For all of this season, we have been able to count on two things regarding the SP+ rankings: Ohio State was going to be No. 1, and Alabama and Clemson were going to trade the No. 2 and 3 rankings back and forth.
Thanks to an extremely 2020 oddity, that trend finally changed. To be sure, Ohio State's still No. 1 after handling a top-10 Penn State team with relative ease. But thanks to Clemson's Trevor Lawrence-less struggle against Boston College, combined with Wisconsin's canceled game against Nebraska -- which meant the Badgers have still produced a single, nearly perfect data point for 2020 -- the Tigers fell to fourth.
We knew the odd scheduling and the potential for positive coronavirus tests would do some funky things to the numbers, and safe to say, "1-0 Wisconsin jumps 7-0 Clemson without playing" qualifies as funky. Assuming the run of positive tests that caused this flip doesn't create any long-term player absences or health concerns (fingers crossed), it's safe to say things will return to normal in due time, either because Clemson again played like Clemson, Wisconsin looked a bit less perfect, or both. Until then, enjoy the oddity.
Also of note: Florida's demolition of Missouri, combined with Georgia's offensive sleepwalk of a win against Kentucky, meant that the Gators and Bulldogs are now almost perfectly tied in the SP+ ratings as they gear up for their annual rivalry game. Fun!
What is SP+? In a single sentence, it's a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. I created the system at Football Outsiders in 2008, and as my experience with both college football and its stats has grown, I have made quite a few tweaks to the system.
More than ever, it's important to note that SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing. It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling -- no good predictive system is. It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you're lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you're strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise.
Overall SP+ Rankings Team Rating Offense Defense Special Teams 1. Ohio State (2-0) 31.2 46.0 (2) 14.6 (4) -0.2 (86) 2. Alabama (6-0) 28.1 46.7 (1) 18.8 (18) 0.2 (17) 3. Wisconsin (1-0) 25.3 38.1 (11) 12.8 (2) 0.0 (52) 4. Clemson (7-0) 24.2 41.0 (6) 17.0 (10) 0.2 (15) 5. Florida (3-1) 21.9 42.5 (4) 21.0 (25) 0.4 (3) 6. Georgia (4-1) 21.8 30.9 (46) 9.5 (1) 0.4 (4) 7. Notre Dame (6-0) 21.0 36.6 (16) 15.7 (8) 0.1 (28) 8. Penn State (0-2) 18.9 38.0 (12) 19.0 (19) -0.1 (69) 9. Cincinnati (5-0) 17.9 32.8 (34) 14.9 (5) 0.0 (62) 10. Oklahoma State (4-1) 17.5 33.0 (31) 15.7 (7) 0.2 (18) 11. Oklahoma (4-2) 17.3 43.3 (3) 26.1 (46) 0.0 (58) 12. BYU (7-0) 17.2 38.4 (9) 21.5 (27) 0.4 (6) 13. N. Carolina (4-2) 16.6 41.8 (5) 25.0 (42) -0.2 (87) 14. Oregon (0-0) 16.3 32.7 (35) 16.3 (9) N/A 15. USC (0-0) 15.8 39.5 (8) 23.7 (36) N/A 16. Michigan (1-1) 15.7 33.6 (29) 17.8 (13) -0.1 (77) 17. Washington (0-0) 15.3 32.5 (37) 17.2 (11) N/A 18. Iowa State (4-2) 14.3 34.6 (25) 20.2 (22) -0.1 (79) 19. Texas A&M (4-1) 13.6 36.7 (15) 23.1 (32) 0.1 (32) 20. Va. Tech (4-2) 13.5 37.6 (13) 24.2 (39) 0.1 (24) 21. Miami (5-1) 13.2 31.4 (44) 18.6 (17) 0.4 (2) 22. UCF (4-2) 12.7 39.5 (7) 26.8 (55) 0.0 (60) 23. Auburn (4-2) 12.1 32.8 (32) 21.0 (24) 0.2 (12) 24. Utah (0-0) 11.9 36.1 (21) 24.3 (40) N/A 25. Indiana (2-0) 11.5 32.8 (33) 21.4 (26) 0.1 (25) 26. Boise State (2-0) 11.5 34.0 (27) 22.5 (29) 0.0 (51) 27. App. State (4-1) 10.8 34.8 (24) 23.8 (38) -0.3 (95) 28. Iowa (0-2) 10.4 27.5 (69) 17.3 (12) 0.1 (23) 29. Texas (4-2) 10.3 36.6 (17) 26.5 (50) 0.2 (20) 30. Marshall (5-0) 9.4 27.3 (72) 17.9 (14) 0.0 (64) 31. Northwestern (2-0) 9.1 23.0 (103) 14.0 (3) 0.0 (44) 32. Minnesota (0-2) 8.3 37.0 (14) 28.6 (69) -0.1 (68) 33. SMU (6-1) 8.3 36.5 (18) 28.2 (68) 0.0 (45) 34. W. Virginia (4-2) 7.5 28.3 (62) 20.7 (23) -0.1 (74) 35. Arizona State (0-0) 7.3 26.8 (76) 19.5 (20) N/A 36. UAB (4-3) 6.9 25.2 (88) 18.6 (16) 0.3 (7) 37. Purdue (2-0) 6.8 34.2 (26) 27.5 (60) 0.0 (48) 38. Memphis (3-2) 6.5 36.3 (20) 29.9 (82) 0.2 (16) 39. Nebraska (0-1) 6.5 35.2 (23) 28.7 (72) 0.0 (53) 40. Army (6-1) 5.9 29.0 (57) 23.3 (33) 0.3 (10) 41. Louisville (2-5) 5.9 38.2 (10) 32.1 (93) -0.2 (89) 42. LSU (2-3) 5.6 33.7 (28) 28.6 (70) 0.5 (1) 43. Pittsburgh (3-4) 5.1 24.7 (92) 19.9 (21) 0.3 (8) 44. Louisiana (5-1) 4.4 32.7 (36) 28.2 (66) -0.1 (82) 45. Stanford (0-0) 4.3 30.9 (45) 26.6 (53) N/A 46. Ole Miss (2-4) 4.3 36.5 (19) 32.0 (92) -0.2 (88) 47. Baylor (1-3) 4.2 27.9 (67) 23.6 (35) -0.2 (84) 48. Liberty (6-0) 4.1 32.1 (39) 27.9 (64) -0.1 (75) 49. Coastal Caro. (6-0) 4.1 33.5 (30) 29.5 (76) 0.1 (22) 50. TCU (2-3) 3.9 26.4 (79) 22.5 (30) 0.1 (33) 51. Troy (4-2) 3.5 30.1 (50) 26.3 (49) -0.3 (93) 52. Michigan State (1-1) 3.5 21.8 (111) 18.3 (15) 0.0 (41) 53. Tulsa (3-1) 3.4 28.8 (59) 25.2 (44) -0.2 (91) 54. Tennessee (2-3) 3.0 25.3 (85) 22.4 (28) 0.0 (56) 55. San Diego State (2-0) 2.9 18.0 (121) 15.2 (6) 0.0 (50) 56. Boston Coll. (4-3) 2.7 32.0 (41) 29.4 (75) 0.1 (34) 57. Virginia (2-4) 2.5 29.1 (56) 26.6 (54) 0.0 (57) 58. California (0-0) 2.4 30.6 (49) 28.2 (67) N/A 59. Wash. State (0-0) 2.3 35.8 (22) 33.5 (100) N/A 60. Houston (2-2) 2.0 31.8 (43) 29.9 (78) 0.1 (39) 61. Kentucky (2-4) 1.2 23.9 (98) 23.1 (31) 0.4 (5) 62. UCLA (0-0) 0.9 30.8 (47) 29.9 (81) N/A 63. Tulane (3-4) 0.8 32.4 (38) 31.7 (89) 0.1 (27) 64. Wake Forest (4-2) 0.5 26.6 (78) 26.1 (48) 0.1 (38) 65. S. Carolina (2-3) 0.3 27.0 (74) 26.6 (52) -0.1 (81) 66. NC State (4-2) -0.3 28.6 (60) 29.1 (74) 0.2 (19) 67. Kansas State (4-2) -0.5 26.3 (80) 26.8 (56) 0.0 (46) 68. Ga. Tech (2-5) -0.7 27.4 (70) 27.8 (63) -0.3 (99) 69. Ohio (0-0) -1.0 32.1 (40) 33.1 (97) N/A 70. Arkansas (2-3) -1.2 25.1 (89) 26.0 (45) -0.3 (100) 71. Wyoming (1-1) -1.4 22.3 (107) 23.7 (37) 0.1 (36) 72. Duke (2-5) -1.5 21.9 (110) 23.4 (34) 0.1 (40) 73. Illinois (0-2) -1.7 25.2 (86) 27.0 (59) 0.1 (29) 74. Missouri (2-3) -1.8 23.1 (102) 25.1 (43) 0.2 (13) 75. Oregon State (0-0) -2.0 28.0 (65) 30.0 (83) N/A 76. Florida State (2-4) -2.2 28.1 (64) 30.2 (85) -0.1 (66) 77. Miss. State (1-4) -2.5 24.3 (94) 26.8 (57) 0.0 (54) 78. Buffalo (0-0) -2.6 24.9 (90) 27.5 (61) N/A 79. WKU (2-5) -2.8 21.3 (113) 24.3 (41) 0.3 (11) 80. FAU (2-1) -3.0 23.9 (97) 26.9 (58) 0.1 (37) 81. Air Force (1-2) -3.5 25.2 (87) 28.7 (71) 0.0 (49) 82. Ga. Southern (4-2) -3.6 25.5 (83) 28.9 (73) -0.1 (83) 83. San Jose State (2-0) -3.9 29.8 (53) 33.6 (103) 0.0 (47) 84. Ball State (0-0) -4.3 27.4 (71) 31.6 (88) N/A 85. Nevada (2-0) -4.4 23.6 (99) 28.0 (65) 0.0 (61) 86. WMU (0-0) -5.1 28.0 (66) 33.2 (98) N/A 87. Rutgers (1-1) -5.2 21.2 (115) 26.6 (51) 0.1 (26) 88. Maryland (1-1) -5.3 24.6 (93) 29.9 (79) 0.1 (31) 89. Charlotte (2-3) -5.7 29.9 (52) 35.4 (111) -0.2 (85) 90. Colorado (0-0) -5.8 26.9 (75) 32.7 (96) N/A 91. CMU (0-0) -5.8 24.3 (95) 30.1 (84) N/A 92. Arkansas State (3-4) -5.9 31.9 (42) 37.5 (119) -0.3 (94) 93. Fresno State (1-1) -6.0 28.9 (58) 34.9 (109) 0.0 (63) 94. Texas Tech (2-4) -6.1 30.0 (51) 35.6 (113) -0.4 (102) 95. La. Tech (4-3) -6.4 24.8 (91) 31.2 (87) 0.0 (43) 96. Toledo (0-0) -6.4 28.1 (63) 34.5 (106) N/A 97. Temple (1-3) -6.9 23.3 (101) 29.9 (80) -0.3 (97) 98. Hawai'i (1-1) -7.2 29.7 (54) 36.8 (117) -0.1 (67) 99. N. Texas (2-3) -7.2 29.4 (55) 36.4 (116) -0.2 (90) 100. Arizona (0-0) -7.4 30.6 (48) 38.0 (121) N/A 101. So. Miss (1-5) -7.6 27.0 (73) 34.7 (108) 0.1 (35) 102. Georgia State (2-3) -7.8 28.3 (61) 35.9 (114) -0.2 (92) 103. Colorado State (0-1) -8.2 23.6 (100) 31.9 (91) 0.1 (30) 104. FIU (0-3) -8.3 22.0 (109) 30.3 (86) 0.0 (59) 105. Rice (1-1) -8.3 17.8 (122) 26.1 (47) 0.0 (55) 106. Syracuse (1-6) -8.3 21.3 (114) 29.8 (77) 0.2 (14) 107. USF (1-5) -8.4 19.5 (118) 27.6 (62) -0.4 (101) 108. MTSU (2-5) -9.1 25.4 (84) 34.4 (105) -0.1 (70) 109. Navy (3-4) -9.4 26.2 (81) 35.5 (112) -0.1 (71) 110. S. Alabama (3-3) -9.4 24.1 (96) 33.5 (102) 0.0 (42) 111. UTSA (4-4) -10.4 22.8 (104) 33.5 (101) 0.3 (9) 112. ECU (1-4) -10.5 25.6 (82) 36.2 (115) 0.1 (21) 113. Miami-Ohio (0-0) -11.1 20.8 (117) 31.9 (90) N/A 114. Kent State (0-0) -12.3 26.6 (77) 38.9 (123) N/A 115. Utah State (0-2) -12.4 22.1 (108) 34.4 (104) -0.1 (73) 116. EMU (0-0) -12.5 27.8 (68) 40.3 (124) N/A 117. NIU (0-0) -14.6 18.1 (120) 32.7 (95) N/A 118. Texas State (1-7) -14.8 22.3 (106) 37.0 (118) -0.1 (76) 119. Kansas (0-6) -16.7 18.3 (119) 34.7 (107) -0.3 (98) 120. ULM (0-7) -17.4 21.1 (116) 38.0 (122) -0.5 (103) 121. Vanderbilt (0-4) -17.8 14.7 (125) 32.2 (94) -0.3 (96) 122. UTEP (3-3) -18.9 16.6 (123) 35.3 (110) -0.1 (80) 123. New Mexico (0-1) -19.0 22.4 (105) 41.3 (126) 0.0 (65) 124. UNLV (0-2) -19.4 21.6 (112) 40.9 (125) -0.1 (78) 125. Akron (0-0) -21.0 12.5 (127) 33.5 (99) N/A 126. BGSU (0-0) -23.1 14.5 (126) 37.5 (120) N/A 127. UMass (0-1) -32.0 16.0 (124) 48.0 (127) -0.1 (72)