth. Throw in a slight drop for Oregon -- which beat Washington State but had to labor to do it -- and a slight, opponent-adjustment-driven rise for idle Ohio State, and each of the top 18 teams in SP+ either rose or fell at least one spot. None moved much, but they all danced at least a bit.
(That's right, idle Ohio State jumped idle Alabama this week. The Buckeyes' previous opponents looked a little better than Bama's, apparently. The numbers are always churning behind the scenes whether you play or not.)
What is SP+? In a single sentence, it's a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. I created the system at Football Outsiders in 2008, and as my experience with both college football and its stats has grown, I have made quite a few tweaks to the system.
More than ever, it's important to note that SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing. It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling -- no good predictive system is. It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you're lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you're strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise.
Overall SP+ Rankings Team Rating Offense Defense Special Teams 1. Ohio St. (3-0) 28.4 45.3 (2) 16.7 (7) -0.2 (114) 2. Alabama (6-0) 28.3 46.8 (1) 18.6 (12) 0.2 (22) 3. Wisconsin (2-0) 26.5 38.7 (9) 12.2 (2) 0.0 (58) 4. Clemson (7-1) 26.1 42.6 (6) 16.7 (9) 0.2 (13) 5. Notre Dame (8-0) 21.0 38.3 (10) 17.3 (11) 0.0 (57) 6. Florida (5-1) 19.8 43.3 (4) 23.9 (34) 0.4 (3) 7. BYU (8-0) 19.2 39.2 (8) 20.3 (20) 0.4 (6) 8. Georgia (4-2) 19.1 30.8 (44) 12.1 (1) 0.4 (4) 9. Cincinnati (7-0) 18.6 34.5 (25) 15.9 (6) 0.0 (50) 10. Oregon (2-0) 18.1 35.1 (20) 16.9 (10) -0.1 (98) 11. N. Carolina (6-2) 18.0 43.7 (3) 25.6 (47) -0.1 (100) 12. Oklahoma (5-2) 17.8 43.0 (5) 25.2 (43) 0.0 (59) 13. Iowa (2-2) 16.3 29.7 (55) 13.5 (3) 0.1 (27) 14. Texas A&M (5-1) 16.2 37.7 (16) 21.5 (25) 0.1 (45) 15. Oklahoma St. (5-1) 14.2 30.7 (45) 16.7 (8) 0.2 (17) 16. Penn St. (0-4) 13.9 35.0 (21) 21.0 (23) -0.1 (102) 17. Va. Tech (4-4) 13.7 38.0 (13) 24.4 (38) 0.1 (28) 18. UCF (5-2) 13.6 39.4 (7) 25.7 (51) -0.1 (78) 19. Iowa St. (5-2) 13.3 34.5 (24) 21.1 (24) -0.1 (88) 20. Miami (7-1) 12.8 32.6 (39) 20.2 (19) 0.4 (2) 21. Auburn (4-2) 12.6 33.0 (34) 20.7 (22) 0.2 (16) 22. USC (2-0) 12.4 38.0 (12) 25.5 (46) -0.1 (89) 23. Utah (0-0) 11.9 36.1 (18) 24.3 (37) N/A 24. Washington (1-0) 11.7 30.9 (43) 19.1 (17) -0.1 (87) 25. Arizona St. (0-1) 11.4 30.2 (50) 18.9 (14) 0.1 (37) 26. Indiana (4-0) 11.2 33.6 (31) 22.6 (28) 0.1 (33) 27. Michigan (1-3) 10.7 33.0 (35) 22.2 (26) -0.1 (83) 28. App. St. (6-1) 10.3 33.0 (36) 22.6 (29) -0.1 (80) 29. Texas (5-2) 9.7 34.8 (23) 25.2 (42) 0.1 (40) 30. Marshall (7-0) 9.5 28.6 (65) 19.0 (16) 0.0 (76) 31. SMU (7-2) 9.2 36.4 (17) 27.3 (61) 0.1 (46) 32. Northwestern (4-0) 9.0 24.0 (99) 15.2 (5) 0.2 (14) 33. W. Virginia (5-3) 8.5 27.9 (72) 19.4 (18) 0.0 (75) 34. Louisiana (7-1) 8.1 33.8 (28) 25.6 (48) -0.1 (81) 35. Nebraska (1-2) 7.7 33.7 (29) 25.9 (53) -0.1 (94) 36. Boise St. (3-1) 6.7 33.1 (33) 26.4 (54) 0.1 (39) 37. Coastal Caro. (7-0) 6.6 33.7 (30) 27.3 (60) 0.1 (26) 38. Louisville (2-6) 6.5 37.7 (15) 31.1 (86) -0.1 (104) 39. Liberty (8-0) 6.5 34.2 (26) 27.6 (64) -0.1 (86) 40. UAB (4-3) 6.3 24.7 (90) 18.7 (13) 0.3 (8) 41. Pittsburgh (4-4) 6.0 24.7 (89) 18.9 (15) 0.2 (15) 42. LSU (2-3) 6.0 33.8 (27) 28.3 (69) 0.5 (1) 43. Purdue (2-1) 5.9 32.6 (38) 26.8 (57) 0.0 (61) 44. Memphis (4-2) 5.7 34.8 (22) 29.4 (74) 0.3 (12) 45. Tulsa (4-1) 5.6 29.5 (57) 23.5 (31) -0.4 (123) 46. San Diego St. (3-1) 5.3 20.2 (114) 15.0 (4) 0.1 (41) 47. Ole Miss (3-4) 4.8 38.1 (11) 33.2 (98) -0.1 (96) 48. Minnesota (1-3) 4.7 35.8 (19) 30.7 (85) -0.4 (122) 49. Wash. St. (1-1) 4.2 37.8 (14) 33.7 (101) 0.1 (38) 50. Tulane (5-4) 4.2 33.2 (32) 29.1 (72) 0.0 (49) 51. Houston (3-3) 3.3 32.2 (40) 29.0 (71) 0.1 (31) 52. Army (6-2) 2.7 27.8 (73) 25.3 (44) 0.2 (20) 53. California (0-0) 2.4 30.6 (48) 28.2 (68) N/A 54. Troy (4-3) 2.3 28.4 (68) 25.8 (52) -0.2 (110) 55. Kentucky (3-4) 2.2 25.9 (85) 24.1 (35) 0.4 (5) 56. Kansas St. (4-3) 2.0 26.7 (81) 24.7 (40) 0.0 (60) 57. Nevada (4-0) 1.9 27.5 (76) 25.6 (50) 0.0 (54) 58. TCU (3-4) 1.6 24.3 (95) 22.8 (30) 0.1 (30) 59. Stanford (0-2) 1.6 30.0 (52) 28.4 (70) -0.1 (85) 60. Arkansas (3-4) 1.6 28.5 (66) 26.7 (56) -0.3 (115) 61. Buffalo (2-0) 1.4 27.1 (79) 25.6 (49) -0.1 (90) 62. Baylor (1-5) 1.3 25.6 (87) 24.2 (36) -0.1 (95) 63. Tennessee (2-4) 0.9 24.3 (94) 23.6 (32) 0.2 (21) 64. Boston Coll. (5-4) 0.9 30.7 (46) 29.7 (77) 0.0 (69) 65. Virginia (3-4) 0.9 28.3 (69) 27.5 (63) 0.0 (62) 66. Wake Forest (4-3) 0.8 28.6 (64) 27.9 (66) 0.1 (36) 67. WMU (2-0) 0.6 31.6 (41) 31.2 (87) 0.2 (23) 68. Ga. Southern (6-2) 0.2 27.4 (77) 27.1 (59) -0.2 (112) 69. San Jose St. (4-0) 0.1 30.4 (49) 30.4 (83) 0.0 (55) 70. NC St. (5-3) 0.0 29.8 (54) 30.0 (79) 0.3 (11) 71. Maryland (2-1) -0.1 27.8 (74) 28.0 (67) 0.1 (32) 72. FAU (4-1) -0.3 23.2 (105) 23.7 (33) 0.3 (7) 73. Colorado (2-0) -0.4 30.1 (51) 30.4 (82) -0.1 (93) 74. Oregon St. (0-2) -0.7 29.4 (58) 30.0 (80) -0.1 (79) 75. Ga. Tech (2-5) -1.0 27.2 (78) 27.8 (65) -0.3 (120) 76. Missouri (2-3) -1.0 23.4 (103) 24.6 (39) 0.2 (18) 77. UCLA (0-1) -1.1 30.6 (47) 31.7 (91) 0.0 (65) 78. Miss. St. (2-4) -1.4 25.4 (88) 26.9 (58) 0.1 (44) 79. CMU (2-0) -1.8 25.6 (86) 27.4 (62) 0.0 (51) 80. S. Carolina (2-5) -2.4 27.5 (75) 29.7 (76) -0.2 (107) 81. Michigan St. (1-3) -2.4 18.3 (119) 20.6 (21) -0.1 (99) 82. Wyoming (1-2) -2.5 22.4 (107) 24.9 (41) 0.1 (43) 83. Ohio (1-1) -3.2 29.9 (53) 33.0 (97) 0.0 (73) 84. WKU (3-6) -3.2 18.9 (117) 22.3 (27) 0.2 (19) 85. Arizona (0-1) -3.5 32.8 (37) 36.4 (115) 0.1 (47) 86. Toledo (1-1) -3.6 29.5 (56) 33.0 (96) -0.1 (97) 87. Duke (2-6) -4.2 21.4 (111) 25.5 (45) 0.0 (72) 88. Texas Tech (3-5) -4.2 28.4 (67) 32.3 (93) -0.3 (119) 89. Florida St. (2-6) -4.9 26.4 (82) 31.3 (88) 0.0 (64) 90. Illinois (1-3) -5.4 23.9 (100) 29.4 (73) 0.1 (42) 91. Fresno St. (3-1) -5.5 29.3 (60) 34.8 (108) 0.0 (74) 92. Air Force (1-2) -5.6 24.1 (98) 29.8 (78) 0.0 (63) 93. Georgia St. (3-4) -5.7 28.7 (63) 34.2 (105) -0.2 (108) 94. Colorado St. (1-2) -6.5 24.2 (96) 30.5 (84) -0.1 (105) 95. Arkansas St. (3-5) -6.5 31.1 (42) 37.2 (121) -0.3 (121) 96. Charlotte (2-3) -6.6 29.4 (59) 35.8 (112) -0.2 (111) 97. Ball St. (1-1) -6.7 27.0 (80) 33.8 (103) 0.1 (35) 98. La. Tech (4-3) -7.0 24.4 (92) 31.4 (89) 0.0 (52) 99. Hawaii (2-2) -7.1 28.2 (71) 35.2 (110) -0.1 (101) 100. Kent St. (2-0) -7.5 29.1 (61) 36.4 (116) -0.1 (92) 101. So. Miss (2-6) -7.9 24.2 (97) 32.1 (92) 0.0 (70) 102. N. Texas (2-3) -8.0 28.9 (62) 36.7 (117) -0.2 (113) 103. Rice (1-1) -9.2 17.3 (123) 26.5 (55) 0.0 (71) 104. Navy (3-4) -9.3 26.2 (83) 35.4 (111) -0.1 (84) 105. UTSA (5-4) -9.6 23.8 (101) 33.7 (100) 0.3 (9) 106. Syracuse (1-7) -9.8 20.2 (115) 30.3 (81) 0.3 (10) 107. Temple (1-5) -10.0 23.3 (104) 33.0 (95) -0.3 (118) 108. Rutgers (1-3) -10.5 20.8 (112) 31.5 (90) 0.2 (24) 109. FIU (0-4) -10.7 21.6 (109) 32.4 (94) 0.0 (53) 110. ECU (1-6) -11.0 26.0 (84) 37.1 (120) 0.1 (34) 111. S. Alabama (3-5) -11.3 22.5 (106) 33.7 (102) 0.0 (67) 112. USF (1-7) -11.4 18.2 (120) 29.5 (75) -0.2 (109) 113. MTSU (2-6) -11.7 24.3 (93) 35.8 (113) -0.2 (106) 114. EMU (0-2) -12.2 28.3 (70) 40.5 (125) 0.0 (56) 115. Miami-OH (1-1) -12.9 20.7 (113) 33.6 (99) 0.0 (66) 116. Texas St. (1-9) -13.4 23.5 (102) 36.9 (118) 0.0 (68) 117. New Mexico (0-3) -15.0 24.4 (91) 39.3 (123) -0.1 (77) 118. Kansas (0-7) -16.3 18.5 (118) 34.5 (106) -0.3 (117) 119. Utah St. (0-4) -16.7 20.2 (116) 37.0 (119) 0.2 (25) 120. Vanderbilt (0-6) -16.8 17.7 (122) 34.1 (104) -0.4 (124) 121. NIU (0-2) -18.4 16.0 (125) 34.5 (107) 0.1 (29) 122. ULM (0-8) -18.4 21.6 (110) 39.6 (124) -0.5 (125) 123. UTEP (3-4) -18.6 17.9 (121) 36.2 (114) -0.3 (116) 124. UNLV (0-4) -19.7 22.0 (108) 41.5 (126) -0.1 (91) 125. Akron (0-2) -23.7 11.4 (127) 35.1 (109) -0.1 (82) 126. BGSU (0-2) -26.2 12.8 (126) 39.0 (122) 0.0 (48) 127. UMass (0-2) -31.3 16.7 (124) 47.8 (127) -0.1 (103)
