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 8 EditionNinth results-based rankingUpdated October 25, 2026

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Week 8 matrix

2026 FBS rankings

138teams ranked

Week 8 complete: The approved model is unchanged: 80% CAR with current opponent FBS records and 20% previous-week CBS Sports 138. All 56 Week 8 games are final. This edition uses CAR results through October 24 and the October 19 CBS release, frozen before the first Week 8 game. Movement is compared with the published Week 7 edition. Historical frozen pregame values and earlier releases remain unchanged.

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 when its comparison window crosses the Week 7 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	7–0	1	82.224	Early
2	Miami	ACC	7–0	2	80.713	Early
3	Kentucky	SEC	7–1	4	79.167	Early
4	LSU	SEC	6–2	9	78.364	Early
5	Ohio State	Big Ten	6–1	5	77.664	Early
6	Indiana	Big Ten	7–1	11	76.071	Early
7	Utah	Big 12	7–0	18	75.118	Early
8	Georgia	SEC	6–1	8	74.183	Early
9	Wake Forest	ACC	6–1	12	74.063	Early
10	Alabama	SEC	6–2	14	73.963	Early
11	Ole Miss	SEC	5–2	6	73.072	Early
12	Northwestern	Big Ten	6–1	17	72.994	Early
13	Boise State	Pac-12	6–1	13	72.950	Early
14	BYU	Big 12	6–1	3	72.733	Early
15	Houston	Big 12	6–2	7	72.627	Early
16	Texas	SEC	5–2	24	72.442	Early
17	Arizona	Big 12	6–1	25	72.426	Early
18	Wisconsin	Big Ten	5–2	20	72.363	Early
19	Notre Dame	FBS Independents	6–1	15	71.800	Early
20	Tennessee	SEC	6–2	10	70.597	Early
21	Oklahoma State	Big 12	5–2	21	69.747	Early
22	Oklahoma	SEC	4–3	34	67.967	Early
23	Missouri	SEC	5–2	23	67.890	Early
24	Auburn	SEC	4–3	26	66.920	Early
25	Texas Tech	Big 12	6–1	16	66.514	Early
26	UTSA	American Athletic	7–1	32	66.129	Early
27	Florida	SEC	5–2	33	65.632	Early
28	Mississippi State	SEC	4–3	19	65.521	Early
29	Nebraska	Big Ten	5–2	31	65.077	Early
30	USC	Big Ten	6–2	29	64.926	Early
31	SMU	ACC	6–1	37	64.924	Early
32	James Madison	Sun Belt	7–1	22	64.900	Early
33	South Carolina	SEC	4–3	47	64.603	Early
34	Virginia Tech	ACC	6–2	38	64.137	Early
35	Iowa	Big Ten	5–2	28	63.813	Early
36	Oregon State	Pac-12	5–2	35	63.392	Early
37	Louisville	ACC	4–3	36	63.064	Early
38	North Carolina	ACC	4–3	27	62.857	Early
39	New Mexico	Mountain West	6–1	48	62.626	Early
40	Minnesota	Big Ten	5–2	49	62.175	Early
41	UCF	Big 12	4–3	53	61.385	Early
42	Duke	ACC	5–2	44	61.080	Early
43	Oregon	Big Ten	4–3	30	60.938	Early
44	Cincinnati	Big 12	5–2	52	60.907	Early
45	Michigan	Big Ten	4–3	40	60.023	Early
46	Liberty	Conference USA	6–1	45	58.601	Early
47	West Virginia	Big 12	5–3	59	58.536	Early
48	Pittsburgh	ACC	5–3	43	58.438	Early
49	Army	American Athletic	5–2	57	57.965	Early
50	North Dakota State	Mountain West	6–2	41	57.032	Early
51	Clemson	ACC	4–3	50	55.844	Early
52	Iowa State	Big 12	3–4	51	55.100	Early
53	Illinois	Big Ten	4–3	80	55.030	Early
54	Louisiana Tech	Sun Belt	5–2	69	54.625	Early
55	Washington	Big Ten	4–3	58	54.620	Early
56	Texas A&M	SEC	4–4	56	54.602	Early
57	Memphis	American Athletic	6–2	60	54.578	Early
58	North Texas	American Athletic	5–2	67	54.435	Early
59	Air Force	Mountain West	5–2	42	54.190	Early
60	Boston College	ACC	4–3	76	54.131	Early
61	Purdue	Big Ten	3–4	55	53.850	Early
62	Baylor	Big 12	4–3	39	53.744	Early
63	Kansas State	Big 12	4–3	46	53.573	Early
64	Arkansas	SEC	3–4	64	53.180	Early
65	Arizona State	Big 12	4–3	77	53.082	Early
66	Texas State	Pac-12	4–3	81	52.451	Early
67	Toledo	Mid-American	6–2	83	52.442	Early
68	TCU	Big 12	3–4	54	52.299	Early
69	UNLV	Mountain West	4–3	62	52.268	Early
70	Jacksonville State	Conference USA	5–2	66	51.903	Early
71	Florida State	ACC	3–4	70	51.767	Early
72	Kansas	Big 12	3–4	79	51.694	Early
73	South Florida	American Athletic	5–2	75	51.203	Early
74	Fresno State	Pac-12	4–3	63	50.711	Early
75	Ohio	Mid-American	6–2	82	50.496	Early
76	Florida Atlantic	American Athletic	5–2	68	50.001	Early
77	Penn State	Big Ten	3–4	73	49.741	Early
78	Virginia	ACC	4–4	74	48.700	Early
79	Stanford	ACC	4–4	88	48.607	Early
80	App State	Sun Belt	5–2	95	48.571	Early
81	NC State	ACC	3–4	65	48.569	Early
82	Western Michigan	Mid-American	5–3	72	48.416	Early
83	Wyoming	Mountain West	5–3	98	48.121	Early
84	Louisiana	Sun Belt	5–3	61	48.026	Early
85	UAB	American Athletic	4–3	86	46.008	Early
86	Miami (OH)	Mid-American	5–3	96	45.536	Early
87	Syracuse	ACC	3–4	101	45.469	Early
88	Buffalo	Mid-American	5–3	92	45.215	Early
89	Georgia State	Sun Belt	4–3	71	44.938	Early
90	California	ACC	3–5	84	44.904	Early
91	South Alabama	Sun Belt	4–3	78	44.538	Early
92	Michigan State	Big Ten	2–6	89	44.344	Early
93	Tulane	American Athletic	3–4	90	44.343	Early
94	UConn	FBS Independents	4–3	105	43.956	Early
95	Vanderbilt	SEC	3–5	85	43.154	Early
96	Marshall	Sun Belt	4–3	104	42.788	Early
97	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	4–4	110	41.686	Early
98	Colorado	Big 12	2–5	94	41.487	Early
99	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	3–4	99	41.477	Early
100	San Diego State	Pac-12	3–5	91	41.361	Early
101	Georgia Tech	ACC	2–5	87	40.736	Early
102	Nevada	Mountain West	3–4	112	39.652	Early
103	Colorado State	Pac-12	3–4	113	39.478	Early
104	Middle Tennessee	Conference USA	4–3	116	39.221	Early
105	Maryland	Big Ten	2–5	102	38.845	Early
106	East Carolina	American Athletic	3–4	100	38.707	Early
107	Florida International	Conference USA	3–4	93	38.228	Early
108	San José State	Mountain West	4–4	97	38.100	Early
109	Tulsa	American Athletic	4–4	107	36.898	Early
110	Rutgers	Big Ten	2–5	114	36.658	Early
111	Utah State	Pac-12	2–5	106	35.307	Early
112	Eastern Michigan	Mid-American	4–5	108	34.929	Early
113	New Mexico State	Conference USA	3–4	120	34.798	Early
114	Navy	American Athletic	2–5	109	34.660	Early
115	Delaware	Conference USA	3–4	118	34.294	Early
116	Massachusetts	Mid-American	4–4	103	34.062	Early
117	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	3–4	117	32.795	Early
118	Ball State	Mid-American	3–5	121	32.702	Early
119	Central Michigan	Mid-American	3–5	115	32.232	Early
120	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	2–5	122	31.567	Early
121	Kent State	Mid-American	3–5	125	30.732	Early
122	Troy	Sun Belt	3–4	111	30.348	Early
123	Temple	American Athletic	2–5	123	29.880	Early
124	Old Dominion	Sun Belt	2–6	119	29.099	Early
125	Washington State	Pac-12	1–7	127	27.628	Early
126	Charlotte	American Athletic	1–6	129	27.622	Early
127	Southern Miss	Sun Belt	2–5	135	27.615	Early
128	Bowling Green	Mid-American	2–6	124	27.439	Early
129	Rice	American Athletic	1–7	128	26.188	Early
130	Hawai'i	Mountain West	2–6	134	26.059	Early
131	Missouri State	Conference USA	2–5	126	25.040	Early
132	UL Monroe	Sun Belt	1–6	138	23.969	Early
133	Sam Houston	Conference USA	1–6	130	23.669	Early
134	Kennesaw State	Conference USA	1–6	131	22.227	Early
135	UTEP	Mountain West	1–6	133	22.141	Early
136	Sacramento State	Mid-American	1–7	136	17.800	Early
137	Akron	Mid-American	1–7	137	16.965	Early
138	Northern Illinois	Mountain West	0–7	132	16.310	Early

Download Week 8 rankings (CSV)Original methodology (historical PDF)

Conference-first matrix

Week 8 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	9–4	13	56.438	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	7–29	36	30.664	Early

Weekly recap · Games of October 20–24

UCLA stays No. 1; LSU and Utah climb into the Top 7

UCLA remains No. 1 at 7–0 after beating Michigan State 28–10. Miami, Kentucky, LSU and Ohio State round out the Top 5. LSU climbs five places to No. 4 after a 38–17 road win at Auburn. Utah rises eleven to No. 7 after beating Houston 21–13. Texas moves eight to No. 16 after its 34–27 win over Ole Miss. Boise State is the highest-ranked non-Power-Four team at No. 13.

Open complete printable weekly recap (PDF)

+27

Illinois to No. 53

Previously No. 80. Record: 4–3. Compared with the published Week 7 edition.

+16

Boston College to No. 60

Previously No. 76. Record: 4–3. Compared with the published Week 7 edition.

+16

Toledo to No. 67

Previously No. 83. Record: 6–2. Compared with the published Week 7 edition.

-23

Baylor to No. 62

Previously No. 39. Record: 4–3. Compared with the published Week 7 edition.

-23

Louisiana to No. 84

Previously No. 61. Record: 5–3. Compared with the published Week 7 edition.

-18

Georgia State to No. 89

Previously No. 71. Record: 4–3. Compared with the published Week 7 edition.

Conference update: The SEC remains No. 1 at 74.803 with a 28–2 FBS interconference record. Conference order is unchanged. Independents rise from 54.635 to 56.438 after UConn’s win over UMass; the MAC falls from 31.430 to 30.664. Intraconference games do not directly add conference-strength points.

Oklahoma (No. 22) and Auburn (No. 24) enter the Top 25. Mississippi State (No. 28) and James Madison (No. 32) leave it. The PDF contains all 138 rankings, all 56 Week 8 finals, conference standings and methodology notes.

The formula is unchanged, but scores can move on a bye as opponents’ current records, the field-wide résumé scale and the frozen previous-week CBS release update. Rank is relative: a team can rise even when its own score falls. These rankings are not calibrated game-win forecasts. Remaining Schedule Strength is unavailable for Pac-12 teams while November 28 flex opponents are unassigned; this does not affect the overall rankings.

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. The cumulative résumé is min-max scaled across the current field of 138 teams, using the scaling method adopted in Week 6.

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 remains unavailable when its comparison window crosses the Week 7 method change.

Transparent human input

This edition uses CBS Sports 138 published October 19, reflecting results through October 17. 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 uses the min-max scaling method adopted in Week 6, recomputed across all 138 cumulative raw game values each edition. 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. Historical games are not replayed. Week 8 games use published Week 7 frozen pregame inputs; published Week 8 becomes the normal input for subsequent games. 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 9 slate

Published Week 8 values become the normal frozen game inputs for subsequent games. Opponents’ FBS records update weekly. The next human input will be the verified, dated full-field CBS release available before that edition’s first game. 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.