CARConference-Adjusted
Rankings

2026 college football rankings
Every FBS team. One transparent ranking.

A ranking of all 138 FBS programs: 80% CAR results, opponent records and performance, plus 20% previous-week CBS Sports 138. Conference strength is earned in FBS interconference games.

2026 Week 7 EditionEighth results-based rankingUpdated October 18, 2026

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Week 7 matrix

2026 FBS rankings

138teams ranked

New 80/20 methodology: Starting Week 7, the final score is 80% CAR and 20% the previous week’s CBS Sports 138 ranking. The CAR portion now includes the current FBS records of opponents played, excluding their games against the team being evaluated. This edition uses CAR results through October 17 and CBS ranks published October 12, before this week’s games. Movement is compared with published Week 6 and combines game results with the methodology change. Earlier editions and frozen pregame game values are unchanged. There is no direct preseason blend; historical frozen expectations can retain preseason influence.

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

LoadingUnavailable across the Week 7 method change

Played metrics use completed FBS games. Remaining schedule uses the existing preseason opponent scale for all future regular-season games; FCS opponents count as zero. CAR Trajectory is unavailable across this edition’s method change. 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	UCLA	Big Ten	6–0	1	83.121	Early
2	Miami	ACC	6–0	4	79.725	Early
3	BYU	Big 12	6–0	11	79.470	Early
4	Kentucky	SEC	6–1	8	79.181	Early
5	Ohio State	Big Ten	6–1	18	77.818	Early
6	Ole Miss	SEC	5–1	25	77.157	Early
7	Houston	Big 12	6–1	19	76.382	Early
8	Georgia	SEC	6–1	2	75.329	Early
9	LSU	SEC	5–2	35	75.325	Early
10	Tennessee	SEC	6–1	24	74.989	Early
11	Indiana	Big Ten	6–1	3	74.827	Early
12	Wake Forest	ACC	6–1	12	74.448	Early
13	Boise State	Pac-12	5–1	9	74.360	Early
14	Alabama	SEC	5–2	7	74.203	Early
15	Notre Dame	FBS Independents	6–1	5	72.896	Early
16	Texas Tech	Big 12	6–0	23	72.543	Early
17	Northwestern	Big Ten	5–1	16	72.498	Early
18	Utah	Big 12	6–0	17	71.593	Early
19	Mississippi State	SEC	4–2	6	71.142	Early
20	Wisconsin	Big Ten	4–2	14	70.666	Early
21	Oklahoma State	Big 12	4–2	13	70.599	Early
22	James Madison	Sun Belt	7–0	22	70.508	Early
23	Missouri	SEC	5–2	10	70.401	Early
24	Texas	SEC	4–2	21	70.298	Early
25	Arizona	Big 12	5–1	20	70.106	Early
26	Auburn	SEC	4–2	34	70.053	Early
27	North Carolina	ACC	4–2	38	69.115	Early
28	Iowa	Big Ten	5–1	30	68.369	Early
29	USC	Big Ten	6–1	27	67.951	Early
30	Oregon	Big Ten	4–2	59	66.954	Early
31	Nebraska	Big Ten	5–2	15	66.098	Early
32	UTSA	American Athletic	6–1	29	64.709	Early
33	Florida	SEC	5–2	57	64.359	Early
34	Oklahoma	SEC	3–3	33	64.249	Early
35	Oregon State	Pac-12	5–2	37	63.208	Early
36	Louisville	ACC	4–3	53	62.120	Early
37	SMU	ACC	5–1	49	61.854	Early
38	Virginia Tech	ACC	5–2	39	60.763	Early
39	Baylor	Big 12	4–2	26	60.485	Early
40	Michigan	Big Ten	4–2	52	60.343	Early
41	North Dakota State	Mountain West	6–1	42	60.276	Early
42	Air Force	Mountain West	5–1	45	59.811	Early
43	Pittsburgh	ACC	5–2	31	59.716	Early
44	Duke	ACC	4–2	32	59.189	Early
45	Liberty	Conference USA	5–1	36	58.158	Early
46	Kansas State	Big 12	4–2	61	58.131	Early
47	South Carolina	SEC	3–3	54	57.894	Early
48	New Mexico	Mountain West	5–1	48	57.724	Early
49	Minnesota	Big Ten	4–2	50	57.719	Early
50	Clemson	ACC	4–2	51	57.580	Early
51	Iowa State	Big 12	3–3	58	57.446	Early
52	Cincinnati	Big 12	4–2	44	55.652	Early
53	UCF	Big 12	3–3	66	55.381	Early
54	TCU	Big 12	3–3	102	55.041	Early
55	Purdue	Big Ten	3–4	41	54.648	Early
56	Texas A&M	SEC	4–3	56	54.276	Early
57	Army	American Athletic	4–2	78	54.203	Early
58	Washington	Big Ten	4–3	85	53.406	Early
59	West Virginia	Big 12	4–3	75	53.154	Early
60	Memphis	American Athletic	5–2	40	53.133	Early
61	Louisiana	Sun Belt	5–2	67	52.604	Early
62	UNLV	Mountain West	4–3	47	52.498	Early
63	Fresno State	Pac-12	4–3	43	52.346	Early
64	Arkansas	SEC	3–4	87	52.270	Early
65	NC State	ACC	3–3	62	52.259	Early
66	Jacksonville State	Conference USA	5–2	60	51.539	Early
67	North Texas	American Athletic	4–2	64	51.524	Early
68	Florida Atlantic	American Athletic	4–2	28	51.202	Early
69	Louisiana Tech	Sun Belt	4–2	63	51.004	Early
70	Florida State	ACC	3–4	73	50.844	Early
71	Georgia State	Sun Belt	4–2	46	50.685	Early
72	Western Michigan	Mid-American	5–2	65	50.665	Early
73	Penn State	Big Ten	3–4	76	50.008	Early
74	Virginia	ACC	4–3	68	50.003	Early
75	South Florida	American Athletic	5–2	70	49.992	Early
76	Boston College	ACC	3–3	95	49.942	Early
77	Arizona State	Big 12	3–3	69	49.922	Early
78	South Alabama	Sun Belt	4–2	55	48.207	Early
79	Kansas	Big 12	2–4	82	48.182	Early
80	Illinois	Big Ten	3–3	83	47.960	Early
81	Texas State	Pac-12	3–3	99	47.798	Early
82	Ohio	Mid-American	5–2	71	47.694	Early
83	Toledo	Mid-American	5–2	90	47.629	Early
84	California	ACC	3–4	81	46.685	Early
85	Vanderbilt	SEC	3–4	77	44.937	Early
86	UAB	American Athletic	4–3	89	44.669	Early
87	Georgia Tech	ACC	2–4	97	44.197	Early
88	Stanford	ACC	3–4	74	44.072	Early
89	Michigan State	Big Ten	2–5	86	44.024	Early
90	Tulane	American Athletic	3–3	108	43.940	Early
91	San Diego State	Pac-12	3–4	113	43.445	Early
92	Buffalo	Mid-American	4–3	98	43.396	Early
93	Florida International	Conference USA	3–3	72	43.104	Early
94	Colorado	Big 12	2–4	103	42.914	Early
95	App State	Sun Belt	4–2	105	42.582	Early
96	Miami (OH)	Mid-American	4–3	88	42.394	Early
97	San José State	Mountain West	4–3	92	41.354	Early
98	Wyoming	Mountain West	4–3	84	41.105	Early
99	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	3–4	114	40.730	Early
100	East Carolina	American Athletic	3–3	79	40.413	Early
101	Syracuse	ACC	2–4	101	40.222	Early
102	Maryland	Big Ten	2–5	94	39.763	Early
103	Massachusetts	Mid-American	4–3	93	38.427	Early
104	Marshall	Sun Belt	3–3	96	37.389	Early
105	UConn	FBS Independents	3–3	106	37.235	Early
106	Utah State	Pac-12	2–4	100	36.635	Early
107	Tulsa	American Athletic	4–3	117	36.520	Early
108	Eastern Michigan	Mid-American	4–4	80	36.420	Early
109	Navy	American Athletic	2–4	112	36.057	Early
110	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	3–4	116	36.043	Early
111	Troy	Sun Belt	3–3	91	35.662	Early
112	Nevada	Mountain West	2–4	104	34.631	Early
113	Colorado State	Pac-12	2–4	107	34.610	Early
114	Rutgers	Big Ten	2–4	127	34.294	Early
115	Central Michigan	Mid-American	3–4	109	33.439	Early
116	Middle Tennessee	Conference USA	3–3	122	32.314	Early
117	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	3–4	125	30.969	Early
118	Delaware	Conference USA	2–4	111	30.179	Early
119	Old Dominion	Sun Belt	2–5	121	30.132	Early
120	New Mexico State	Conference USA	2–4	118	30.053	Early
121	Ball State	Mid-American	2–5	128	29.754	Early
122	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	2–5	120	29.573	Early
123	Temple	American Athletic	2–5	115	28.295	Early
124	Bowling Green	Mid-American	2–5	110	27.910	Early
125	Kent State	Mid-American	2–5	119	27.601	Early
126	Missouri State	Conference USA	2–4	129	26.769	Early
127	Washington State	Pac-12	1–6	126	26.434	Early
128	Rice	American Athletic	1–6	124	25.852	Early
129	Charlotte	American Athletic	1–6	134	25.720	Early
130	Sam Houston	Conference USA	1–5	123	25.701	Early
131	Kennesaw State	Conference USA	1–5	130	21.308	Early
132	Northern Illinois	Mountain West	0–6	131	20.218	Early
133	UTEP	Mountain West	1–6	133	19.930	Early
134	Hawai'i	Mountain West	1–6	132	19.525	Early
135	Southern Miss	Sun Belt	1–5	136	18.987	Early
136	Sacramento State	Mid-American	1–6	135	18.801	Early
137	Akron	Mid-American	1–6	138	17.281	Early
138	UL Monroe	Sun Belt	0–6	137	16.744	Early

Download Week 7 rankings (CSV)Original methodology (historical PDF)

Conference-first matrix

Week 7 conference standings

Download conference standings (CSV)

Conference scores use FBS interconference results with opponent and location adjustments and a neutral anchor. Intraconference games can change team résumés but do not directly earn conference-contribution points. The CBS blend applies to team rankings, not to this conference table.

Rank	Conference	Nonconference	Games	CAR conference score	Confidence
1	SEC	28–2	30	74.803	Early
2	Big Ten	30–11	41	62.882	Early
3	Big 12	24–8	32	62.635	Early
4	ACC	18–12	30	58.675	Early
5	FBS Independents	8–4	12	54.635	Early
6	Pac-12	9–16	25	48.251	Early
7	American Athletic	16–23	39	42.741	Early
8	Mountain West	10–16	26	39.599	Early
9	Sun Belt	14–26	40	37.021	Early
10	Conference USA	6–24	30	33.430	Early
11	Mid-American	7–28	35	31.430	Early

Weekly recap · Games of October 13–17

UCLA stays No. 1; Miami and BYU complete the top three

UCLA leads at 6–0, followed by Miami, BYU, Kentucky and Ohio State. BYU is No. 3 after beating Notre Dame 28–24, and Ohio State is No. 5 after winning 19–15 at Indiana. Boise State is No. 13 and James Madison is No. 22. All 62 Week 7 games are final. LSU enters the Top 25 at No. 9; Nebraska leaves it at No. 31. These changes include the new 80/20 methodology.

Open complete printable weekly recap (PDF)

+48

TCU to No. 54

Previously No. 102. Record: 3–3. Movement includes results and the methodology change.

+29

Oregon to No. 30

Previously No. 59. Record: 4–2. Movement includes results and the methodology change.

+27

Washington to No. 58

Previously No. 85. Record: 4–3. Movement includes results and the methodology change.

-40

Florida Atlantic to No. 68

Previously No. 28. Record: 4–2. Movement includes results and the methodology change.

-28

Eastern Michigan to No. 108

Previously No. 80. Record: 4–4. Movement includes results and the methodology change.

-25

Georgia State to No. 71

Previously No. 46. Record: 4–2. Movement includes results and the methodology change.

Conference update: SEC remains No. 1 at 74.803 with a 28–2 FBS interconference record. Conference order is unchanged. Big 12 rises from 61.686 to 62.635 and the American from 42.002 to 42.741. Independents decline from 56.438 to 54.635 and the MAC from 31.889 to 31.430.

The PDF includes all 138 rankings, all 62 final scores, conference standings and the new methodology. Rank movement is not a same-method comparison.

Effective Week 7

How the 80/20 CAR ranking works

Who you play and how you perform against them remain the foundation. A previous-week, full-field human ranking now supplies 20% of the final score.

28%

Matrix résumé

Cumulative game values reflect frozen opponent strength, pregame expectations, venue and capped margin. Values retain the Week 6 min-max scale.

24%

Outcome-surprise performance

Measures results against frozen pregame win expectations, with margin capped at 28 points. This is not a calibrated win-probability forecast.

10%

Own record

FBS wins divided by FBS games plus FCS losses. FCS wins add no credit.

10%

Opponent record

Current pooled FBS win percentage of opponents played, excluding their games against this team. The contribution is reduced when the team has an FCS loss.

Conference strength

Opponent- and location-adjusted FBS interconference results. Intraconference games do not directly earn league-contribution points.

20%

Previous-week CBS

A full-field human component from CBS Sports 138, frozen before this edition’s games and converted linearly to a 0–100 scale.

FCS rule

FBS wins over FCS opponents earn no positive résumé, record or conference credit. FBS losses to FCS opponents receive the existing substantial deduction.

Ranking and explanatory measures

All twelve CAR measures remain available subject to their evidence requirements. Quality Record is a separate frozen-opponent diagnostic, not the new dynamic opponent-record input. CAR Trajectory is unavailable across this method change.

Transparent human input

This edition uses CBS Sports 138 published October 12, reflecting results through October 10. AP, ESPN rankings, CFP rankings and betting odds remain external benchmarks, not inputs. ESPN supplies game results.

Current implementation, effective Week 7: Final = 0.80 × dynamic CAR + 0.20 × CBS conversion. Dynamic CAR = 35% résumé + 30% outcome-surprise performance + 25% record quality + 10% conference strength. Record quality = 100 × (0.5 × FBS wins + 0.5 × FBS games × opponent FBS win percentage) / (FBS games + FCS losses). FCS wins add no credit and are excluded from this denominator. FCS losses receive zero record credit, remain in the denominator, and retain the existing substantial résumé/performance deduction. The effective final weights are 28% résumé, 24% performance, 10% own record, 10% opponent record, 8% conference and 20% CBS. CBS conversion = 100 × (138 − CBS rank) / 137. That linear conversion is CAR’s modeling assumption, not CBS rating points or a calibrated strength estimate. Résumé retains the Week 6 min-max scale across all 138 cumulative raw game values. The performance component remains outcome surprise plus margin capped at 28, not play-level efficiency or a validated win forecast. Lower pregame expectations can produce more surprise credit for the same result. Head-to-head results do not impose a mandatory ordering. Field extremes and changing opponent records can move scores on a bye. Original preseason points remain the exact-score tie-break. This is prospective adoption, not a replay of earlier editions. Week 7 games retain their frozen Week 6 inputs; published Week 7 becomes the next edition’s frozen input. Opponent record is pooled FBS wins divided by FBS games across the FBS opponents already played, using their current completed results and excluding every game against the evaluated team. Each opponent appearance counts once. It updates weekly, rather than being frozen at the date the opponent was played. The original methodology PDF remains historical reference; this section and the current recap describe the active method.

Direct preseason transition: Preseason 100%; after Week 0 80%; Week 1 65%; Week 2 50%; Week 3 35%; Week 4 20%; Week 5 10%; Week 6 onward 0%. Starting Week 7, final points combine 80% current CAR with 20% previous-week CBS. Frozen historical game expectations and prior releases are not rewritten.

What comes next

Next ranking: after the full Week 8 slate

Published Week 7 values become the next edition’s frozen game inputs. Opponents’ FBS records update weekly. The next human input will be the verified CBS release available before those games. Earlier releases stay archived as issued.

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 combines 80% CAR results, performance and opponent records with 20% previous-week CBS Sports 138. Conference strength comes from FBS interconference results.

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 include human rankings?

Yes. From Week 7, previous-week CBS Sports 138 ranks supply 20% of the final score. The other 80% is CAR with dynamic opponent records. AP, ESPN rankings, CFP rankings and betting odds are not inputs.

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.

2026 college football rankingsEvery FBS team. One transparent ranking.