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

Utah
10-3 · resume score 36.8 · schedule 3.1
Resume #22
CFP #11
NC State
9-3 · resume score 23.5 · schedule 2.6
Resume #27
CFP #18
Kentucky
9-3 · resume score 19.1 · schedule 2.5
Resume #30
CFP #22

Resume says higher

UTSA
12-1 · resume score 74.4 · schedule 2.4
Resume #7
CFP unranked
Louisiana
12-1 · resume score 70.0 · schedule 2.3
Resume #8
CFP #23
San Diego State
11-2 · resume score 53.8 · schedule 2.7
Resume #14
CFP #24

Every FBS team, 2021

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	Cincinnati	13-0	96.8	2.7	2	4	4
2	Alabama	12-1	93.0	3.6	1	2	1
3	Georgia	12-1	91.8	3.4	4	1	3
4	Michigan	12-1	90.4	3.3	3	3	2
5	Notre Dame	11-1	80.7	2.7	8	8	5
6	Oklahoma State	11-2	76.3	3.6	13	7	9
7	UTSA	12-1	74.4	2.4	31	-	-
8	Louisiana	12-1	70.0	2.3	5	16	23
9	Baylor	11-2	69.5	3.3	12	5	7
10	Michigan State	10-2	68.1	3.2	26	9	10
11	Ole Miss	10-2	66.2	3.1	11	11	8
12	Ohio State	10-2	63.5	3.0	6	6	6
13	BYU	10-2	62.8	3.0	15	19	13
14	San Diego State	11-2	53.8	2.7	48	25	24
15	Oregon	10-3	52.9	3.6	34	22	14
16	Oklahoma	10-2	52.7	2.6	14	10	16
17	Pittsburgh	11-2	46.1	2.5	9	13	12
18	Houston	11-2	44.2	2.4	18	17	20
19	Iowa	10-3	42.7	3.3	25	23	15
20	App State	10-3	42.1	3.3	16	-	-
21	Wake Forest	10-3	40.6	3.2	41	15	17
22	Utah	10-3	36.8	3.1	7	12	11
23	Clemson	9-3	34.1	3.0	10	14	19
24	Utah State	10-3	26.3	2.7	35	24	-
25	Arkansas	8-4	26.2	3.7	40	21	21
26	Fresno State	9-3	24.0	2.6	37	-	-
27	NC State	9-3	23.5	2.6	19	20	18
28	Wisconsin	8-4	21.3	3.4	21	-	-
29	Purdue	8-4	20.2	3.4	42	-	-
30	Kentucky	9-3	19.1	2.5	23	18	22
31	Air Force	9-3	18.5	2.4	24	-	-
32	Coastal Carolina	10-2	17.3	1.5	17	-	-
33	Texas A&M	8-4	11.8	2.9	20	-	25
34	Northern Illinois	9-4	10.1	2.8	74	-	-
35	Army	8-4	10.0	2.7	46	-	-
36	SMU	8-4	9.8	2.8	49	-	-
37	Minnesota	8-4	9.2	2.7	29	-	-
38	Boise State	7-5	8.9	3.5	22	-	-
39	Mississippi State	7-5	8.6	3.5	43	-	-
40	Arizona State	8-4	8.5	2.8	50	-	-
41	Nevada	8-4	7.7	2.6	36	-	-
42	Penn State	7-5	7.7	3.5	32	-	-
43	UCLA	8-4	6.8	2.5	30	-	-
44	Tennessee	7-5	6.1	3.4	53	-	-
45	UAB	8-4	5.9	2.5	38	-	-
46	UCF	8-4	5.5	2.5	45	-	-
47	Miami	7-5	5.2	3.3	44	-	-
48	Central Michigan	8-4	5.0	2.3	27	-	-
49	Auburn	6-6	5.0	4.0	58	-	-
50	Iowa State	7-5	4.9	3.2	28	-	-
51	East Carolina	7-5	4.4	3.2	62	-	-
52	LSU	6-6	4.1	4.0	51	-	-
53	Kansas State	7-5	3.3	2.9	67	-	-
54	Washington State	7-5	3.1	2.9	39	-	-
55	Oregon State	7-5	3.1	2.9	57	-	-
56	Western Michigan	7-5	3.0	3.0	64	-	-
57	Georgia State	7-5	2.8	2.9	47	-	-
58	Liberty	7-5	2.3	2.8	69	-	-
59	Western Kentucky	8-5	1.9	2.6	33	-	-
60	Maryland	6-6	1.7	3.4	75	-	-
61	Marshall	7-5	1.4	2.4	68	-	-
62	South Carolina	6-6	1.2	3.3	80	-	-
63	Texas Tech	6-6	1.1	3.3	81	-	-
64	Virginia	6-6	1.1	3.3	86	-	-
65	Eastern Michigan	7-5	1.0	2.4	90	-	-
66	West Virginia	6-6	1.0	3.1	55	-	-
67	Missouri	6-6	0.9	3.1	85	-	-
68	Tulsa	6-6	0.8	3.4	56	-	-
69	North Carolina	6-6	0.7	3.1	60	-	-
70	Louisville	6-6	0.7	3.0	70	-	-
71	Texas	5-7	0.7	3.8	65	-	-
72	Florida	6-6	0.6	3.1	59	-	-
73	Kent State	7-6	0.6	2.8	83	-	-
74	UTEP	7-5	0.5	2.1	91	-	-
75	Miami (OH)	6-6	0.4	2.9	54	-	-
76	Toledo	7-5	0.4	2.2	52	-	-
77	Virginia Tech	6-6	0.3	2.6	71	-	-
78	Ball State	6-6	0.3	2.5	63	-	-
79	Memphis	6-6	0.2	2.5	66	-	-
80	TCU	5-7	0.2	3.3	84	-	-
81	Wyoming	6-6	0.2	2.5	87	-	-
82	Navy	4-8	0.1	3.9	77	-	-
83	Florida State	5-7	0.1	3.1	78	-	-
84	Illinois	5-7	0.1	3.0	79	-	-
85	Boston College	6-6	0.1	2.3	88	-	-
86	Rutgers	5-7	0.1	3.1	97	-	-
87	Syracuse	5-7	0.1	2.9	93	-	-
88	Middle Tennessee	6-6	0.1	2.2	82	-	-
89	North Texas	6-6	0.1	1.9	61	-	-
90	Hawai'i	6-7	0.1	2.7	73	-	-
91	Old Dominion	6-6	<0.1	2.0	76	-	-
92	Troy	5-7	<0.1	2.6	94	-	-
93	USC	4-8	<0.1	3.3	95	-	-
94	California	5-7	<0.1	2.4	72	-	-
95	Florida Atlantic	5-7	<0.1	2.5	101	-	-
96	San José State	5-7	<0.1	2.3	99	-	-
97	Colorado	4-8	<0.1	3.3	96	-	-
98	South Alabama	5-7	<0.1	2.4	102	-	-
99	UL Monroe	4-8	<0.1	3.3	117	-	-
100	Nebraska	3-9	<0.1	3.9	89	-	-
101	Rice	4-8	<0.1	2.8	108	-	-
102	Stanford	3-9	<0.1	3.3	112	-	-
103	Washington	4-8	<0.1	2.6	92	-	-
104	Charlotte	5-7	<0.1	1.9	116	-	-
105	Georgia Tech	3-9	<0.1	3.5	104	-	-
106	Indiana	2-10	<0.1	4.5	109	-	-
107	Buffalo	4-8	<0.1	2.2	105	-	-
108	Bowling Green	4-8	<0.1	2.3	114	-	-
109	Texas State	4-8	<0.1	2.6	113	-	-
110	Georgia Southern	3-9	<0.1	3.0	100	-	-
111	Northwestern	3-9	<0.1	3.0	106	-	-
112	Tulane	2-10	<0.1	4.0	98	-	-
113	Colorado State	3-9	<0.1	2.8	111	-	-
114	New Mexico	3-9	<0.1	2.9	123	-	-
115	Louisiana Tech	3-9	<0.1	2.7	119	-	-
116	Temple	3-9	<0.1	2.6	125	-	-
117	Kansas	2-10	<0.1	3.5	124	-	-
118	South Florida	2-10	<0.1	3.6	118	-	-
119	UNLV	2-10	<0.1	3.2	110	-	-
120	Ohio	3-9	<0.1	2.2	103	-	-
121	Duke	3-9	<0.1	2.3	121	-	-
122	Southern Miss	3-9	<0.1	2.5	107	-	-
123	Arkansas State	2-10	<0.1	2.7	115	-	-
124	Vanderbilt	2-10	<0.1	2.9	127	-	-
125	New Mexico State	2-10	<0.1	3.1	122	-	-
126	Akron	2-10	<0.1	2.6	126	-	-
127	Arizona	1-11	<0.1	3.3	120	-	-
128	Florida International	1-11	<0.1	2.2	129	-	-
129	UConn	1-11	<0.1	2.7	128	-	-
130	Massachusetts	1-11	<0.1	2.6	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.