1970

1970 saw a surprise team finish atop the RPR, as Ivy League champion and Lambert Trophy winner Dartmouth secured the top spot. The Mean Green, who shared the best Win % on the year, were also bolstered by the best Score Ratio as well. 1-loss Tennessee and Notre Dame finished within the CCT cutoff, but after evaluating their bodies of work, Dartmouth was able to hold them off to keep sole possession as #1. All 3 major poll champions – Nebraska, Ohio State, and Texas – failed to fall within the CCT cutoff, which has only happened once so far (1980 season).
Note: I rated 118 teams instead of 123, which most rating systems rate for the 1970 season. Based on NCAA Football Record books, the following schools weren’t considered “major college”/FBS-equivalent for 1970 and were not rated: California State-Los Angeles, California-Santa Barbara, Fresno State, Furman, and Long Beach State.
Co-champion Consideration Threshold: 0.0367; CCT Rating Cutoff: 0.6984
Rank | Team | Rating |
1 | Dartmouth | 0.7352 |
2 | Tennessee | 0.7017 |
3 | Notre Dame | 0.7015 |
4 | Texas (C/NFF) | 0.6942 |
5 | Toledo | 0.6894 |
6 | Nebraska (AP/F) | 0.6866 |
7 | Auburn | 0.6746 |
8 | Arizona State | 0.6719 |
9 | Ohio State (NFF) | 0.6686 |
10 | Michigan | 0.6595 |
11 | LSU | 0.6552 |
12 | Yale | 0.6507 |
13 | Arkansas | 0.6444 |
14 | Harvard | 0.6348 |
15 | Georgia Tech | 0.6278 |
16 | Stanford | 0.6273 |
17 | Air Force | 0.6117 |
18 | Houston | 0.6116 |
19 | San Diego State | 0.6081 |
20 | Western Michigan | 0.5999 |
21 | Southern California | 0.5903 |
22 | Boston College | 0.5846 |
23 | Oklahoma | 0.5844 |
24 | Tulane | 0.5840 |
25 | Miami, OH | 0.5840 |
26 | Texas Tech | 0.5811 |
27 | Mississippi | 0.5802 |
28 | Alabama | 0.5788 |
29 | Cornell | 0.5783 |
30 | Penn State | 0.5777 |
31 | Florida State | 0.5764 |
32 | Cincinnati | 0.5753 |
33 | Washington | 0.5690 |
34 | Colorado | 0.5683 |
35 | UCLA | 0.5681 |
36 | New Mexico | 0.5593 |
37 | Louisville | 0.5588 |
38 | Northwestern | 0.5533 |
39 | Princeton | 0.5528 |
40 | Georgia | 0.5513 |
41 | North Carolina | 0.5503 |
42 | Florida | 0.5458 |
43 | Memphis | 0.5427 |
44 | West Virginia | 0.5426 |
45 | Villanova | 0.5403 |
46 | Tulsa | 0.5384 |
47 | Kansas State | 0.5355 |
48 | Oregon | 0.5339 |
49 | Utah | 0.5329 |
50 | West Texas A&M | 0.5317 |
51 | Mississippi State | 0.5306 |
52 | Oregon State | 0.5296 |
53 | Dayton | 0.5295 |
54 | Wake Forest | 0.5286 |
55 | Missouri | 0.5263 |
56 | UTEP | 0.5257 |
57 | California | 0.5254 |
58 | Pennsylvania | 0.5190 |
59 | Duke | 0.5178 |
60 | Iowa State | 0.5171 |
61 | Syracuse | 0.5120 |
62 | Kansas | 0.5113 |
63 | Southern Mississippi | 0.5066 |
64 | Rice | 0.5038 |
65 | South Carolina | 0.4975 |
66 | Wisconsin | 0.4952 |
67 | Ohio | 0.4947 |
68 | SMU | 0.4927 |
69 | Vanderbilt | 0.4886 |
70 | Pittsburgh | 0.4884 |
71 | Purdue | 0.4868 |
72 | Oklahoma State | 0.4774 |
73 | Columbia | 0.4751 |
74 | Arizona | 0.4748 |
75 | Colorado State | 0.4744 |
76 | Michigan State | 0.4729 |
77 | Virginia Tech | 0.4713 |
78 | Pacific | 0.4677 |
79 | Minnesota | 0.4649 |
80 | New Mexico State | 0.4578 |
81 | Utah State | 0.4565 |
82 | Virginia | 0.4545 |
83 | TCU | 0.4516 |
84 | Rutgers | 0.4459 |
85 | Northern Illinois | 0.4420 |
86 | Bowling Green | 0.4407 |
87 | San Jose State | 0.4349 |
88 | Marshall | 0.4341 |
89 | Illinois | 0.4311 |
90 | Miami, FL | 0.4286 |
91 | Kent State | 0.4282 |
92 | Idaho | 0.4279 |
93 | Brown | 0.4278 |
94 | North Texas | 0.4239 |
95 | Colgate | 0.4228 |
96 | William & Mary | 0.4221 |
97 | Kentucky | 0.4194 |
98 | Richmond | 0.4159 |
99 | Brigham Young | 0.4149 |
100 | Clemson | 0.4146 |
101 | Texas A&M | 0.4143 |
102 | The Citadel | 0.4093 |
103 | Navy | 0.4059 |
104 | Iowa | 0.4005 |
105 | NC State | 0.3915 |
106 | East Carolina | 0.3897 |
107 | Baylor | 0.3873 |
108 | Army | 0.3867 |
109 | Washington State | 0.3792 |
110 | Maryland | 0.3657 |
111 | Buffalo | 0.3631 |
112 | Wyoming | 0.3611 |
113 | Xavier | 0.3331 |
114 | Indiana | 0.3145 |
115 | Davidson | 0.3095 |
116 | Wichita State | 0.3082 |
117 | Holy Cross | 0.2963 |
118 | VMI | 0.2943 |
Best Win Percentage: Arizona State/Dartmouth/Toledo
Best SOS: Alabama
Best Score Ratio: Dartmouth