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Jonathan’s Journal
January 3, 2002


Before the start of each and every college football season, many people from websites, newspapers, magazines, etc. come out with their preseason predictions of where each team will finish. Some are good guessers; others have no clue. And as you probably noticed, I took my shot at it this year. I was right on top of some conferences, and others, well.... Anyway, one website puts together a composite list of some of the major projections put out by some people. At the conclusion of each season, a composite chart is put out that compares everyone’s predictions to the actual outcome of each conference. If you would like to check out that page, click here, but below I have a copy of that chart. Also by clicking above, you can check out a copy of a similar chart from past years.


For each conference, a point number is given to that magazine/website. This number is based on how close that source was to predicting all teams in their final position in their conference. So if Team A was projected to finish 2nd but finished 4th, that source would get 2 points because it was 2 spots away for the actual finish. If a team actually finishes tied with someone at the end of the season, the actual finishing position is determined as to which spot would be most favorable to that source. So if Team B was predicted to finish 3rd but finished tied with 3 others teams for fourth place, they could be considered to finish 4th, 5th, or 6th place, which ever was most favorable to that magazine/website (in this case, fourth). Then the points for all the teams in each conference are added to get a total conference score. Finally, the conference scores are added together to get a total score for that source.


On the chart below, lower scores indicate more accurate predictions. So, the lower the score next to each projector, the more accurate their prediction was. All of the predictions are sorted according to accuracy, with most accurate at the top. My predictions were not included in the chart put out by the website above, but I have included mine in the chart I compiled. As you will see, I would have come in 2nd place had I been included in these rankings.



SOURCETOTAL POINTSACCBig EastBig TenBig XII NorthBig XII SouthCUSAMAC EastMAC WestMountain WestPAC-10SEC EastSEC WestSun BeltWAC
Phil Steele
148
11
7
24
3
0
17
8
2
15
14
2
7
9
29
**JONATHAN**
154
13
3
22
3
0
6
17
4
14
30
2
9
8
23
Lindy’s Magazine
155
12
3
33
5
0
15
98
3
13
14
4
11
8
25
CPA Rankings (Website)
155
12
5
33
4
0
12
9
3
14
17
4
8
8
26
ATS Consultants
158
10
7
25
3
1
8
10
7
15
19
3
7
10
33
Athlon Magazine
162
12
7
25
4
2
15
10
3
12
19
4
9
9
31
Jim Feist
162
14
3
37
2
0
16
7
5
11
21
4
8
8
26
Preview Sports Magazine
168
12
8
30
6
0
19
11
3
10
15
4
8
8
34
The Sporting News
173
14
6
33
5
0
15
11
3
15
23
4
7
8
29
Blue Ribbon Magazine
177
12
5
38
6
2
17
11
3
11
24
2
9
8
29
CNN/SI Website
177
14
5
27
4
2
21
11
3
14
23
2
9
8
34
CollegeFootballNews.com
180
12
7
33
5
0
21
9
2
16
27
4
11
8
25
Street&Smith Magazine
180
15
8
33
6
2
17
11
5
14
18
4
9
8
30

*I compiled the numbers for my site myself, but I am trusting that the numbers for all other sites are correct.

You can look back at my predictions for each conference by clicking on the links below:
ACC
Big East
Big Ten
Big XII
CUSA
MAC
Mountain West
PAC-10
SEC
Sun Belt
WAC

If you have any questions, let me know!