Previous (1997) Next (1999) What's the Consensus? Preseason Home Up (consensus index)

1998 Preseason Consensus


See the "notes" file for information on the preseason consensus. See the "1998 accuracy" file for a comparison between 1998 preseason predictions and final conference standings.

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Magazines that won't be included this year:

National Top 25

Rank Team Total
Points
Athlon Lindy D.P.
(in JA)
Sporting
News
Phil
Steele
Bob
Griese
Street
& Smith
Game
Plan
Preview
Sports
Jim
Feist
C&PF
N'wkly
Dun-
navant
Jeff
Allen
Sports-
form
Dick
Butkus
Jeff
Cline
F'ball
News
LVSN Sports
Illus.
Play
boy
ATS
Cons.
1 Ohio State 584 1 1 6 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 - 1 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4
2 Florida State 572 4 4 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 - 2 2 2 2 2 3 6 2 3 3
3 Florida 532 3 2 2 4 5 4 3 7 5 10 - 3 3 4 3 5 4 8 4 7 2
4 Michigan 516 6 3 3 6 4 6 10 5 3 7 - 5 1 3 7 7 5 10 8 4 1
5t Kansas State 510 2 6 4 7 6 5 9 4 4 3 - 4 - 6 8 3 2 7 3 1 10
5t Nebraska 510 9 5 5 2 3 3 6 3 6 6 - 9 4 5 5 6 6 11 5 6 5
7 Louisiana St. 461 7 8 11 8 10 8 5 9 7 5 - 8 - 7 6 8 7 2 10 8 9
8 Arizona State 433 8 7 8 5 21 7 7 13 8 - - 6 - 8 10 9 8 5 7 5 13
9 Tennessee 416 11 12 7 11 7 10 12 6 16 9 - 7 8 9 14 10 15 16 9 9 6
10 UCLA 410 10 9 10 10 - 11 4 8 10 4 - 15 6 10 4 4 10 12 6 16 20
11 West Virginia 368 5 11 - 9 14 12 19 19 9 8 - 11 - 11 9 14 9 14 18 10 8
12 North Carolina 332 19 10 9 13 16 19 13 10 22 - - 10 9 19 15 12 12 - 15 11 7
13 Colorado State 296 13 17 12 19 23 13 8 25 18 - - 12 - 15 11 16 11 18 17 13 -
14 Penn State 283 - 16 - 14 9 9 14 14 19 - - 19 7 - 18 17 21 20 14 12 15
15 Syracuse 272 22 13 14 18 17 16 24 11 17 - - 13 - 13 19 11 17 - 11 18 -
16 Virginia 246 12 14 19 15 24 23 11 21 11 - - - - 14 12 - 14 15 - - 18
17 Texas A&M 234 14 15 18 12 12 25 18 - 15 - - 16 - 16 13 24 16 - 21 - -
18 Washington 230 18 - 17 25 19 18 25 12 13 - - 14 10 - 17 15 23 - 12 - 22
19 Wisconsin 225 15 19 - 17 22 14 - - 23 - - 23 - 12 - 13 13 4 - - 12
20 Michigan State 204 20 25 - - 20 22 - 15 14 - - 17 - - 24 22 22 13 13 - 17
21 Notre Dame 187 21 20 - 16 18 24 20 18 - - - - - 17 25 20 24 - 25 20 14
22 Southern Miss 179 24 18 15 21 - - 21 - 24 - - 22 - 18 21 25 19 19 - 14 24
23 Auburn 152 - - 16 - - - 16 16 20 - - 18 - - - 18 - 9 23 - -
24 Georgia 141 17 - 20 22 - 17 - - 12 - - - - - 16 23 - - 20 - -
25 Southern Cal 133 - 21 - 20 11 - - 17 - - - - - - - - 18 - - - 11

Others receiving votes:

Rank Team Total
Points
Athlon Lindy D.P.
(in JA)
Sporting
News
Phil
Steele
Bob
Griese
Street
& Smith
Game
Plan
Preview
Sports
Jim
Feist
C&PF
N'wkly
Dun-
navant
Jeff
Allen
Sports-
form
Dick
Butkus
Jeff
Cline
F'ball
News
LVSN Sports
Illus.
Play
boy
ATS
Cons.
26 Texas 128 - - - - - 20 15 - - - - - - - - 21 25 3 - - 19
27 Arizona 124 16 22 - - 25 - 17 - - - - - - - - - 20 - - 17 16
28 Georgia Tech 116 - 23 - - - 15 23 - - - - 20 - - - 19 - 22 - 19 -
29 Missouri 96 - - - - - - 22 22 21 - - - - - 23 - - - 16 - -
30 Colorado 94 - 24 - 23 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15 -
31 Oklahoma State 79 25 - - - - - - 20 - - - - - - 20 - - - - - 25
32 Miami-Florida 76 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 22 - - - 19 - 21
33 Utah 75 - - - 24 15 - - 24 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
34 Tulane 73 - - - - - - - 23 - - - - - 20 - - - 17 - - -
35 Iowa 70 - - - - 13 - - - - - - 24 - - - - - - - - -
36 Wake Forest 69 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 24 22 - 23
37 Mississippi 66 23 - 13 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
38t Air Force 55 - - - - - - - - - - - 21 - - - - - - - - -
38t Arkansas 55 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 21 - - -
38t Purdue 55 - - - - - 21 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
41 Oregon 53 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 23 - - -
42 Kentucky 52 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 24 - -
43t Central Florida 51 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 25 - - -
43t Louisiana Tech 51 - - - - - - - - - - - 25 - - - - - - - - -
43t New Mexico 51 - - - - - - - - 25 - - - - - - - - - - - -
46 unranked 45 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Notes:

Football Action did not give a national top 25 this year.

Jim Feist ranked only a top ten (unranked = 15 points).

Jeff Allen ranked only a top ten (unranked = 15 points).

Dan Pastorini (in Jeff Allen's magazine) ranked only a top twenty (unranked = 5 points).

Sportsform ranked only a top twenty (unranked = 5 points).

Conference predictions

Atlantic Coast

Rank Team Total
Points
Athlon Lindy Football
Action
Sporting
News
Phil
Steele
Bob
Griese
Street
& Smith
Game
Plan
Preview
Sports
Jim
Feist
C&PF
N'wkly
Dun-
navant
Jeff
Allen
Sports-
form
Dick
Butkus
Jeff
Cline
F'ball
News
LVSN Sports
Illus.
Play
boy
ATS
Cons.
1 Florida State 21 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 North Carolina 51 3 2 4 2 3 3 3 2 3 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
3 Virginia 64 2 3 3 3 2 4 2 3 2 3 3 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 4 4 3
4 Georgia Tech 81 5 4 2 4 6 2 4 4 4 2 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 4 5 3 6
5 Clemson 118 4 7 7 6 4 6 5 5 6 6 6 5 7 5 5 5 6 5 7 6 5
6 Wake Forest 129 8 5 8 5 5 8 6 7 7 7 5 7 6 6 8 8 5 6 3 5 4
7 N.C. State 136 7 6 6 7 7 7 7 6 5 5 7 6 5 7 6 7 7 8 6 7 7
8 Maryland 165 6 9 5 9 9 5 9 9 9 8 8 9 9 8 7 6 8 7 8 8 9
9 Duke 180 9 8 9 8 8 9 8 8 8 9 9 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8

Notes:

Athlon published different rankings of the ACC in different issues. I used the ranking from their national college preview. The Big Ten issue predicted: (6) N.C. State, (7) Wake Forest, (8) Maryland.

Big East

Rank Team Total
Points
Athlon Lindy Football
Action
Sporting
News
Phil
Steele
Bob
Griese
Street
& Smith
Game
Plan
Preview
Sports
Jim
Feist
C&PF
N'wkly
Dun-
navant
Jeff
Allen
Sports-
form
Dick
Butkus
Jeff
Cline
F'ball
News
LVSN Sports
Illus.
Play
boy
ATS
Cons.
1 West Virginia 28 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 1
2 Syracuse 36 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 3
3 Miami-Florida 71 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 6 3 4 2
4 Virginia Tech 80 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 5 3 4 3 5
5 Boston College 107 5 4 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 7 5 6 4
6 Pittsburgh 126 6 7 5 6 6 6 6 6 8 6 5 6 6 7 6 6 6 5 6 5 6
7 Temple 142 7 6 7 7 7 8 7 7 6 7 7 7 7 6 7 7 7 4 7 7 7
8 Rutgers 166 8 8 8 8 8 7 8 8 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

Big Ten

Rank Team Total
Points
Athlon Lindy Football
Action
Sporting
News
Phil
Steele
Bob
Griese
Street
& Smith
Game
Plan
Preview
Sports
Jim
Feist
C&PF
N'wkly
Dun-
navant
Jeff
Allen
Sports-
form
Dick
Butkus
Jeff
Cline
F'ball
News
LVSN Sports
Illus.
Play
boy
ATS
Cons.
1 Ohio State 22 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2
2 Michigan 41 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1
3 Wisconsin 81 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 5 5 3 3 5 4 3 5 3 3 3 5 4 3
4 Penn State 84 5 3 6 3 3 3 3 3 4 5 6 4 3 6 3 4 4 5 4 3 4
5 Michigan State 97 4 5 5 5 6 6 5 4 3 4 5 3 6 5 4 5 5 4 3 5 5
6 Iowa 127 6 8 4 8 4 8 8 6 6 6 4 6 5 4 6 7 6 6 7 6 6
7 Purdue 147 7 6 7 6 9 5 6 7 8 7 7 7 8 7 8 6 8 8 6 7 7
8 Northwestern 165 8 7 9 7 7 7 7 9 7 8 9 8 7 10 7 8 9 7 8 8 8
9 Minnesota 190 11 10 8 9 10 10 9 8 10 10 8 9 9 8 9 9 7 9 9 9 9
10 Indiana 207 9 9 10 10 11 9 10 10 9 9 10 10 10 9 11 10 10 10 10 10 11
11 Illinois 225 10 11 11 11 8 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 11 11 11 11 11 10

Big 12

Rank Team Total
Points
Athlon Lindy Football
Action
Sporting
News
Phil
Steele
Bob
Griese
Street
& Smith
Game
Plan
Preview
Sports
Jim
Feist
C&PF
N'wkly
Dun-
navant
Jeff
Allen
Sports-
form
Dick
Butkus
Jeff
Cline
F'ball
News
LVSN Sports
Illus.
Play
boy
ATS
Cons.
North
1 Kansas State 29 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2
2 Nebraska 34 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1
3 Missouri 72 3 4 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 3 4 3 3 4 3
4 Colorado 76 4 3 4 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 4 3 5 4 3 4
5 Kansas 109 5 5 6 5 6 5 5 6 5 5 6 5 5 5 5 6 5 4 5 5 5
6 Iowa State 121 6 6 5 6 5 6 6 5 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 6
South
1 Texas A&M 38 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 3 1 1 2 1 3 4 1 2 1 1 1 4 3
2 Texas 43 3 3 1 2 2 1 1 2 3 3 1 3 1 1 3 1 3 3 2 3 1
3 Oklahoma St. 48 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 1 2
4 Texas Tech 89 5 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 5 5 4 4 4 5 4
5 Oklahoma 98 4 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 5 2 5
6 Baylor 125 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

Big West

Rank Team Total
Points
Athlon Lindy Football
Action
Sporting
News
Phil
Steele
Bob
Griese
Street
& Smith
Game
Plan
Preview
Sports
Jim
Feist
C&PF
N'wkly
Dun-
navant
Jeff
Allen
Sports-
form
Dick
Butkus
Jeff
Cline
F'ball
News
LVSN Sports
Illus.
Play
boy
ATS
Cons.
1 Utah State 29 1 2 2 1 2 3 2 3 2 - - 2 - - 2 - 2 - 2 1 2
2 Nevada 30 2 1 1 2 3 2 1 1 4 - - 1 - - 1 - 3 - 1 3 4
3 Boise State 37 3 3 4 3 1 1 3 2 1 - - 4 - - 3 - 1 - 3 4 1
4 Idaho 66 4 4 3 6 5 4 4 4 5 - - 5 - - 5 - 5 - 5 2 5
5 North Texas 67 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 5 6 - - 3 - - 4 - 4 - 4 5 3
6 New Mexico St. 86 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 3 - - 6 - - 6 - 6 - 6 6 6

Notes:

Jim Feist did not give Big West predictions.
College & Pro Football Newsweekly did not give Big West predictions.
Jeff Allen did not give Big West predictions.
Sportsform did not give Big West predictions.
Jeff Cline did not give Big West predictions.
LVSN did not give Big West predictions.

Conference USA

Rank Team Total
Points
Athlon Lindy Football
Action
Sporting
News
Phil
Steele
Bob
Griese
Street
& Smith
Game
Plan
Preview
Sports
Jim
Feist
C&PF
N'wkly
Dun-
navant
Jeff
Allen
Sports-
form
Dick
Butkus
Jeff
Cline
F'ball
News
LVSN Sports
Illus.
Play
boy
ATS
Cons.
1 Southern Miss 26 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1
2 Tulane 41 3 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 1 2 3 2
3 Cincinnati 71 4 4 3 5 3 3 3 3 4 3 4 2 4 3 4 2 4 3 3 2 5
4 East Carolina 83 2 3 5 3 4 4 6 5 3 6 5 4 3 5 3 4 3 4 4 4 3
5 Memphis 113 5 5 6 4 7 7 4 4 5 4 6 5 6 6 7 6 5 5 5 7 4
6 Louisville 118 6 7 4 7 5 6 5 6 6 5 3 8 5 4 6 5 6 7 6 5 6
7 Houston 146 7 6 8 6 6 5 7 8 8 7 8 6 8 8 5 8 7 6 7 8 7
8 Army 158 8 8 7 8 8 8 8 7 7 8 7 7 7 7 8 7 8 8 8 6 8

Notes:

Athlon published different rankings of C-USA in different issues. I used the ranking from their national college preview. The Big Ten issue predicted: (6) Houston, (7) Louisville.

Mid-American

Rank Team Total
Points
Athlon Lindy Football
Action
Sporting
News
Phil
Steele
Bob
Griese
Street
& Smith
Game
Plan
Preview
Sports
Jim
Feist
C&PF
N'wkly
Dun-
navant
Jeff
Allen
Sports-
form
Dick
Butkus
Jeff
Cline
F'ball
News
LVSN Sports
Illus.
Play
boy
ATS
Cons.
East
1 Marshall 17 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 - - 1 - - 1 - 1 - 1 1 1
2 Miami-Ohio 31 1 2 3 2 1 2 2 3 2 - - 2 - - 3 - 2 - 2 2 2
3 Ohio U. 42 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 - - 3 - - 2 - 3 - 3 3 3
4 Kent 69 5 5 5 4 6 4 6 4 5 - - 4 - - 4 - 4 - 4 4 5
5 Akron 76 6 4 4 5 4 5 5 6 6 - - 6 - - 5 - 5 - 5 6 4
6 Bowling Green 80 4 6 6 6 5 6 4 5 4 - - 5 - - 6 - 6 - 6 5 6
West
1 Toledo 16 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - - 1 - - 1 - 1 - 1 1 2
2 Western Michigan 31 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 - - 2 - - 2 - 2 - 2 3 1
3 Ball State 47 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 - - 3 - - 4 - 3 - 3 4 3
4 Central Michigan 69 5 4 5 6 4 4 5 3 5 - - 5 - - 6 - 4 - 4 5 4
5 Eastern Michigan 70 6 5 4 5 5 5 4 5 4 - - 4 - - 5 - 5 - 6 2 5
6 N. Illinois 82 4 6 6 4 6 6 6 6 6 - - 6 - - 3 - 6 - 5 6 6

Notes:

Athlon published different rankings of the MAC in different issues. I used the ranking from their national college preview. The Big Ten issue predicted: (1) Marshall, (2) Miami-Ohio, (4) Central Michigan, (5) Eastern Michigan, (6) Northern Illinois.
Jim Feist did not give Mid-American Conference predictions.
College & Pro Football Newsweekly did not give Mid-American Conference predictions.
Jeff Allen did not give Mid-American Conference predictions.
Sportsform did not give Mid-American Conference predictions.
Jeff Cline did not give Mid-American Conference predictions.
LVSN did not give Mid-American Conference predictions.

Pacific 10

Rank Team Total
Points
Athlon Lindy Football
Action
Sporting
News
Phil
Steele
Bob
Griese
Street
& Smith
Game
Plan
Preview
Sports
Jim
Feist
C&PF
N'wkly
Dun-
navant
Jeff
Allen
Sports-
form
Dick
Butkus
Jeff
Cline
F'ball
News
LVSN Sports
Illus.
Play
boy
ATS
Cons.
1 UCLA 39 2 2 1 2 5 2 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 4
2 Arizona State 40 1 1 3 1 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 2 2 1 2 2 1 2
3 Washington 66 4 5 2 4 3 3 4 2 3 3 2 2 1 2 3 3 5 3 3 4 5
4 Arizona 86 3 4 4 5 2 5 3 5 5 5 4 6 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 3 3
5 Southern Cal 102 5 3 8 3 1 6 5 4 4 4 8 4 7 8 4 6 3 6 7 5 1
6 Oregon 133 6 6 6 6 7 7 6 6 7 6 6 7 5 6 8 7 6 7 5 7 6
7 Washington St. 144 8 7 5 9 10 8 7 9 6 7 5 5 6 5 6 5 7 5 8 8 8
8 Stanford 167 7 8 9 7 9 4 8 8 8 9 9 8 8 9 7 9 9 9 6 6 10
9 California 172 9 9 7 8 6 9 9 7 9 8 7 9 9 7 9 8 8 8 9 10 7
10 Oregon State 206 10 10 10 10 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9

Southeastern

Rank Team Total
Points
Athlon Lindy Football
Action
Sporting
News
Phil
Steele
Bob
Griese
Street
& Smith
Game
Plan
Preview
Sports
Jim
Feist
C&PF
N'wkly
Dun-
navant
Jeff
Allen
Sports-
form
Dick
Butkus
Jeff
Cline
F'ball
News
LVSN Sports
Illus.
Play
boy
ATS
Cons.
East
1 Florida 24 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 Tennessee 40 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 3 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
3 Georgia 75 3 3 5 3 4 3 4 4 2 5 5 3 4 5 3 3 3 4 3 3 3
4 Kentucky 79 4 4 4 4 3 4 3 3 4 3 3 4 5 3 4 4 4 3 4 5 4
5 South Carolina 98 5 5 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 3 4 5 5 5 5 5 4 6
6 Vanderbilt 125 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5
West
1 Louisiana St. 23 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 Auburn 58 5 5 3 3 4 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 4
3 Alabama 77 4 2 2 5 3 5 4 3 4 3 2 5 1 2 4 4 5 4 4 6 5
4 Mississippi 82 2 4 4 4 6 3 3 5 3 4 4 3 4 4 5 3 2 6 5 2 6
5 Mississippi St. 94 6 6 5 2 2 6 5 6 6 5 5 6 5 5 3 5 4 3 3 4 2
6 Arkansas 107 3 3 6 6 5 4 6 4 5 6 6 4 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 5 3

Western Athletic

Rank Team Total
Points
Athlon Lindy Football
Action
Sporting
News
Phil
Steele
Bob
Griese
Street
& Smith
Game
Plan
Preview
Sports
Jim
Feist
C&PF
N'wkly
Dun-
navant
Jeff
Allen
Sports-
form
Dick
Butkus
Jeff
Cline
F'ball
News
LVSN Sports
Illus.
Play
boy
ATS
Cons.
Mountain
1 Colorado St. 22 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 Wyoming 61 2 2 4 3 3 5 4 2 2 4 4 3 1 4 2 2 2 4 4 3 1
3t Air Force 67 4 4 2 5 4 4 2 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 4 3 5 3 5 2 3
3t Rice 67 3 5 3 2 2 2 3 4 4 3 3 1 4 3 3 4 4 2 3 4 5
5 S. Methodist 98 5 3 5 4 5 3 5 5 6 5 6 4 6 5 5 5 3 5 2 5 6
6 UNLV 128 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 5 6 5 7 5 6 7 7 6 7 7 8 6
7 Texas Christian 142 7 7 7 7 7 7 8 7 8 8 7 7 5 7 6 6 8 6 6 7 4
8 Tulsa 160 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 6 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 8 8 6 8
Pacific
1 Utah 43 1 2 3 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 4 5 2 3 1 2 1 3 2 2 2
2 Brigham Young 44 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 3 3 3 2 3 3 2 2 3 2 1 1 1 3
3 New Mexico 51 5 3 1 4 3 4 4 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 4 2 3 3 2
4 Fresno State 95 4 4 4 5 7 5 3 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 4
5 San Diego St. 98 3 5 5 3 4 3 5 6 7 6 5 4 7 5 4 4 3 4 4 6 5
6 Texas-El Paso 131 6 7 6 6 5 6 7 8 8 5 6 6 7 6 7 6 6 6 6 4 7
7 San Jose St. 150 7 6 7 8 6 8 6 8 5 8 7 6 6 7 8 8 8 8 8 7 8
8 Hawaii 155 8 8 8 7 8 7 8 7 6 7 8 8 8 8 6 7 7 7 7 8 7

Notes:

Athlon published different rankings of the WAC in different issues. I used the ranking from their national college preview. The Big Ten issue predicted: (7) Tulsa, (8) TCU, (3) Fresno State, (4) New Mexico, (5) San Jose State, (6) San Diego State, (7) Texas-El Paso.

This year four magazines failed to account for the rotation of WAC quadrants, which swapped half of the members of the Mountain and Pacific divisions. (These are marked with pink column headings in the above table.) Colorado State, Wyoming, Air Force, and UNLV were in the Pacific division last year but are in the Mountain division this year. Utah, Brigham Young, New Mexico and Texas-El Paso were in the Mountain division last year but are in the Pacific division this year. As a result of swapping these teams, the following magazines' predictions may have two predictions for the same ranking in the same division (one from a team that was correctly placed in that division, and another from a team that was incorrectly placed in the other division):


Previous (1997) Next (1999) What's the Consensus? Preseason Home Up (consensus index)