Resume rankings

Not who's best, but who's done the most: every FBS team ranked by how hard its record would be for a playoff-calibre team to match on the same schedule. The committee says it weighs resumes; here is one, ranked beside its own list. It's the record so far, not a forecast: each team's chance of making the playoff, which also weighs how good it is and what's left on its schedule, is on the playoff odds page, which uses this ranking to pick the field.

2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015

Full regular season. AP poll: final. Committee ranking: final, before the bowls.

Biggest disagreements with the committee

Teams either list has in its top 25 whose CFP rank is furthest from their resume rank.

Ranked above their resume

Stanford
9-4 · resume score 32.2 · schedule 3.8
Resume #25
CFP #13
Northwestern
9-3 · resume score 24.6 · schedule 2.7
Resume #27
CFP #21
Washington
10-2 · resume score 44.6 · schedule 2.4
Resume #16
CFP #11

Resume says higher

UCF
12-0 · resume score 91.7 · schedule 2.2
Resume #3
CFP #12
Toledo
11-2 · resume score 41.1 · schedule 2.3
Resume #17
CFP unranked
Troy
10-2 · resume score 38.9 · schedule 2.2
Resume #18
CFP unranked

Every FBS team, 2017

130

Resume is how often a top-12 team, playing the same schedule, would fall short of the record, out of 100: higher is harder to match. Schedule is how many of these games a top-12 team would expect to lose. The rule under row 12 marks the size of the playoff field.

#	Team	Record	Resume	Schedule	Elo	AP	CFP
1	Georgia	12-1	93.0	3.6	4	2	3
2	Clemson	12-1	92.9	3.6	1	4	1
3	UCF	12-0	91.7	2.2	10	6	12
4	Oklahoma	12-1	90.4	3.3	2	3	2
5	Alabama	11-1	88.2	3.1	3	1	4
6	Wisconsin	12-1	84.9	3.0	5	7	6
7	Auburn	10-3	78.1	4.6	9	10	7
8	Ohio State	11-2	76.3	3.6	6	5	5
9	USC	11-2	70.8	3.4	7	12	8
10	Miami	10-2	70.2	3.3	14	13	10
11	Penn State	10-2	63.6	3.0	8	8	9
12	Notre Dame	9-3	62.4	4.0	17	11	14
13	TCU	10-3	52.9	3.6	22	9	15
14	Memphis	10-2	46.5	2.5	24	25	20
15	Michigan State	9-3	45.0	3.4	34	15	16
16	Washington	10-2	44.6	2.4	12	16	11
17	Toledo	11-2	41.1	2.3	16	-	-
18	Troy	10-2	38.9	2.2	27	-	-
19	Washington State	9-3	38.4	3.1	39	-	18
20	LSU	9-3	36.2	3.1	11	18	17
21	San Diego State	10-2	35.3	2.1	33	-	-
22	Boise State	10-3	34.3	3.0	19	22	25
23	Virginia Tech	9-3	32.4	2.9	23	24	22
24	Oklahoma State	9-3	32.3	2.9	20	14	19
25	Stanford	9-4	32.2	3.8	13	20	13
26	NC State	8-4	25.2	3.6	30	23	24
27	Northwestern	9-3	24.6	2.7	18	17	21
28	Mississippi State	8-4	24.2	3.6	26	19	23
29	Florida Atlantic	10-3	19.8	2.4	15	-	-
30	South Florida	9-2	18.5	1.6	21	21	-
31	Fresno State	9-4	17.8	3.3	36	-	-
32	Michigan	8-4	17.6	3.3	29	-	-
33	South Carolina	8-4	16.5	3.2	44	-	-
34	Army	9-3	15.0	2.3	37	-	-
35	Louisville	8-4	13.4	3.0	25	-	-
36	North Texas	9-4	12.4	2.9	66	-	-
37	Wake Forest	7-5	10.7	3.7	49	-	-
38	Iowa	7-5	9.9	3.6	38	-	-
39	Boston College	7-5	8.2	3.5	32	-	-
40	Northern Illinois	8-4	5.1	2.4	50	-	-
41	Arizona State	7-5	4.7	3.1	47	-	-
42	Texas A&M	7-5	4.4	3.1	48	-	-
43	Iowa State	7-5	4.1	3.1	43	-	-
44	Kentucky	7-5	3.8	3.0	73	-	-
45	Houston	7-4	3.7	2.2	41	-	-
46	West Virginia	7-5	3.5	3.0	57	-	-
47	Florida International	8-4	3.1	2.2	61	-	-
48	Central Michigan	8-4	3.0	2.1	42	-	-
49	Florida State	6-6	3.0	3.8	28	-	-
50	UCLA	6-6	2.7	3.7	70	-	-
51	Ohio	8-4	2.5	1.9	55	-	-
52	Oregon	7-5	2.5	2.8	46	-	-
53	Navy	6-6	2.3	3.5	77	-	-
54	Kansas State	7-5	1.9	2.7	40	-	-
55	Arizona	7-5	1.9	2.6	74	-	-
56	SMU	7-5	1.8	2.7	75	-	-
57	App State	8-4	1.3	1.8	35	-	-
58	Purdue	6-6	1.3	3.3	53	-	-
59	Missouri	7-5	1.3	2.5	31	-	-
60	Texas	6-6	1.2	3.4	51	-	-
61	Akron	7-6	1.0	3.2	90	-	-
62	Southern Miss	8-4	1.0	1.5	76	-	-
63	Texas Tech	6-6	1.0	3.1	81	-	-
64	Virginia	6-6	0.9	3.1	96	-	-
65	Utah	6-6	0.8	3.1	59	-	-
66	Ole Miss	6-6	0.8	3.2	58	-	-
67	Georgia Tech	5-6	0.8	3.2	65	-	-
68	Duke	6-6	0.8	2.9	52	-	-
69	UAB	8-4	0.7	1.5	63	-	-
70	Wyoming	7-5	0.6	2.2	67	-	-
71	Marshall	7-5	0.6	2.2	79	-	-
72	Arkansas State	7-4	0.5	1.4	45	-	-
73	Colorado State	7-5	0.5	2.2	62	-	-
74	Western Michigan	6-6	0.3	2.8	60	-	-
75	Temple	6-6	0.3	2.7	56	-	-
76	Florida	4-7	0.2	3.2	72	-	-
77	California	5-7	0.2	3.2	68	-	-
78	Vanderbilt	5-7	0.2	3.1	84	-	-
79	Syracuse	4-8	0.2	4.1	106	-	-
80	Maryland	4-8	0.1	4.0	108	-	-
81	Georgia State	6-5	0.1	1.8	107	-	-
82	Utah State	6-6	0.1	2.3	69	-	-
83	Indiana	5-7	0.1	3.1	78	-	-
84	UTSA	6-5	0.1	1.5	87	-	-
85	Pittsburgh	5-7	0.1	3.0	54	-	-
86	Tulane	5-7	0.1	3.0	88	-	-
87	Buffalo	6-6	0.1	2.0	80	-	-
88	Minnesota	5-7	0.1	2.9	83	-	-
89	Nebraska	4-8	0.1	3.5	103	-	-
90	Colorado	5-7	0.1	2.8	91	-	-
91	Louisiana Tech	6-6	0.1	2.0	64	-	-
92	New Mexico State	6-6	0.1	2.0	94	-	-
93	Middle Tennessee	6-6	<0.1	2.0	82	-	-
94	Arkansas	4-8	<0.1	3.6	97	-	-
95	Air Force	5-7	<0.1	2.6	71	-	-
96	Eastern Michigan	5-7	<0.1	2.7	92	-	-
97	Tennessee	4-8	<0.1	3.4	101	-	-
98	Western Kentucky	6-6	<0.1	1.7	86	-	-
99	Old Dominion	5-7	<0.1	2.3	98	-	-
100	UNLV	5-7	<0.1	2.3	102	-	-
101	Rutgers	4-8	<0.1	3.0	111	-	-
102	Louisiana	5-7	<0.1	2.1	105	-	-
103	UL Monroe	4-8	<0.1	2.7	110	-	-
104	Cincinnati	4-8	<0.1	2.6	118	-	-
105	Miami (OH)	5-7	<0.1	2.0	89	-	-
106	North Carolina	3-9	<0.1	3.0	85	-	-
107	BYU	4-9	<0.1	3.1	93	-	-
108	South Alabama	4-8	<0.1	2.2	113	-	-
109	Massachusetts	4-8	<0.1	2.1	95	-	-
110	Idaho	4-8	<0.1	2.1	100	-	-
111	Nevada	3-9	<0.1	3.2	99	-	-
112	East Carolina	3-9	<0.1	2.9	114	-	-
113	UConn	3-9	<0.1	2.7	120	-	-
114	New Mexico	3-9	<0.1	2.7	115	-	-
115	Illinois	2-10	<0.1	3.3	121	-	-
116	Tulsa	2-10	<0.1	3.0	104	-	-
117	Hawai'i	3-9	<0.1	2.0	122	-	-
118	Kent State	2-10	<0.1	3.2	126	-	-
119	Coastal Carolina	3-9	<0.1	2.0	112	-	-
120	Bowling Green	2-10	<0.1	2.7	117	-	-
121	Ball State	2-10	<0.1	2.2	129	-	-
122	Georgia Southern	2-10	<0.1	2.6	109	-	-
123	Oregon State	1-11	<0.1	3.4	119	-	-
124	San José State	2-11	<0.1	2.6	124	-	-
125	Kansas	1-11	<0.1	3.3	128	-	-
126	Rice	1-11	<0.1	2.7	125	-	-
127	Texas State	2-10	<0.1	2.1	123	-	-
128	Baylor	1-11	<0.1	3.2	116	-	-
129	Charlotte	1-11	<0.1	2.3	127	-	-
130	UTEP	0-12	<0.1	2.9	130	-	-

How it works

Each team's record is held up against a benchmark: the season's 12th-best FBS team, about the last at-large team into a 12-team playoff, playing the same opponents at the same sites. The resume score is how often that benchmark would fall short of the record, out of 100. An unbeaten season through a hard schedule can score above 99; a three-loss season usually scores under 50. Only wins and losses count, not margins: this is what a team has done, not how good it is.

Team strength comes from YardLine's margin-of-victory Elo rating, the same one behind each team's stock chart, built from every game since 2014. Opponents are rated as they stand now, not on the day of the game, so beating a team that turned out to be good counts for more as the season goes on. The Elo column is that rating's rank: how good, beside the resume's how accomplished.

Elo's raw win chances are adjusted to match a decade of results: rating gaps count 15% more than plain Elo says, and teams below FBS are rated 310 points lower than their Elo, because the archive only sees them against FBS teams, which leaves their ratings too high. Both are fitted on every game since 2015, so a predicted 80% is won about 80% of the time.

Regular-season games only, conference championship games included: the committee ranks before the bowls and the playoff. Games update every Tuesday morning; the AP poll from its Sunday release, and the committee's ranking the morning after its Tuesday-night release.