I have gotten a couple of suggestions to put up my initial FBS power ratings that will be updated weekly throughout the season. If you are a follower of my magazine, I am sure you are familiar with the fact that I have NINE different sets of power ratings that I create each preseason to give me 9 different ways of analyzing a team. One is based on the individual talent level and performance of each position on each team and those are added up for the rating. Another is based on my Power Plays numbers, which include rushing and passing offenses, defenses and special teams.

As for the ratings listed below, these are my Plus/Minus ratings. I first take last year’s final Plus/Minus ratings, which are calculated mostly by the score of each game last year and the strength of opponents played. Losing to Alabama by 5 would move a team up in the ratings (Alabama would have been expected to win big), while beating Akron by 15 in 2010 would probably have moved the same team down. I then take my aforementioned Plus/Minus ratings (see page 305 of the magazine) and add them to the totals. Some teams are weaker than last year and drop in the rankings, while the ones that are improved move up. Is this the main set of ratings I use? No, that would be my Power Poll rankings, which are a combination of the 9 sets. This is a solid set of numbers and what I have noticed is it most closely resembles what the general perception of each team is heading into 2011.

2011 Initial Power Ratings (8/15/11)

By Conference

Ranked #1-120

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