Preseason Prediction Accuracy (1999-2008)

See "notes" following the table for more information on its contents.

Magazine	Rank	Total Score	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999
Phil Steele's	1	1423	135½	147½	153	132	125	155	153	148	130	143
Athlon	2	1453	141	135	158	134	147	149	144	162	134	149
CPA Rankings [Web Site]	3	1454½	136½	141	170½	144	155	138½	146	155	119	149
The Sporting News	4	1480	154	140	170	145	133	146	131	173	133	155
Lindy's	5	1483	168	137	171	129	148	149	150	155	124	152
GamePlan	6	1511	141	145	174	157	145	141	154	165	132	157

This page shows the accuracy of preseason magazines' conference predictions for the ten-year span 1999-2008 ("the last ten years" going into the 2009 season). In order to qualify for either table, a magazine must have been published for every year used in that table.

There is also a "2006-2008 (last three years)" table, a "2004-2008 (last five years)" table, and a "1993-2008 (all-time)" table.

Tables with more years have the advantage of having a larger sample of data: a single unusually lucky or unlucky year has less impact on the standings. However, tables with fewer years have the advantage of including more magazines: several of the magazines available today were not published if one goes back far enough.

Notes:

Lower scores are "better." The lower the score, the closer the magazine's predictions were to the actual results.
Click here to visit the reviews index.
See the notes file for further information on the scoring process.