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How good were the seasons? Based on schedules, wins, and how hard the victories were – and how bad the losses were – the 2015 College Football Season Rankings

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2015 College Football Season Rankings: No. 71-80

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– Explanation of the College Football Season Rankings and the components

80. Nevada Wolf Pack, Mountain West

The lowest-ranked team with more than one Quality Win, The Wolf Pack beat New Mexico and Colorado State and came up with a nice enough first ten games to get bowling, but the loss to UNLV at home was a disaster to the Season Score and the Bad Loss to Wyoming didn’t help. But for all the misfires and Bad Wins, the season was made by the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl win over the Rams. On the year, the D only allowed eight more points than the offense scored.

2015 Season Ranking Score 6.21
2015 Record 7-6
2015 Preseason Prediction 6-6
2015 Preseason Ranking 90
2014 Final Season Ranking 62

T78. Missouri Tigers, SEC

This wasn’t what the two-time defending SEC East champs were thinking about coming into the year. The Tigers lost to Vanderbilt and Kentucky – two mega-no-nos in the East world – and the South Carolina win wasn’t anywhere near as good as it looked in early October. The Tigers scored 20 points or fewer in nine of the final ten games, going 5-0 when scoring 20 or more, 0-7 when scoring fewer.

2015 Season Ranking Score 6.61
2015 Record 5-7
2015 Preseason Prediction 9-3
2015 Preseason Ranking 18
2014 Final Season Ranking 19

T78. Tulsa Golden Hurricane, American Athletic

It was a fun year for the high-powered Golden Hurricane throwing 483 points on the board with 38 points or more in nine games. Unfortunately, the defense gave up points and yards even faster. Five of the six victories were Bad Wins with the New Mexico win the only decent one. Between both sides, Tulsa games averaged 77 points per outing.

2015 Season Ranking Score 6.61
2015 Record 6-7
2015 Preseason Prediction 2-10
2015 Preseason Ranking 78
2014 Final Season Ranking 120

77. Connecticut Huskies, American Athletic

It was a nice year for the Huskies thanks to a defense that saved the day time and again. The offense struggled scoring 20 points or fewer ten times, but it was good enough to hand Houston its only loss of the season. Four of the six wins were Bad Wins, but the W over Houston made the year on the way to a bowl game – and a loss to Marshall.

2015 Season Ranking Score 7.41
2015 Record 6-7
2015 Preseason Prediction 2-10
2015 Preseason Ranking 118
2014 Final Season Ranking 119

76. Kansas State Wildcats, Big 12

Kansas State’s season just couldn’t get going after starting out going 3-0. Wins over Louisiana Tech and West Virginia were nice, but four of the six victories were Bad Wins and there weren’t any season-changers in Big 12 play. The 78-9 combined score in back-to-back weeks against Oklahoma and Texas was ugly, but there was more. Closing out with the 45-23 loss to Arkansas closed everything out with a thud.

2015 Season Ranking Score 7.76
2015 Record 6-7
2015 Preseason Prediction 8-4
2015 Preseason Ranking 35
2014 Final Season Ranking 34

75. Akron Zips, MAC

All of a sudden, the Zip defense became special. It allowed a total of 100 points in losses to Oklahoma and Bowling Green, and just 179 in the other 11 games. Akron closed out the year with five straight wins including a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl victory over Utah State, closing out a season doing a terrific job of winning the winnable games. The five losses came to Oklahoma, Pitt, Ohio, Bowling Green and Central Michigan – all okay for a program looking for something positive.

2015 Season Ranking Score 7.94
2015 Record 8-5
2015 Preseason Prediction 6-6
2015 Preseason Ranking 109
2014 Final Season Ranking 93

74. Texas Longhorns, Big 12

There were moments. The Longhorns came really, really close to beating Cal and Oklahoma State – losing both by a combined four points – and they beat Oklahoma, but it was all offset by the brutal 24-0 loss to Iowa State and a 50-7 blasting from TCU. Just when it seemed like there was nothing to play for … Texas beat Baylor. It was a flaky team, but it was a young team. Experience should matter in 2016.

2015 Season Ranking Score 7.95
2015 Record 5-7
2015 Preseason Prediction 7-5
2015 Preseason Ranking 31
2014 Final Season Ranking 72

73. NC State Wolfpack, ACC

There was too much experience returning to be this mediocre. There was no consistency on an offense that sputtered and coughed in most of the big games and didn’t have enough in the 56-41 loss to Clemson. The Pack rolled on the way to a 4-0 start, but that was it with no wins over teams that finished with a winning record and closing out with an ugly 51-28 blowout loss to Mississippi State.

2015 Season Ranking Score 8.00
2015 Record 7-6
2015 Preseason Prediction 10-2
2015 Preseason Ranking 51
2014 Final Season Ranking 52

72. Indiana Hoosiers, Big Ten

It turned into a nice season for the Hoosiers getting to go to a bowl game while coming up with a thrilling season. IU scored 41 points or more in each of its last four games, and lost two of them thanks to a D that allowed 35 or more in six of the last seven games. The win over WKU was the one saving grace overall considering the Pinstripe Bowl loss to Duke was a kick in the gut.

2015 Season Ranking Score 8.07
2015 Record 6-7
2015 Preseason Prediction 6-6
2015 Preseason Ranking 62
2014 Final Season Ranking 87

71. Cincinnati Bearcats, American Athletic

On offense along UC should’ve been a contender, and wasn’t. This was supposed to be a far better season, but the Bearcats couldn’t get by Temple, Memphis, Houston or South Florida – they just weren’t among the American Athletic elite. Beating Miami was nice, and getting by UConn wasn’t bad, but the 42-7 bowl loss to San Diego State was ugly.

2015 Season Ranking Score 8.39
2015 Record 7-6
2015 Preseason Prediction 9-3
2015 Preseason Ranking 62
2014 Final Season Ranking 87

– Explanation of the College Football Season Rankings and the components