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How good were the seasons? Based on schedules, wins, and how hard the victories were – and how bad the losses were – the 2015 College Football Season Rankings

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2015 College Football Season Rankings: No. 21-30

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– Explanation of the College Football Season Rankings and the components

30. Memphis Tigers, Conference USA

The Tigers might have lost head coach Justin Fuente to Virginia Tech, and they might have gotten blown out by Auburn 31-10 in the Birmingham Bowl, but they still came up with an outstanding year with a season-definer over Ole Miss and a 44-41 win over Bowling Green on the way to an 8-0 start, but they lost four of their last five once the schedule kicked into overdrive playing Navy, Houston and Temple.

2015 Season Ranking Score 14.86

2015 Record 9-4
2015 Preseason Prediction 8-4
2015 Preseason Ranking 86
2014 Final Season Ranking 29

29. Oregon Ducks, Pac-12

It could’ve been so much better. The Ducks got the win over Stanford on the road, and they closed out the regular season with six victories, but they’ll forever be known for giving away a 31-0 halftime lead to lose to TCU 47-41 in the Alamo. Oregon had its shot against Michigan State on the road, and it lost at home to Washington State and got ripped up by Utah 62-20, but it all would’ve been forgotten if it didn’t gag against the Horned Frogs.

2015 Season Ranking Score 14.90

2015 Record 9-4
2015 Preseason Prediction 10-2
2015 Preseason Ranking 8
2014 Final Season Ranking 2

28. USC Trojans, Pac-12

Considering USC lost its head coach early on after a 3-3 start, going to the Pac-12 championship and salvaging the season was impressive. The Trojans didn’t get cheated with five Quality Wins including a 55-6 thumping over Sun Belt champion Arkansas State, a 42-24 win over Utah, and a 40-21 win over UCLA, but they lost to Stanford, Notre Dame, Oregon, and then again to the Cardinal in the Pac-12 title game – those were the big ones. And they couldn’t get by Wisconsin in a thrilling Holiday Bowl, closing out the year with three losses in the last four games.

2015 Season Ranking Score 15.22

2015 Record 8-6
2015 Preseason Prediction 8-4
2015 Preseason Ranking 16
2014 Final Season Ranking 24

27. Tennessee Volunteers, SEC

The team turned out to have a disappointing season compared to the talent level and close losses, but considering the schedule, getting to nine wins wasn’t bad. The blowout win over Northwestern in the Outback Bowl showed just how good the team really was, but it still didn’t come up with an SEC East title and tough defeats to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama and Florida by a combined score of 18 points made a potentially great season average.

2015 Season Ranking Score 15.41

2015 Record 9-4
2015 Preseason Prediction 7-5
2015 Preseason Ranking 14
2014 Final Season Ranking 49

26. Arkansas Razorbacks, SEC

The Hogs might have lost to Toledo and Texas Tech, and they might have started out the season 1-3, and then 2-4 after a battle with Alabama, but the offense cranked it up scoring 45 points or more five times in the final seven games. The road wins over Ole Miss and LSU cranked up the Season Score, beating the Rebels with an all-timer of a finish. Rolling over Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl ended the season far better than it started.

2015 Season Ranking Score 15.98

2015 Record 8-5
2015 Preseason Prediction 10-2
2015 Preseason Ranking 7
2014 Final Season Ranking 41

25. Florida State Seminoles, ACC

The loss to Houston in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl screwed up a stepping-stone season that almost turned out to be great. The offense failed to crank it up to its normally high level on a consistent basis, not doing enough in a Bad Loss – and a horrendous all-timer of a finish – to Georgia Tech. The chances were there in the loss to Clemson, but the Seminoles couldn’t get it done. Even so, the Noles came up with five Quality Wins highlighted by a 27-2 crushing of Florida. How good was the D? FSU was 9-0 when allowing fewer than 24 points, and 1-3 – beating Miami – when allowing 24 or more.

2015 Season Ranking Score 16.12

2015 Record 10-3
2015 Preseason Prediction 10-2
2015 Preseason Ranking 6
2014 Final Season Ranking 4

24. Mississippi State Bulldogs, SEC

With a tough SEC schedule and a rebuilding team, the Bulldogs were supposed to slip back in the pack a little bit. Instead, they had four acceptable losses against LSU, Texas A&M, Alabama and Ole Miss, and did a nice job to come up with nine wins including a 51-50 wild win over Arkansas and a 51-28 destruction of NC State in the Belk Bowl. MSU was 8-0 when scoring 31 points or more, and 1-4 – beating Auburn 17-9 – when scoring fewer.

2015 Season Ranking Score 16.14

2015 Record 9-4
2015 Preseason Prediction 6-6
2015 Preseason Ranking 38
2014 Final Season Ranking 20

23. Oklahoma State Cowboys, Big 12

It was all set up perfectly for the Cowboys with TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma all having to come to Stillwater. If they won two of the three games, they’d have been Big 12 champs, but instead they lost to the Bears and Sooners as part of a three-game losing streak to close things out, finishing up with a 48-20 loss to Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. Beating TCU on the way to a 10-0 start was the high point, but the defense struggled from then on allowing 151 points in the final three games.

2015 Season Ranking Score 16.20

2015 Record 10-3
2015 Preseason Prediction 8-4
2015 Preseason Ranking 34
2014 Final Season Ranking 61

22. Michigan Wolverines, Big Ten

How’s that for a first season under Jim Harbaugh? It could’ve been so much more with a painful loss to Michigan State souring a fantastic run, but it could’ve been so much worse with great late wins over Minnesota and Indiana on the road. The Wolverine D flexed its muscle early allowing 14 points over a five-game stretch before the Michigan State loss, and on the year it allowed 16 points or fewer in eight games finishing with a 41-7 stomping over Florida in the Citrus Bowl.

2015 Season Ranking Score 16.22

2015 Record 10-3
2015 Preseason Prediction 8-4
2015 Preseason Ranking 36
2014 Final Season Ranking 81

21. Toledo Rockets, MAC

It could’ve been so much more. Considering they lost their head coach Matt Campbell to Iowa State, it was as good a season as the Rockets could’ve had without winning the MAC championship, or even the West division. Five of the ten victories were Bad Wins, but the season-opener win over Arkansas set the tone and the 32-17 Boca Raton win over Temple finished it. The two losses came to Northern Illinois and Western Michigan by five points each, and both came at home.

2015 Season Ranking Score 16.29

2015 Record 10-2
2015 Preseason Prediction 9-3
2015 Preseason Ranking 75
2014 Final Season Ranking 38


– Explanation of the College Football Season Rankings and the components