CARConference-Adjusted
Rankings

2026 college football rankings
Every FBS team. One independent matrix.

A conference-adjusted ranking for all 138 FBS programs. Opponent strength, results and performance against frozen pregame expectations shape the ranking. Conference quality is earned in FBS interconference games.

2026 Week 6 EditionSeventh results-based rankingUpdated October 11, 2026

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Week 6 matrix

2026 FBS rankings

138teams ranked

How to read this release: Week 6 introduces a new résumé scale: cumulative game values are spread across 0–100 instead of being clipped at the old ceiling. The four weights remain 35% résumé, 30% outcome-surprise performance, 25% counted-game win percentage and 10% conference strength. There is no direct preseason blend in Week 6. Week 6 games use frozen Week 5 opponent values; earlier game values and published editions are unchanged. Preseason influence can remain inside those frozen historical expectations. Movement is versus published Week 5 and reflects new results, removal of the final 10% preseason blend, the new résumé scale and the conference membership correction. Bye-week teams can move. Confidence remains Early.

Rank all teams by CAR measure →

Why each team is ranked here

Twelve CAR measures explain the ranking beyond wins and losses.

Choose a team

CAR Game Value

LoadingOpponent, location, margin, and expectation value

Expectation Delta

LoadingActual margin minus expected margin

Schedule Strength Played

LoadingDifficulty of completed FBS games

Schedule Strength Remaining

LoadingDifficulty of games still to be played

Best Win / Worst Result

LoadingMost valuable win, or costliest result without a win

Opponent-Adjusted Offense

LoadingScoring compared with opponents' usual defense

Opponent-Adjusted Defense

LoadingPoints prevented versus opponents' usual offense

Road and Neutral Strength

LoadingAverage value in games away from home

Consistency Index

LoadingStability from one adjusted result to the next

Conference Contribution

LoadingEffect on the team's conference score

Quality Record

LoadingRecord by frozen opponent tier

CAR Trajectory

LoadingUnavailable across the Week 6 method change

Played metrics use completed FBS games. Remaining schedule uses the existing preseason opponent scale for all future regular-season games; FCS opponents count as zero. CAR Trajectory is unavailable across this edition’s method change. Early measures appear only when enough games exist. Select a team here or click its name in the rankings.

Rank	Team	Conference	Record	Previous	CAR points	Confidence
1	UCLA	Big Ten	5–0	7	87.757	Early
2	Georgia	SEC	6–0	3	84.167	Early
3	Indiana	Big Ten	6–0	5	81.758	Early
4	Miami	ACC	5–0	4	81.056	Early
5	Notre Dame	FBS Independents	6–0	11	80.293	Early
6	Mississippi State	SEC	4–1	18	80.078	Early
7	Alabama	SEC	5–1	2	78.627	Early
8	Kentucky	SEC	5–1	24	77.643	Early
9	Boise State	Pac-12	5–1	28	77.380	Early
10	Missouri	SEC	5–1	17	77.083	Early
11	BYU	Big 12	5–0	9	76.579	Early
12	Wake Forest	ACC	5–1	30	76.035	Early
13	Oklahoma State	Big 12	4–1	33	75.931	Early
14	Wisconsin	Big Ten	4–1	26	75.184	Early
15	Nebraska	Big Ten	5–1	10	74.337	Early
16	Northwestern	Big Ten	4–1	25	74.293	Early
17	Utah	Big 12	5–0	13	74.232	Early
18	Ohio State	Big Ten	5–1	14	73.910	Early
19	Houston	Big 12	5–1	31	73.279	Early
20	Arizona	Big 12	5–1	21	73.240	Early
21	Texas	SEC	4–1	1	72.806	Early
22	James Madison	Sun Belt	6–0	16	72.610	Early
23	Texas Tech	Big 12	5–0	8	71.931	Early
24	Tennessee	SEC	5–1	20	70.570	Early
25	Ole Miss	SEC	4–1	22	70.456	Early
26	Baylor	Big 12	4–1	32	70.062	Early
27	USC	Big Ten	6–1	29	68.794	Early
28	Florida Atlantic	American Athletic	4–1	37	68.012	Early
29	UTSA	American Athletic	5–1	38	67.959	Early
30	Iowa	Big Ten	5–1	34	67.383	Early
31	Pittsburgh	ACC	5–1	12	66.601	Early
32	Duke	ACC	4–1	6	66.175	Early
33	Oklahoma	SEC	3–2	53	65.925	Early
34	Auburn	SEC	3–2	39	64.442	Early
35	LSU	SEC	4–2	19	64.340	Early
36	Liberty	Conference USA	5–1	41	64.157	Early
37	Oregon State	Pac-12	4–2	52	63.147	Early
38	North Carolina	ACC	3–2	65	62.540	Early
39	Virginia Tech	ACC	4–2	36	62.133	Early
40	Memphis	American Athletic	5–1	54	61.916	Early
41	Purdue	Big Ten	3–3	80	60.938	Early
42	North Dakota State	Mountain West	5–1	15	60.594	Early
43	Fresno State	Pac-12	4–2	35	60.573	Early
44	Cincinnati	Big 12	4–1	51	60.318	Early
45	Air Force	Mountain West	4–1	59	59.950	Early
46	Georgia State	Sun Belt	4–1	55	59.870	Early
47	UNLV	Mountain West	4–2	68	59.721	Early
48	New Mexico	Mountain West	4–1	49	59.060	Early
49	SMU	ACC	4–1	56	57.546	Early
50	Minnesota	Big Ten	4–2	23	57.382	Early
51	Clemson	ACC	3–2	48	57.191	Early
52	Michigan	Big Ten	3–2	44	57.125	Early
53	Louisville	ACC	3–3	82	56.615	Early
54	South Carolina	SEC	3–3	89	54.779	Early
55	South Alabama	Sun Belt	4–2	75	54.281	Early
56	Texas A&M	SEC	3–3	40	54.227	Early
57	Florida	SEC	4–2	27	53.971	Early
58	Iowa State	Big 12	3–3	50	53.887	Early
59	Oregon	Big Ten	3–2	45	53.617	Early
60	Jacksonville State	Conference USA	4–2	71	53.404	Early
61	Kansas State	Big 12	3–2	43	52.958	Early
62	NC State	ACC	3–3	47	52.794	Early
63	Louisiana Tech	Sun Belt	3–2	92	52.401	Early
64	North Texas	American Athletic	4–2	72	52.215	Early
65	Western Michigan	Mid-American	4–2	76	52.169	Early
66	UCF	Big 12	3–3	57	51.923	Early
67	Louisiana	Sun Belt	4–2	46	51.439	Early
68	Virginia	ACC	4–2	86	51.394	Early
69	Arizona State	Big 12	3–2	84	51.257	Early
70	South Florida	American Athletic	4–2	58	51.074	Early
71	Ohio	Mid-American	4–2	94	51.063	Early
72	Florida International	Conference USA	3–2	88	49.856	Early
73	Florida State	ACC	3–3	42	49.681	Early
74	Stanford	ACC	2–4	67	48.936	Early
75	West Virginia	Big 12	3–3	64	48.853	Early
76	Penn State	Big Ten	3–3	61	48.535	Early
77	Vanderbilt	SEC	3–3	63	48.064	Early
78	Army	American Athletic	3–2	100	47.980	Early
79	East Carolina	American Athletic	3–2	91	47.776	Early
80	Eastern Michigan	Mid-American	4–3	95	47.329	Early
81	California	ACC	3–3	102	46.540	Early
82	Kansas	Big 12	2–3	77	45.774	Early
83	Illinois	Big Ten	3–3	103	45.692	Early
84	Wyoming	Mountain West	3–3	108	45.676	Early
85	Washington	Big Ten	3–3	69	45.607	Early
86	Michigan State	Big Ten	2–4	62	45.554	Early
87	Arkansas	SEC	2–4	78	45.144	Early
88	Miami (OH)	Mid-American	3–3	109	44.248	Early
89	UAB	American Athletic	3–3	87	43.344	Early
90	Toledo	Mid-American	4–2	60	43.079	Early
91	Troy	Sun Belt	3–2	111	42.982	Early
92	San José State	Mountain West	3–3	70	42.888	Early
93	Massachusetts	Mid-American	4–2	73	42.800	Early
94	Maryland	Big Ten	2–4	83	42.685	Early
95	Boston College	ACC	2–3	99	42.525	Early
96	Marshall	Sun Belt	3–3	66	41.958	Early
97	Georgia Tech	ACC	2–3	120	41.887	Early
98	Buffalo	Mid-American	3–3	128	41.615	Early
99	Texas State	Pac-12	2–3	90	41.481	Early
100	Utah State	Pac-12	2–4	104	40.723	Early
101	Syracuse	ACC	2–3	85	40.609	Early
102	TCU	Big 12	2–3	96	40.357	Early
103	Colorado	Big 12	2–3	106	39.941	Early
104	Nevada	Mountain West	2–3	116	39.749	Early
105	App State	Sun Belt	3–2	74	39.667	Early
106	UConn	FBS Independents	3–3	113	39.508	Early
107	Colorado State	Pac-12	2–3	112	39.344	Early
108	Tulane	American Athletic	2–3	81	38.287	Early
109	Central Michigan	Mid-American	3–3	79	38.138	Early
110	Bowling Green	Mid-American	2–4	115	37.947	Early
111	Delaware	Conference USA	2–3	110	35.680	Early
112	Navy	American Athletic	2–3	124	34.959	Early
113	San Diego State	Pac-12	2–4	97	34.863	Early
114	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	2–4	101	34.723	Early
115	Temple	American Athletic	2–4	93	32.736	Early
116	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	2–4	107	32.280	Early
117	Tulsa	American Athletic	3–3	98	31.807	Early
118	New Mexico State	Conference USA	2–4	105	31.685	Early
119	Kent State	Mid-American	2–4	114	31.378	Early
120	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	2–4	133	31.283	Early
121	Old Dominion	Sun Belt	2–4	123	30.493	Early
122	Middle Tennessee	Conference USA	2–3	118	29.792	Early
123	Sam Houston	Conference USA	1–4	126	29.154	Early
124	Rice	American Athletic	1–5	121	26.993	Early
125	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	2–4	131	26.975	Early
126	Washington State	Pac-12	1–5	117	23.818	Early
127	Rutgers	Big Ten	1–4	125	22.262	Early
128	Ball State	Mid-American	1–5	132	21.478	Early
129	Missouri State	Conference USA	1–4	122	21.438	Early
130	Kennesaw State	Conference USA	1–4	136	19.036	Early
131	Northern Illinois	Mountain West	0–5	129	18.286	Early
132	Hawai'i	Mountain West	1–5	119	17.966	Early
133	UTEP	Mountain West	1–5	130	17.942	Early
134	Charlotte	American Athletic	0–6	134	17.677	Early
135	Sacramento State	Mid-American	1–5	127	17.038	Early
136	Southern Miss	Sun Belt	1–4	137	16.689	Early
137	UL Monroe	Sun Belt	0–5	138	14.989	Early
138	Akron	Mid-American	1–5	135	14.085	Early

Download Week 6 rankings (CSV)Original methodology (historical PDF)

Conference-first matrix

Week 6 conference standings

Download conference standings (CSV)

Conference scores are earned only in games against other FBS conferences and are adjusted for opponent strength and location. Week 6 evidence is strongly shrunk toward the neutral 50.000 baseline; conferences without an interconference result remain tied.

Rank	Conference	Nonconference	Games	CAR conference score	Confidence
1	SEC	28–2	30	74.803	Early
2	Big Ten	30–11	41	62.882	Early
3	Big 12	23–8	31	61.686	Early
4	ACC	18–12	30	58.675	Early
5	FBS Independents	8–3	11	56.438	Early
6	Pac-12	9–16	25	48.251	Early
7	American Athletic	15–23	38	42.002	Early
8	Mountain West	10–16	26	39.599	Early
9	Sun Belt	14–26	40	37.021	Early
10	Conference USA	6–24	30	33.430	Early
11	Mid-American	7–27	34	31.889	Early

Weekly recap · Games of October 6–10

Week 6: UCLA leads CAR

UCLA leads the Week 6 CAR rankings, followed by Georgia, Indiana, Miami and Notre Dame. SEC leads the conference matrix at 74.803, with a 28–2 FBS interconference record. All 58 games in this edition are final. This release introduces the résumé-scale change described below.

Open complete printable weekly recap (PDF)

+39

Purdue to No. 41

W 41–13 vs Minnesota. Previously No. 80. Movement includes the method change.

+35

South Carolina to No. 54

W 38–19 at Florida. Previously No. 89. Movement includes the method change.

+30

Buffalo to No. 98

W 23–8 at Toledo. Previously No. 128. Movement includes the method change.

-31

Florida State to No. 73

L 20–44 at Louisville. Previously No. 42. Movement includes the method change.

-31

App State to No. 105

L 3–10 vs Old Dominion. Previously No. 74. Movement includes the method change.

-30

Florida to No. 57

L 19–38 vs South Carolina. Previously No. 27. Movement includes the method change.

How this edition is calculated: Week 6 introduces a new résumé scale: cumulative game values are spread across 0–100 instead of being clipped at the old ceiling. The four weights remain 35% résumé, 30% outcome-surprise performance, 25% counted-game win percentage and 10% conference strength. There is no direct preseason blend in Week 6. Week 6 games use frozen Week 5 opponent values; earlier game values and published editions are unchanged. Preseason influence can remain inside those frozen historical expectations. Movement is versus published Week 5 and reflects new results, removal of the final 10% preseason blend, the new résumé scale and the conference membership correction. Bye-week teams can move. Confidence remains Early.

The recap contains all 138 teams, all 58 final scores, conference standings and the method-change explanation.

Transparent by design

How CAR works

35%

Matrix résumé

Values results using frozen opponent strength, pregame expectations and capped margin. From Week 6, cumulative values are scaled across all 138 teams without the old clipping plateau.

30%

Predictive strength

Measures performance against frozen pregame win expectations, using outcome surprise and margin capped at 28 points.

25%

Record quality

Counted-game win percentage. FBS wins over FCS opponents are excluded; FCS losses count. Opponent context is measured in the other components, not this percentage.

10%

Conference strength

Uses opponent- and location-adjusted performance against other conferences.

FCS rule

An FBS win over an FCS opponent earns no positive résumé or conference points. An FBS loss receives a substantial deduction.

Ranking and explanatory measures

CAR publishes one combined ranking and twelve explanatory measures. The performance component describes outcome surprise and capped margin; it is not a validated win-probability forecast.

Independent inputs

AP, ESPN, CFP committee rankings, and gambling odds are not inputs. They may be used only as external benchmarks.

Current implementation, effective Week 6: Résumé = 100 × (Q − minimum Q) / (maximum Q − minimum Q), using all 138 cumulative raw game values. The four weights remain 35/30/25/10. This change is prospective; earlier editions and frozen game values are not replayed. The performance component remains outcome surprise plus margin capped at 28, not play-level efficiency, personnel or a validated win forecast. A team entering with lower expectations can receive more surprise credit for the same result. The core record component is counted-game win percentage. Historical expectations can retain preseason influence, and original preseason points remain the exact-score tie-break. Head-to-head results do not enforce rank order. Field extremes can move scaled points even during a bye. The original methodology PDF is retained for historical reference, not as the current executable specification.

Preseason transition, clarified September 20: Preseason 100%; after Week 0 80%; Week 1 65%; Week 2 50%; Week 3 35%; Week 4 20%; Week 5 10%; Week 6 onward 0%. The remaining weight uses cumulative current-season evidence. The original preseason baseline is retained in the archive; frozen historical game expectations do not change.

What comes next

Next ranking: after the full Week 7 slate

The published Week 6 values become the frozen comparison point for Week 7. There is no direct preseason blend. Earlier published editions and game values remain unchanged.

View all teams

About the rankings

CAR college football ranking questions

What are the CAR rankings?

CAR is an independent ranking of every FBS football team. It begins with how conferences perform outside their leagues, then evaluates each team's results against the strength of the opponents it actually played.

How often are the rankings updated?

During the season, a new edition is planned each week after the completed games are processed. The page keeps the prior rank so readers can see movement over time.

Does CAR use AP, ESPN, CFP, or betting rankings?

No. Those rankings and betting odds are not model inputs. CAR can compare its results with outside systems, but its published rank is independently calculated.

Why rank all 138 FBS teams?

Ranking the full division gives every opponent a matrix value. That lets a win over a strong team count more than a win over a weak team and helps quantify schedule quality consistently.

2026 college football rankingsEvery FBS team. One independent matrix.