College football rankings 2019: Every FBS team from 1-130, ranked

Methodology

CFB Winning Edge is an independent outlet dedicated to college football analytics and provides individual player ratings for all more than 11,000 players across all 130 FBS programs.

Those individual player ratings, called VGR+ (or Video Game Rating Plus), begin with talent projections for every player (using 247Sports Composite ratings), while also adjusting for experience (based on class) and career production (by adding Production Points for statistical performance and national or conference-wide honors). VGR+ uses a 70-100 scale similar to those found in sports video games.

Team Strength, like every metric developed by CFB Winning Edge, also uses the same 70-100 scale. Team Strength is the primary team power rating and rankings system used by CFB Winning Edge to develop preseason and weekly in-season game projections.

Team Strength rankings do not indicate a projected order of finish.

These rankings indicate which teams would be favored over another on a neutral site.

By utilizing the 70-100 scale, it’s easy to calculate a point spread for a matchup between any two teams. In theory, a perfect 100-rated team would be a 60-point favorite over a team with a 70 Team Strength rating, on a neutral field. We simply multiply the difference by a factor of two. For games played in a home stadium, we make an adjustment of 3.8 points for home-field advantage.

It’s not a perfect system by any means, but the primary CFB Winning Edge Team Strength calculation (there are nine CFB Winning Edge projection models, but only one is publicly available) correctly predicted the winner in 72.5 percent of all FBS vs. FBS games during the 2018 season. The model also posted a 51.3 percent success rate against the Las Vegas point spread in those matchups.

CFB Winning Edge Team Strength ratings consist of two main parts: Roster Strength and Head Coach ratings, which make up 60 percent and 30 percent, respectively. A third factor, which includes on-field performance statistics, forms the final 10 percent of the formula.

Roster Strength leans heavily on VGR+ ratings, which are organized into position and unit ratings for quarterbacks, running backs, receivers (both wide receivers and tight ends), linebackers and defensive backs. Roster strength also used O-Line Strength and D-Line Strength, which blends the Roster Strength ratings for the offensive line and defensive line, respectively, with on-field performance stats for those units in an attempt to offer a clearer picture of those harder-to-diagnose units. Special teams ratings currently fall within the 10 percent on-field performance portion of the formula.

Head Coach ratings, which adhere to the same 70-100 scale, use historical statistical data for all 130 FBS head coaches. Factors include traditional wins and losses, wins and losses against opponents with better or worse Roster Strength ratings, performance against the spread, among others, weighted so the previous one, three and five years count most (in that order). Similar ratings for coordinators (OC Rating and DC Rating) exist but are not currently factored into the Team Strength ratings formula.

All player ratings and Team Strength ratings are updated daily within the CFB Winning Edge 2019 FBS Team Profiles based on injuries, suspensions, transfers and other personnel news.