CARConference-Adjusted
Rankings

2026 college football rankings
Every FBS team. One independent matrix.

A conference-first ranking and forecasting system for all 138 FBS programs. Conference quality is earned in nonconference games; team quality is earned against the opponents actually played.

2026 Week 2 EditionThird results-based rankingUpdated September 13, 2026

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Week 2 matrix

2026 FBS rankings

138teams ranked

How to read this release: All 86 games played September 10–12 are final. This edition uses the published transition standard of 50% preseason foundation and 50% current-season evidence. Week 2 opponents are valued with the frozen Week 1 matrix.

Rank all teams by CAR measure →

Why each team is ranked here

Twelve CAR measures explain the ranking beyond wins and losses.

Choose a team

CAR Game Value

LoadingOpponent, location, margin, and expectation value

Expectation Delta

LoadingActual margin minus expected margin

Schedule Strength Played

LoadingDifficulty of completed FBS games

Schedule Strength Remaining

LoadingDifficulty of games still to be played

Best Win / Worst Result

LoadingMost valuable win, or costliest result without a win

Opponent-Adjusted Offense

LoadingScoring compared with opponents' usual defense

Opponent-Adjusted Defense

LoadingPoints prevented versus opponents' usual offense

Road and Neutral Strength

LoadingAverage value in games away from home

Consistency Index

LoadingStability from one adjusted result to the next

Conference Contribution

LoadingEffect on the team's conference score

Quality Record

LoadingRecord by frozen opponent tier

CAR Trajectory

LoadingChange across up to three releases

Played metrics use completed FBS games. Remaining schedule includes future regular-season opponents; FCS opponents count as zero. Early measures appear only when enough games exist. Select a team here or click its name in the rankings.

Rank	Team	Conference	Record	Previous	CAR points	Confidence
1	Texas	SEC	2–0	5	86.954	Early
2	Indiana	Big Ten	2–0	3	86.175	Early
3	Notre Dame	FBS Independents	2–0	4	85.970	Early
4	LSU	SEC	2–0	6	83.685	Early
5	Georgia	SEC	2–0	12	82.873	Early
6	Texas A&M	SEC	2–0	7	82.727	Early
7	Alabama	SEC	2–0	9	81.294	Early
8	Michigan	Big Ten	2–0	15	80.570	Early
9	USC	Big Ten	3–0	10	79.899	Early
10	Ole Miss	SEC	2–0	11	79.191	Early
11	Penn State	Big Ten	2–0	13	79.165	Early
12	Miami	ACC	2–0	8	78.471	Early
13	Texas Tech	Big 12	2–0	18	77.698	Early
14	Iowa	Big Ten	2–0	19	76.942	Early
15	Washington	Big Ten	2–0	16	76.821	Early
16	Tennessee	SEC	2–0	24	76.499	Early
17	BYU	Big 12	2–0	25	76.062	Early
18	Missouri	SEC	2–0	27	75.156	Early
19	North Dakota State	Mountain West	3–0	21	74.706	Early
20	Ohio State	Big Ten	1–1	1	74.276	Early
21	Florida	SEC	2–0	17	74.238	Early
22	South Carolina	SEC	2–0	20	72.753	Early
23	Utah	Big 12	2–0	31	71.774	Early
24	Virginia	ACC	2–0	23	71.377	Early
25	South Florida	American Athletic	2–0	28	70.698	Early
26	James Madison	Sun Belt	2–0	22	70.527	Early
27	Vanderbilt	SEC	2–0	37	69.815	Early
28	Duke	ACC	2–0	30	69.074	Early
29	SMU	ACC	2–0	26	67.752	Early
30	New Mexico	Mountain West	2–0	29	67.725	Early
31	Pittsburgh	ACC	2–0	33	67.426	Early
32	Wake Forest	ACC	2–0	34	66.648	Early
33	North Texas	American Athletic	1–1	44	66.400	Early
34	Kansas State	Big 12	2–0	61	64.672	Early
35	Nebraska	Big Ten	2–0	36	64.136	Early
36	Oklahoma	SEC	1–1	14	63.195	Early
37	Oregon	Big Ten	1–1	2	63.193	Early
38	Maryland	Big Ten	2–0	95	63.005	Early
39	Auburn	SEC	2–0	47	62.737	Early
40	UTSA	American Athletic	2–0	57	62.669	Early
41	Houston	Big 12	2–0	35	62.643	Early
42	Boise State	Pac-12	1–1	68	62.448	Early
43	Clemson	ACC	1–1	43	61.427	Early
44	North Carolina	ACC	2–0	52	60.579	Early
45	Mississippi State	SEC	2–0	65	59.120	Early
46	UCLA	Big Ten	2–0	56	58.220	Early
47	Michigan State	Big Ten	2–0	53	58.026	Early
48	App State	Sun Belt	2–0	94	57.704	Early
49	Virginia Tech	ACC	2–0	113	57.220	Early
50	Cincinnati	Big 12	2–0	51	56.307	Early
51	Troy	Sun Belt	2–0	49	55.241	Early
52	Colorado	Big 12	2–0	66	55.032	Early
53	West Virginia	Big 12	2–0	63	54.853	Early
54	Memphis	American Athletic	2–1	32	54.347	Early
55	Colorado State	Pac-12	2–0	79	52.643	Early
56	Georgia State	Sun Belt	2–0	126	51.700	Early
57	Fresno State	Pac-12	1–1	76	51.637	Early
58	Tulsa	American Athletic	2–0	78	50.716	Early
59	Tulane	American Athletic	1–1	71	49.647	Early
60	Illinois	Big Ten	1–1	39	48.991	Early
61	Florida International	Conference USA	1–1	99	48.272	Early
62	Stanford	ACC	1–1	80	47.411	Early
63	Massachusetts	Mid-American	2–0	109	46.373	Early
64	Florida Atlantic	American Athletic	1–1	118	45.555	Early
65	Florida State	ACC	1–1	72	45.533	Early
66	Northwestern	Big Ten	1–0	70	44.616	Early
67	Marshall	Sun Belt	1–1	100	44.421	Early
68	San José State	Mountain West	2–1	90	44.192	Early
69	Arizona	Big 12	1–1	41	43.128	Early
70	Louisville	ACC	1–1	62	42.839	Early
71	Western Michigan	Mid-American	1–1	60	42.823	Early
72	Ohio	Mid-American	1–1	98	42.628	Early
73	Louisiana Tech	Conference USA	1–1	48	41.417	Early
74	UNLV	Mountain West	1–2	45	40.755	Early
75	Iowa State	Big 12	1–1	54	40.744	Early
76	Arizona State	Big 12	1–1	59	38.314	Early
77	Hawai'i	Mountain West	1–2	93	37.777	Early
78	Army	American Athletic	1–1	58	37.257	Early
79	Oklahoma State	Big 12	1–1	137	36.747	Early
80	NC State	ACC	1–1	83	36.594	Early
81	East Carolina	American Athletic	0–2	64	35.591	Early
82	Nevada	Mountain West	1–1	55	35.167	Early
83	California	ACC	1–1	122	34.736	Early
84	UAB	American Athletic	1–1	129	34.452	Early
85	Boston College	ACC	1–1	133	34.445	Early
86	Navy	American Athletic	1–1	40	34.146	Early
87	Kentucky	SEC	1–1	84	33.889	Early
88	Old Dominion	Sun Belt	1–1	38	33.758	Early
89	San Diego State	Pac-12	1–1	42	33.704	Early
90	Louisiana	Sun Belt	1–1	81	33.288	Early
91	Missouri State	Conference USA	1–1	101	32.845	Early
92	Georgia Tech	ACC	0–2	97	32.691	Early
93	Texas State	Pac-12	0–2	74	32.547	Early
94	Washington State	Pac-12	0–2	75	32.278	Early
95	Air Force	Mountain West	1–1	91	31.973	Early
96	Temple	American Athletic	1–1	87	31.966	Early
97	UCF	Big 12	1–1	86	31.787	Early
98	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	1–1	103	31.699	Early
99	TCU	Big 12	1–1	92	31.602	Early
100	Liberty	Conference USA	1–1	110	31.492	Early
101	Delaware	Conference USA	1–1	77	31.430	Early
102	Kansas	Big 12	1–1	82	31.232	Early
103	Jacksonville State	Conference USA	1–2	85	31.125	Early
104	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	1–1	69	31.027	Early
105	Toledo	Mid-American	1–1	88	30.872	Early
106	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	0–2	102	30.672	Early
107	UConn	FBS Independents	1–1	46	30.008	Early
108	Central Michigan	Mid-American	1–1	104	29.972	Early
109	Wisconsin	Big Ten	1–1	115	29.236	Early
110	Kent State	Mid-American	1–1	112	28.773	Early
111	Southern Miss	Sun Belt	1–1	73	28.388	Early
112	Miami (OH)	Mid-American	1–1	108	28.185	Early
113	Rice	American Athletic	1–1	105	28.100	Early
114	Kennesaw State	Conference USA	1–1	50	27.682	Early
115	Ball State	Mid-American	1–1	123	27.564	Early
116	Eastern Michigan	Mid-American	1–2	106	26.908	Early
117	Akron	Mid-American	1–1	116	26.776	Early
118	Arkansas	SEC	1–1	107	26.560	Early
119	Baylor	Big 12	1–1	117	26.260	Early
120	Minnesota	Big Ten	1–1	67	25.946	Early
121	South Alabama	Sun Belt	1–1	96	25.789	Early
122	Sacramento State	Mid-American	1–2	114	25.438	Early
123	UTEP	Mountain West	1–1	130	24.288	Early
124	Purdue	Big Ten	1–1	119	23.791	Early
125	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	1–1	121	23.750	Early
126	Utah State	Pac-12	0–2	125	23.145	Early
127	Buffalo	Mid-American	1–1	89	22.050	Early
128	Rutgers	Big Ten	0–2	127	21.489	Early
129	New Mexico State	Conference USA	1–2	128	20.900	Early
130	Oregon State	Pac-12	0–2	131	20.603	Early
131	Bowling Green	Mid-American	0–2	132	20.347	Early
132	Middle Tennessee	Conference USA	1–1	111	20.098	Early
133	Northern Illinois	Mountain West	0–2	124	18.740	Early
134	Wyoming	Mountain West	1–1	134	16.756	Early
135	Syracuse	ACC	1–1	120	16.628	Early
136	UL Monroe	Sun Belt	0–2	136	16.153	Early
137	Sam Houston	Conference USA	0–2	135	14.704	Early
138	Charlotte	American Athletic	0–2	138	9.403	Early

Download Week 2 rankings (CSV)Executive methodology (PDF)

Conference-first matrix

Week 2 conference standings

Download conference standings (CSV)

Conference scores are earned only in games against other FBS conferences and are adjusted for opponent strength and location. Week 2 evidence is strongly shrunk toward the neutral 50.000 baseline; conferences without an interconference result remain tied.

Rank	Conference	Nonconference	Games	CAR conference score	Confidence
1	SEC	20–2	22	72.043	Early
2	Big Ten	22–8	30	62.417	Early
3	ACC	12–6	18	59.579	Early
4	Big 12	8–7	15	51.999	Early
5	FBS Independents	2–1	3	50.618	Early
6	American Athletic	9–10	19	48.512	Early
7	Mountain West	5–7	12	46.179	Early
8	Pac-12	3–10	13	43.033	Early
9	Sun Belt	5–10	15	39.473	Early
10	Conference USA	1–15	16	30.257	Early
11	Mid-American	2–13	15	30.118	Early

Weekly recap · Games of September 10–12

Week 2: Texas takes the lead

All 86 games are final. Texas moves to No. 1, followed by Indiana and Notre Dame. The SEC leads the conference matrix at 20–2.

Open printable weekly recap (PDF)

Texas to No. 1

24–23 over Ohio State. Texas rises from No. 5 to No. 1.

Georgia to No. 5

Up to No. 5. Georgia climbs seven places in the updated matrix.

Tennessee to No. 16

45–24 at Georgia Tech. Tennessee rises eight places to No. 16.

Utah to No. 23

43–10 over Arkansas. Utah rises eight places to No. 23.

BYU to No. 17

28–17 over Arizona. BYU rises eight places to No. 17.

-19

Ohio State to No. 20

23–24 at Texas. Ohio State moves to No. 20 with a 1–1 record.

Why Ohio State dropped: Ohio State falls from No. 1 to No. 20 after a 24–23 road loss to Texas. At 1–1, the Buckeyes have a small early-season résumé, and this release raises current-season weight from 35% to 50%. This is not a prediction that 19 teams would beat Ohio State. Strong results ahead can rebuild that résumé; CAR does not award future wins in advance. Confidence remains Early.

Week 2 includes 49 FBS-versus-FBS games and 37 FBS-versus-FCS games. FBS wins over FCS opponents earn no positive résumé value. FCS losses receive the published substantial deduction. The printable recap includes every final score.

Transparent by design

How CAR works

35%

Matrix résumé

Rewards wins over strong opponents using the opponent's frozen pregame matrix value.

30%

Predictive strength

Measures current on-field quality using opponent-adjusted efficiency and personnel information.

25%

Record quality

Values wins and losses in context instead of relying on raw winning percentage.

10%

Conference strength

Uses opponent- and location-adjusted performance against other conferences.

FCS rule

An FBS win over an FCS opponent earns no positive résumé or conference points. An FBS loss receives a substantial deduction.

Two distinct outputs

The selection ranking asks who has earned a playoff place. The predictive rating asks who is most likely to win next.

Independent inputs

AP, ESPN, CFP committee rankings, and gambling odds are not inputs. They may be used only as external benchmarks.

What comes next

Next ranking: after the full Week 3 slate

This Week 2 release becomes the comparison point for the next edition. Confidence remains Early as the season adds evidence.

View all teams

About the rankings

CAR college football ranking questions

What are the CAR rankings?

CAR is an independent ranking of every FBS football team. It begins with how conferences perform outside their leagues, then evaluates each team's results against the strength of the opponents it actually played.

How often are the rankings updated?

During the season, a new edition is planned each week after the completed games are processed. The page keeps the prior rank so readers can see movement over time.

Does CAR use AP, ESPN, CFP, or betting rankings?

No. Those rankings and betting odds are not model inputs. CAR can compare its results with outside systems, but its published rank is independently calculated.

Why rank all 138 FBS teams?

Ranking the full division gives every opponent a matrix value. That lets a win over a strong team count more than a win over a weak team and helps quantify schedule quality consistently.