This page ranks the accuracy of the preseason magazines' conference predictions for 2016, 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. The best prediction for each conference/division is highlighted in the list. For information on the scoring method, see the notes file.
| Rank | Magazine (yellow=web, cyan=app) |
Total Score |
Amer. Athl. East |
Amer. Athl. West |
ACC Atl. |
ACC Coa. |
B1G East |
B1G West |
Big 12 | Conf USA East |
Conf USA West |
MAC East |
MAC West |
MWC Mtn |
MWC West |
PAC12 North |
PAC12 South |
SEC East |
SEC West |
Sun Belt |
| 1 | Athlon | 137 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| 2 | PickSixPreviews.com | 141½ | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 11½ |
| 3 | USA Today | 144 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 14 |
| 4t | Cap Heresy | 145 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 11 |
| 4t | Sports Crunchers | 145 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 11 |
| 6 | Arena Fanatic | 145½ | 4 | 4½ | 0 | 2½ | 9 | 9 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 17½ |
| 7 | ESPN | 146 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 17 |
| 8t | McIllece Sports | 147 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 16 |
| 8t | The Sporting News | 147 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 15 |
| 10t | DRatings.com | 148 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 14 |
| 10t | Gold Sheet | 148 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 10 | 16 |
| 10t | Lindy's | 148 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 17 |
| 10t | Phil Steele | 148 | 6½ | 7 | 5½ | 3½ | 8 | 3 | 16½ | 15 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 9½ | 5 | 7 | 9 | 7½ | 8 | 13 |
| 14t | GamePlan | 149 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 15 |
| 14t | Media polls | 149 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 19 |
| 16 | CollegeFootballPoll.com | 150 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 19 |
| 17 | Steve Wrathell's CPA Rankings | 151 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 17 |
| 18 | Sports Formulator | 154 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 21 |
| 19 | compughterratings.com | 154½ | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 10½ | 8 | 12 | 19 |
| 20 | Compu-Picks | 165 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 10 | 8 |