Heckscher/Miles FBS Ranking System

Heckscher/Miles FBS Ranking System (abbreviated Heck/Miles) is part of the emerging new class of comprehensive historical ranking systems for all 118 NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship programs. Created in 2005, by Northwestern University alumni Carl Heckscher and David Miles, both mathematicians, the rankings have become a key tool for the college football community. With its emphasis on mathematical formulas with multiple variables, Heck-Miles is an offshoot of the sabermetric school of analytical thought.

Ranking methodology

What makes this system unique is its comprehensive, regression-based, proprietary algorithm consisting of traditional broad-based metrics as Championships, Won-Loss Record, Strength of Opposition with more narrowly focused statistics such as All-American nominations, Average NFL Draft Positions, and Recruiting Success ranks.[1] All told there are rumored to be over 130 different components comprising the ranking.

Current rankings

Updated 8/1/20[2]

Ranking	College	Heck/Miles Index Score
1	Alabama	0.996
2	Oklahoma	0.993
3	Auburn	0.992
4	USC	0.986
5	Florida	0.987
6	Michigan	0.986
7	Miami	0.981
8	Texas	0.980
9	Notre Dame	0.978
10	LSU	0.976
11	Florida State	0.975
12	Penn State	0.971
13	Tennessee	0.968
14	Ohio State	0.959
15	Pittsburgh	0.956
16	Wisconsin	0.956
17	West Virginia	0.949
18	Missouri	0.946
19	Iowa	0.943
20	Texas A&M	0.940
21	Syracuse	0.937
22	Oregon	0.936
23	Clemson	0.933
24	Colorado	0.932
25	Boston College	0.929
26	Washington	0.928
27	Ole Miss	0.927
28	Illinois	0.925
29	NC State	0.923
30	Auburn	0.922
31	Georgia	0.918
32	Georgia Tech	0.915
33	Michigan State	0.915
34	Texas Tech	0.914
35	Arizona State	0.911
36	Mississippi State	0.905
37	Virginia Tech	0.905
38	Minnesota	0.901
39	Oklahoma State	0.900
40	Arkansas	0.899
41	Purdue	0.898
42	New Mexico State	0.897
43	Iowa State	0.894
44	UCLA	0.888
45	TCU	0.885
46	Cincinnati	0.880
47	Army	0.876
48	Washington State	0.875
49	California	0.875
50	Stanford	0.873
51	Navy	0.872
52	Northwestern	0.870
53	Boise State	0.867
54	Kansas	0.863
55	Connecticut	0.861
56	Colorado State	0.856
57	North Carolina	0.855
58	New Mexico	0.853
59	Marshall	0.853
60	South Florida	0.852
61	Fresno State	0.851
62	Arizona	0.848
63	Oregon State	0.847
64	Maryland	0.844
65	Miami University	0.843
66	Memphis	0.841
67	South Carolina	0.839
68	Temple	0.835
69	Houston	0.835
70	Air Force	0.832
71	Rutgers	0.831
72	Akron	0.828
73	Kansas State	0.827
74	Virginia	0.826
75	BYU	0.826
76	Vanderbilt	0.822
77	Louisiana Tech	0.822
78	Indiana	0.819
79	Baylor	0.818
80	Hawaii	0.817
81	Northern Illinois	0.815
82	Ohio	0.810
83	Kentucky	0.808
84	Wyoming	0.807
85	Nevada	0.805
86	Utah State	0.802
87	Louisville	0.801
88	Arkansas State	0.801
89	Ball State	0.795
90	Southern Miss	0.794
91	UTEP	0.793
92	Western Michigan	0.788
93	Wake Forest	0.787
94	Idaho	0.784
95	Utah	0.781
96	UCF	0.781
97	Middle Tennessee	0.780
98	North Texas	0.780
99	SMU	0.778
100	Western Kentucky	0.774
101	UNLV	0.773
102	Tulane	0.770
103	Kent State	0.769
104	Louisiana-Monroe	0.768
105	Tulsa	0.763
106	UAB	0.762
107	Bowling Green	0.760
108	Central Michigan	0.759
109	Louisiana-Lafayette	0.755
110	Toledo	0.735
111	San Diego State	0.734
112	San Jose State	0.721
113	Florida Atlantic	0.695
114	Eastern Michigan	0.692
115	ECU	0.650
116	FIU	0.647
117	Duke	0.642
118	Buffalo	0.501

Growing media popularity

Prior to 2008, this ranking system was to a small audience. However, it has been steadily gaining mainstream exposure. During the November 7, 2009 pre-game telecast of LSU-Alabama game, on air hosts Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman debated the latest rankings, specifically the validity of the relative low ranking of LSU compared to Alabama.[3] Chris Fowler has also been known to bring up Heck-Miles occasionally on College GameDay and is noted as saying "It's hard to measure greatness, but Heck-Miles comes pretty darn close to doing just that."[4]

Criticisms

The most frequent criticism of Heckscher-Miles is that its opponents claim that Pacific-10 Conference teams are rated too low compared to the other conferences, with the Washington St. and California rankings often cited as issues. David Miles has been vocal in response to critics, his most memorable response being "Just because Mickey Mouse hands you a big TV contract, it does not automatically make you a great team. Money and exposure are simply not objective criteria we can use in our formula."[5] Miles was referring to the current lucrative broadcast contract that the Pac-10 teams have with American Broadcasting Company television network, currently owned by The Walt Disney Company

References

Heckscher, C and David Miles: Heckscher/Miles Rankings Explained, 22 May 2008.
Heckscher, C and David Miles: Heckscher/Miles Rankings, 31 July 2020.
Brando, T: SEC on CBS, CBS, 7 November 2009.
Fowler, C: College Gameday, ESPN, 27 September 2008.
Miles, D: Football Statistics Symposium XI, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 3 March 2009.

External links

Football Outsiders
Sabermetrics 101: The Analysis of Baseball
NCAA College Football Statistics and Rankings
Statistical Analysis by Football Frontier
Web Site Brings Vox Populi to College Football Polling New York Times January 5, 2008]
College Football Conference Rankings
The Quad College Football Blog New York Times

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[1] Heckscher, C and David Miles: Heckscher/Miles Rankings Explained, 22 May 2008.

[2] Heckscher, C and David Miles: Heckscher/Miles Rankings, 31 July 2020.

[3] Brando, T: SEC on CBS, CBS, 7 November 2009.

[4] Fowler, C: College Gameday, ESPN, 27 September 2008.

[5] Miles, D: Football Statistics Symposium XI, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 3 March 2009.