Evaluating college football teams poses significant challenges, as committees and traditional voting methods often produce unreliable rankings. The previous reliance on computers for team rankings was flawed, as seen with the BCS system. A more effective solution for evaluating the 136 FBS teams would involve analyzing data comprehensively and consulting with a variety of coaches, players, and analysts. For the 2025 preseason rankings, it was suggested that a tiered approach would provide a more accurate assessment of teams, highlighting the talent of teams like Ohio State.
If there's one thing we've learned from the debate between the Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12 over the future of the College Football Playoff, it's that committees are awful. They get it wrong nearly every year despite the fact that they've mostly gotten it right.
There was a time when we entrusted computers with assembling a proper ranking of teams. The BCS crunched the numbers based on some nebulous inputs and spat out the results.
No, there is really just one honest way to evaluate college football's 136 FBS teams, and that is to sort through all the data, talk to a host of coaches and players and analysts.
Last season, Ohio State won a national championship and, according to virtually every coach we've asked, the Buckeyes were the most talented team in the country all along.
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