Fornelli 50 college football rankings: Let's all stop sleeping on TCU, alright?

The Fornelli 50 ranks teams based on nothing but their performance in 2017

By Tom Fornelli

Oct 24, 2017 at 5:12 pm ET • 5 min read

There were some minor changes in the Fornelli 50 this week, but nothing extraordinary. We did see a bit of a shuffle in the top five as UCF fell to No. 6 after a narrow win against Navy, while Wisconsin jumped to No. 5 after a 25-point win over Maryland and TCU moved into the top three.

Elsewhere, we see Notre Dame climb into the top 10, while teams like Michigan and USC dropped following losses. No team in the rankings fell as far as Kentucky, however, as the Wildcats move all the way from No. 25 to No. 50 following a blowout loss to Mississippi State.

Before we get to the rest of the rankings, here's a quick reminder about how all of it works (full explanation here).

My opinion has absolutely nothing to do with the rankings
There is true equality to start as math doesn't play favorites
Wins and losses mean more than anything
The formula is in no way predictive, it's a meritocracy
I won't share the formula, but it works

The Fornelli 50

Rank	Record	Breakdown
1. Alabama	8-0	The Tide manage to hold off the effects of the rat poison for one more week. (Last week: 1)
2. Penn State	7-0	I'm sure Penn State fans are eating it up, but James Franklin pretending he doesn't know who Penn State plays this week is more than a little corny. (2)
3. TCU	7-0	TCU had trouble with Kansas in recent years. Not this season! (5)
4. Georgia	7-0	The Bulldogs had the week off but get Florida this week in The World's Comparably Sized Outdoor Shirley Temple Convention or whatever we're supposed to call it these days. (3)
5. Wisconsin	7-0	I'm guessing the selection committee will be wary of Wisconsin's schedule, but the formula is impressed. (6)
6. UCF	6-0	UCF will be fine as long as it keeps winning, but this is when its strength of schedule starts to catch up to it. Maryland losing again doesn't help, either. (4)
7. Clemson	6-1	Clemson had the week off, and it has a tough stretch of games coming. (7)
8. Ohio State	6-1	The Buckeyes play Penn State this week in a game that is somewhat important. (8)
9. Notre Dame	6-1	It's not just that Notre Dame is good this season, it's that it's fun to watch, too. Brandon Wimbush and Josh Adams make for an exciting duo. (13)
10. Miami	6-0	The formula doesn't like Miami all that much, and I doubt Mark Richt or the Hurricanes care. (10)
11. South Florida	7-0	USF is in the same boat as Miami. If it loses a game, it's going to have a long slide down the rankings. (9)
12. Oklahoma	6-1	Oklahoma has allowed an average of 34.5 points in its past four games. Playing with fire. (12)
13. Oklahoma State	6-1	It wasn't pretty, but I don't expect the Cowboys to give back their win over Texas. (11)
14. Washington	6-1	The Huskies had the week off. (14)
15. Virginia Tech	6-1	The Hokies play Duke this week and don't want to get caught looking ahead to that Miami game looming. (19)
16. Washington State	7-1	The Cougs played like that 37-3 loss to Cal was an anomaly and not a symptom. (17)
17. NC State	6-1	The Wolfpack get Notre Dame this week and Clemson the week after. It's about to get real. (16)
18. Michigan State	6-1	I keep waiting for this team to lose a game it isn't supposed to, but it just won't do it. (20)
19. Auburn	6-2	Beating Arkansas is a nice bounce-back, but I'm withholding judgment until next week's game against Texas A&M. (23)
20. Stanford	5-2	The Cardinal had the week off. (21)
21. Marshall	6-1	The Herd have important games against FIU and FAU coming up. (24)
22. USC	6-2	Well, the national title hopes are gone, but a Pac-12 title is still within reach. (15)
23. Iowa State	5-2	I don't know if he's going to leave, but I know there will be a lot of fans at other schools mentioning Matt Campbell's name this winter. (29)
24. Mississippi State	5-2	The Bulldogs used BYU and Kentucky to work out their frustrations. (34)
25. Toledo	6-1	This is the best team in the MAC, and I don't think anybody else is all that close. (30)
26. West Virginia	5-2	The Mountaineers are one of five Big 12 teams in the hunt for a conference title right now. (31)
27. Memphis	6-1	The Tigers beat Houston and then watched Navy lose. A productive weekend. (27)
28. LSU	6-2	Don't let Derrius Guice get rolling. (33)
29. Michigan	5-2	The Wolverines are 3-4 in their last seven Big Ten games. (18)
30. Arizona	5-2	I've been writing "Mr. Khalil Tate" all over my notebooks for three weeks now. (36)
31. Georgia Tech	4-2	The Bees head to Death Valley this week looking to cause some chaos. (42)
32. South Carolina	5-2	The Gamecocks had the week off. (32)
33. Ohio	6-2	The Bobcats are the best team in the MAC East, and it isn't close. (44)
34. Colorado State	6-2	The Mountain Division race suddenly looks like it's going to be interesting ... (39)
35. Boise State	5-2	... because Colorado State and Boise appear to be evenly matched. (43)
36. Fresno State	5-2	On the other side of the Mountain West is one of this season's biggest surprises: Fresno State. (46)
37. Texas A&M	5-2	The Aggies had the week off, but they do put an end to our run of Mountain West teams. (38)
38. San Diego State	6-2	Mountain West back! Unfortunately for San Diego State, it was a lot higher before this week's loss to Fresno. (22)
39. Northern Illinois	5-2	I'm still a little skeptical about the Huskies. They've played well as of late, but it hasn't been against the stiffest of competition. (49)
40. Army	6-2	Army is bowl eligible for the second season in a row. (45)
41. SMU	5-2	SMU has games left against UCF, Navy and Memphis. It's going to ruin somebody's season. (47)
42. Navy	5-2	The Mids have dropped two straight, and the AAC is slipping from their grasp. (28)
43. Arkansas State	4-2	The best team in Arkansas. (NR)
44. Appalachian State	5-2	The Mountaineers better not look past a tough UMass team. (NR)
45. Louisville	5-3	Louisville is the only three-loss team in the top 50. I suppose that's worth something? (NR)
46. Troy	5-2	The Trojans have a pretty easy schedule from now until the season finale against Arkansas State. (NR)
47. UTSA	4-2	The Roadrunners put an end to their two-game losing streak by beating Rice. (NR)
48. Southern Miss	5-2	The Golden Eagles had the week off. (NR)
49. Virginia	5-2	Last week I said we should take Virginia seriously, and then it went and lost to Boston College by 31 points at home. So, thanks for that, I guess. (26)
50. Kentucky	5-2	Yeah, Kentucky's spot in these rankings wasn't on the steadiest of ground, and a 38-point loss to Mississippi State nearly knocked it out of the rankings entirely. (25)