Preseason Prediction Accuracy (1996)

This page ranks the accuracy of the preseason magazines' conference predictions for 1996, by comparing them to conference finish.

Lower scores indicate more accurate predictions; the lower the score, the closer the predictions were to the actual results. Magazines are sorted by total score for all conferences, with the best predictions (lowest total scores) at the top. For information on the scoring method, see the notes file.

Magazine	Total Score	ACC	Big East	Big Ten	Big 12 North	Big 12 South	Big West	Conf USA	MAC	PAC 10	SEC East	SEC West	WAC Mtn	WAC Pacific
ATS Consultants	83	2	6	15	4	6	7	6	9	13	3	0	4	8
Preview Sports	87	7	4	11	4	6	10	6	12	6	2	5	9	5
Bob Griese's	90	2	4	10	6	6	2	4	16	11	2	4	11	12
ESPN	91	11	2	10	2	6	5	2	16	12	4	6	7	8
Lindy's	92	6	6	8	2	6	6	7	14	13	4	3	12	5
Football News	97	6	4	6	4	6	7	6	16	13	6	2	13	8
Football Action	98	9	2	3	6	8	7	7	14	13	4	6	11	8
The Sporting News	99	5	4	10	2	8	6	7	19	14	2	5	9	8
Street & Smith	103	7	4	9	4	6	6	9	18	13	2	3	15	7
College Sports	104	6	4	17	6	6	4	8	13	13	4	3	10	10
Athlon	109	10	2	18	6	6	7	6	14	10	6	4	12	8
Game Plan	111	4	4	14	6	6	8	10	12	21	3	4	13	6
Sports Illustrated	111	5	4	10	4	6	8	6	20	19	5	4	12	8
Magazines which did not pick all of the conferences (scores are adjusted per penalties below):
Magazine	Total Score	ACC	Big East	Big Ten	Big 12 North	Big 12 South	Big West	Conf USA	MAC	PAC 10	SEC East	SEC West	WAC Mtn	WAC Pacific
Jim Feist's	88	5	2	5	4	4	-	7	-	13	5	4	10	4
C&PF Newsweekly	100	2	6	4	4	10	-	7	-	13	2	6	12	8
LineMaster's	105	5	4	16	4	6	-	4	-	17	3	5	10	5
Win. Sp. Gambling	107	7	2	12	2	10	-	12	-	10	5	4	13	4
Jeff Allen's	111	6	6	8	6	6	-	6	-	14	5	10	11	6
Phil Steele's	111	6	6	13	4	12	-	11	-	15	3	0	5	9
Mark Gunn's	121	8	4	16	4	6	-	6	-	23	7	4	12	4
Penalties for skipping prediction (average of others' scores, plus two points):
Penalties	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	-	17	-	-	-	-	-