Consensus Rankings: What, How & Why?
Why ResumeCFR starts with college football's established polls before letting the resume determine the order.
Consensus: general agreement.
Simple enough.
In college football, however, getting everyone to agree on who the best teams are is anything but simple. Every week there are rankings, computer models, analysts and fans with different opinions about which teams belong at the top.
At ResumeCFR, we don't believe one person's opinion should determine where every team starts, including Coach Q's.
That's why RCFR starts with a Consensus Ranking.
What Is the RCFR Consensus Ranking?
The RCFR Consensus Ranking combines two of the most established and widely followed rankings in college football: the AP Top 25 and the AFCA Coaches Poll.
We selected these polls because they are established, historically significant, widely followed and consistently available throughout the college football season.
AP Top 25
The Associated Press began its college football poll in 1936, making it the longest-running major college football poll of its kind. Each week, a panel of sports writers and broadcasters who cover college football submits rankings that are combined to produce the AP Top 25.
For generations, the AP Poll has been one of the primary reference points for how college football teams are viewed nationally.
AFCA Coaches Poll
The Coaches Poll dates to 1950 and provides a different perspective. Instead of media members, its weekly rankings are determined by a panel of FBS head coaches.
The poll has changed names and publishing partners over its history, but it remains one of college football's longest-running and most recognized rankings.
Putting the Two Together
ResumeCFR averages the current week's AP Top 25 and AFCA Coaches Poll rankings to create the Consensus Top 25.
The calculation is intentionally simple.
Example
AP Poll: #8
Coaches Poll: #10
(#8 + #10) ÷ 2 = Consensus Rank #9
This gives RCFR a broader view of how teams are perceived nationally rather than relying on any single ranking.
How Does RCFR Use the Consensus Ranking?
The Consensus Top 25 establishes the pool of teams RCFR evaluates. From there, we rerank those teams using the same seven criteria every week:
Highest to lowest.
Best victory based on the opponent's Consensus Rank.
Highest to lowest.
Highest to lowest.
Lowest to highest.
Lowest AP/Coaches average rank.
After Criteria #1 through #6 are applied, head-to-head results between adjacent teams are used where applicable.
The process is straightforward:
The goal isn't to recreate the AP Poll or Coaches Poll. If that were the goal, there wouldn't be much reason for ResumeCFR to exist.
Instead, RCFR takes the broader college football consensus and then reranks those teams based on what they have actually accomplished on the field.
A highly ranked team may move down the RCFR rankings if it hasn't yet built a strong resume. Another team may move significantly higher because it has played and beaten quality opponents.
That's intentional.
Why Use a Consensus Ranking at All?
The Consensus Ranking serves three important purposes in the RCFR methodology.
It Narrows the Field to 25 Teams
Each week's Consensus Ranking establishes the pool of 25 teams eligible for the RCFR rankings.
College football has more than 100 FBS teams. Without a defined starting pool, early-season results could produce outliers that don't yet belong in a national Top 25.
Using the combined AP and Coaches Polls gives RCFR an established and independently determined group of 25 teams to evaluate each week. As opinions and results change, that pool is updated weekly.
It Supports RCFR's Three Most Important Resume Criteria
The Consensus Ranking also determines which opponents qualify as Top 25 teams and where those opponents rank.
That directly supports RCFR's first three ranking criteria:
#1 Top 25 Wins
How many Consensus Top 25 teams have you beaten?
#2 Best Top 25 Win
What is your best win based on that opponent's Consensus Rank?
#3 Top 25 Games
How many Consensus Top 25 teams have you played?
Without the Consensus Ranking, there would be no consistent weekly standard for determining what qualifies as a Top 25 win, a team's best Top 25 win, or a Top 25 game.
It Keeps the Rankings Relative
The Consensus Ranking also serves as Criteria #6 in the RCFR methodology.
This becomes especially important early in the season.
After only a few weeks, many top teams have similar records and relatively few Top 25 games. There may not yet be enough separation from Top 25 Wins, Best Top 25 Win, Top 25 Games, Total Wins and Total Losses to clearly distinguish one resume from another.
That's where Consensus Rank helps.
Because it sits behind RCFR's first five criteria, consensus does not override what teams have accomplished on the field. Instead, it provides an additional point of comparison when the resume data has not yet created enough separation.
As the season progresses and teams accumulate more wins, losses and games against Top 25 opponents, the resume itself naturally provides more separation.
Coach Q Summary
Why Consensus Matters
So why does ResumeCFR use a Consensus Ranking?
Because it does three important jobs.
It establishes the field of 25 teams.
It defines the Top 25 opponents used to measure quality wins and quality games.
And it provides perspective when teams have otherwise similar resumes.
Most importantly, consensus is a starting point, not the final answer.
The AP Poll and Coaches Poll give us a broad view of which teams belong in the conversation. RCFR then applies the same seven criteria to every team and lets the results on the field determine the order.
That's the difference between simply ranking teams and ranking their resumes.
Consensus tells us where to start.
The resume tells us where to finish.
Coach Q