The combination of a couple of jarring upsets and the SEC's presence at the party made Week 4 of the college football season feel like the first true college football weekend of the year. And there was a decent amount of fallout from it in the latest SP+ rankings.
Below is this week's piping hot batch of SP+. As with last week, I'm now including the latest FBS teams that have committed to playing this fall -- the Pac-12, MAC and MWC all announced plans to jump in the pool this past week -- even though none of them will play for a few more weeks. That means we continue our streak of a new denominator each week: all 130 FBS teams were included in the preseason rankings, then 77 after Week 2, 91 after Week 3 and now 126 after Week 4. Nothing about this season is normal, but in theory we might stay at 126 for a while.
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.
SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing. That is important to remember. 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. (0-0) 30.2 44.2 (2) 14.1 (3) N/A 2. Clemson (2-0) 26.3 42.1 (4) 15.9 (7) 0.0 (23) 3. Alabama (1-0) 25.8 44.5 (1) 18.8 (24) 0.1 (21) 4. Georgia (1-0) 23.1 30.0 (50) 7.0 (1) 0.1 (9) 5. Notre Dame (2-0) 22.7 38.5 (11) 15.8 (6) 0.0 (43) 6. Auburn (1-0) 22.7 36.6 (14) 13.9 (2) 0.0 (31) 7. Penn St. (0-0) 22.3 39.4 (8) 17.1 (14) N/A 8. Florida (1-0) 22.0 39.3 (9) 17.4 (17) 0.1 (13) 9. Wisconsin (0-0) 21.7 36.0 (16) 14.3 (4) N/A 10. Oklahoma (1-1) 19.1 43.1 (3) 24.0 (45) 0.0 (44) 11. Texas (2-0) 18.5 41.9 (5) 23.4 (42) 0.0 (34) 12. N. Carolina (1-0) 17.5 39.7 (6) 22.2 (35) 0.0 (40) 13. UCF (2-0) 16.8 37.2 (13) 20.5 (30) N/A 14. Oregon (0-0) 16.3 32.7 (30) 16.3 (10) N/A 15. Miami (3-0) 16.0 31.5 (38) 16.0 (8) 0.5 (1) 16. USC (0-0) 15.8 39.5 (7) 23.7 (43) N/A 17. Va. Tech (1-0) 15.4 33.6 (25) 18.2 (21) 0.0 (28) 18. Washington (0-0) 15.3 32.5 (31) 17.2 (16) N/A 19. Texas A&M (1-0) 14.7 33.2 (28) 18.5 (23) 0.0 (45) 20. Minnesota (0-0) 14.3 38.8 (10) 24.5 (47) N/A 21. Baylor (1-0) 14.3 34.6 (23) 20.4 (28) 0.1 (17) 22. Cincinnati (2-0) 14.2 30.5 (46) 16.4 (11) N/A 23. Michigan (0-0) 14.0 31.9 (37) 17.8 (19) N/A 24. Tennessee (1-0) 12.6 29.5 (52) 16.8 (12) 0.0 (46) 25. LSU (0-1) 12.3 34.9 (22) 22.6 (39) 0.1 (16) 26. Utah (0-0) 11.9 36.1 (15) 24.3 (46) N/A 27. BYU (2-0) 11.9 33.3 (27) 21.5 (32) 0.1 (7) 28. Oklahoma St. (2-0) 11.6 31.9 (36) 20.4 (29) N/A 29. Iowa (0-0) 11.3 28.4 (60) 17.0 (13) N/A 30. Memphis (1-0) 10.0 35.8 (19) 25.8 (53) 0.0 (52) 31. Nebraska (0-0) 9.9 35.6 (21) 25.7 (51) N/A 32. Indiana (0-0) 9.9 32.1 (35) 22.2 (36) N/A 33. Virginia (1-0) 9.5 29.7 (51) 20.2 (27) 0.0 (32) 34. S. Carolina (0-1) 8.6 26.8 (76) 18.1 (20) 0.0 (42) 35. Boise St. (0-0) 8.5 31.4 (39) 22.9 (41) N/A 36. Pittsburgh (3-0) 8.1 23.3 (99) 14.7 (5) -0.4 (71) 37. Louisville (1-2) 8.0 37.5 (12) 29.3 (74) -0.1 (60) 38. Miss. St. (1-0) 8.0 35.9 (17) 28.0 (65) 0.1 (20) 39. SMU (3-0) 7.9 35.7 (20) 27.9 (64) 0.1 (15) 40. Arizona St. (0-0) 7.3 26.8 (75) 19.5 (25) N/A 41. Iowa St. (1-1) 7.1 29.0 (54) 21.9 (33) 0.1 (18) 42. App. St. (2-1) 6.8 33.4 (26) 26.2 (57) -0.4 (72) 43. Kentucky (0-1) 6.7 28.7 (57) 21.9 (34) 0.0 (48) 44. Ole Miss (0-1) 6.0 32.5 (33) 26.4 (58) 0.0 (54) 45. TCU (0-1) 5.9 27.1 (72) 21.2 (31) 0.0 (47) 46. Stanford (0-0) 4.3 30.9 (42) 26.6 (59) N/A 47. Purdue (0-0) 4.2 32.9 (29) 28.7 (70) N/A 48. Missouri (0-1) 4.1 22.5 (103) 18.5 (22) 0.1 (12) 49. Michigan St. (0-0) 4.0 21.8 (105) 17.8 (18) N/A 50. W. Virginia (1-1) 3.5 28.6 (59) 25.0 (48) 0.0 (53) 51. Louisiana (3-0) 3.1 32.5 (32) 29.2 (73) -0.2 (65) 52. Northwestern (0-0) 3.1 19.4 (116) 16.3 (9) N/A 53. California (0-0) 2.4 30.6 (45) 28.2 (66) N/A 54. Kansas St. (1-1) 2.4 30.0 (49) 27.7 (62) 0.0 (30) 55. Marshall (2-0) 2.3 24.5 (88) 22.2 (37) 0.0 (29) 56. Wash. St. (0-0) 2.3 35.8 (18) 33.5 (102) N/A 57. Florida St. (0-2) 1.3 26.6 (78) 25.2 (50) -0.1 (56) 58. Boston Coll. (2-0) 1.2 31.0 (41) 29.8 (76) N/A 59. Houston (0-0) 1.1 31.1 (40) 30.0 (78) N/A 60. UCLA (0-0) 0.9 30.8 (43) 29.9 (77) N/A 61. Tulane (2-1) 0.8 29.3 (53) 28.5 (68) N/A 62. Illinois (0-0) 0.7 26.4 (79) 25.7 (52) N/A 63. Ga. Tech (1-2) 0.6 23.7 (94) 22.8 (40) -0.3 (69) 64. UAB (2-1) 0.4 20.2 (113) 19.9 (26) 0.1 (22) 65. Ohio (0-0) -1.0 32.1 (34) 33.1 (99) N/A 66. Temple (0-0) -1.4 24.5 (87) 25.9 (55) N/A 67. Oregon St. (0-0) -2.0 28.0 (64) 30.0 (79) N/A 68. San Diego St. (0-0) -2.3 14.9 (123) 17.2 (15) N/A 69. Buffalo (0-0) -2.6 24.9 (86) 27.5 (61) N/A 70. Texas Tech (1-1) -2.6 30.3 (48) 32.8 (96) -0.2 (63) 71. Tulsa (0-1) -2.7 25.2 (84) 27.7 (63) -0.1 (62) 72. Army (2-1) -3.1 27.6 (70) 30.8 (85) 0.1 (5) 73. NC St. (1-1) -3.5 26.4 (80) 30.0 (80) N/A 74. Arkansas St. (1-1) -3.7 33.7 (24) 37.3 (116) -0.2 (64) 75. Arkansas (0-1) -3.9 23.4 (97) 27.3 (60) 0.0 (55) 76. WKU (0-2) -4.0 19.9 (114) 23.9 (44) 0.1 (10) 77. Colorado St. (0-0) -4.1 25.9 (82) 30.1 (83) N/A 78. Maryland (0-0) -4.2 24.0 (90) 28.2 (67) N/A 79. Ball St. (0-0) -4.3 27.4 (71) 31.6 (88) N/A 80. Troy (1-1) -4.3 28.6 (58) 33.0 (97) N/A 81. Duke (0-3) -4.8 17.7 (120) 22.5 (38) 0.0 (37) 82. Coastal Caro. (2-0) -4.9 28.8 (55) 33.7 (103) 0.0 (33) 83. WMU (0-0) -5.1 28.0 (65) 33.2 (100) N/A 84. Wyoming (0-0) -5.3 19.7 (115) 25.1 (49) N/A 85. La. Tech (2-0) -5.6 27.0 (73) 32.6 (93) 0.0 (27) 86. Colorado (0-0) -5.8 26.9 (74) 32.7 (95) N/A 87. CMU (0-0) -5.8 24.3 (89) 30.1 (82) N/A 88. Navy (1-1) -5.9 26.1 (81) 32.0 (92) 0.0 (36) 89. Syracuse (1-2) -6.4 23.2 (100) 29.6 (75) 0.1 (19) 90. Toledo (0-0) -6.4 28.1 (62) 34.5 (105) N/A 91. Hawaii (0-0) -6.8 30.5 (47) 37.3 (115) N/A 92. Georgia St. (0-1) -7.0 28.8 (56) 35.8 (109) 0.0 (39) 93. Wake Forest (0-2) -7.3 21.5 (106) 28.8 (71) -0.1 (58) 94. Arizona (0-0) -7.4 30.6 (44) 38.0 (119) N/A 95. FAU (0-0) -7.5 23.4 (96) 31.0 (86) N/A 96. Ga. Southern (1-1) -7.6 23.6 (95) 31.2 (87) 0.0 (49) 97. Liberty (2-0) -7.6 28.2 (61) 35.7 (108) -0.1 (59) 98. USF (1-1) -7.7 18.5 (118) 26.0 (56) -0.3 (68) 99. Fresno St. (0-0) -8.0 28.1 (63) 36.1 (110) N/A 100. Utah St. (0-0) -8.1 23.9 (92) 31.9 (91) N/A 101. Air Force (0-0) -8.8 21.8 (104) 30.7 (84) N/A 102. San Jose St. (0-0) -9.1 27.8 (67) 36.9 (113) N/A 103. So. Miss (0-3) -9.3 23.8 (93) 33.0 (98) -0.1 (61) 104. Texas St. (1-3) -9.4 25.1 (85) 34.4 (104) -0.2 (67) 105. ECU (0-1) -9.4 27.8 (68) 37.2 (114) 0.0 (50) 106. Charlotte (0-1) -9.6 27.7 (69) 37.3 (117) 0.0 (24) 107. Nevada (0-0) -9.7 20.3 (111) 30.0 (81) N/A 108. Rutgers (0-0) -10.2 18.8 (117) 29.0 (72) N/A 109. FIU (0-1) -10.4 21.4 (107) 31.8 (89) 0.0 (41) 110. Vanderbilt (0-1) -10.8 15.1 (122) 25.8 (54) -0.1 (57) 111. Miami-OH (0-0) -11.1 20.8 (110) 31.9 (90) N/A 112. N. Texas (1-1) -11.5 24.0 (91) 35.6 (107) 0.1 (11) 113. Kent St. (0-0) -12.3 26.6 (77) 38.9 (120) N/A 114. EMU (0-0) -12.5 27.8 (66) 40.3 (125) N/A 115. MTSU (0-3) -14.0 25.7 (83) 39.8 (121) 0.0 (25) 116. Rice (0-0) -14.2 14.3 (125) 28.5 (69) N/A 117. S. Alabama (1-2) -14.6 20.3 (112) 34.6 (106) -0.2 (66) 118. NIU (0-0) -14.6 18.1 (119) 32.7 (94) N/A 119. Kansas (0-2) -15.4 21.1 (108) 36.5 (112) 0.0 (35) 120. UTSA (3-0) -16.6 23.4 (98) 40.2 (122) 0.3 (2) 121. New Mexico (0-0) -17.3 22.9 (102) 40.2 (123) N/A 122. UNLV (0-0) -17.3 23.0 (101) 40.3 (124) N/A 123. ULM (0-3) -20.7 21.0 (109) 41.4 (126) -0.3 (70) 124. UTEP (3-1) -20.9 15.6 (121) 36.5 (111) 0.0 (51) 125. Akron (0-0) -21.0 12.5 (126) 33.5 (101) N/A 126. BGSU (0-0) -23.1 14.5 (124) 37.5 (118) N/A