Josh’s College Football Rankings 2023–End of Season Rankings!

Congratulations to the Michigan Wolverines on winning the CFP National Championship! They ran all over Washington. Their defense stopped Michael Penix Jr. I was convinced all year this team was one of the two best in the country (only one week of them ranked lower than #2, I had them at #3 after week 11).

The final rankings are basically impossible to do. Do you factor in all the opt-outs and injuries? This is not a 2024 preview, since that will be a preseason ranking later in the year. I think this ranking is just gut feeling. The bowl games have to factor into it, but how much? I do not have a good answer, but I will give it a shot!

1. Michigan (15-0)–#1–W 27-20 OT #5 Alabama; W 34-13 #2 Washington
2. Washington (14-1)–#2–W 37-31 #4 Texas; L 34-13 #1 Michigan
3. Texas (12-2)–#4–L 37-31 #2 Washington
4. Alabama (12-2)–#5–L 27-20 OT #1 Michigan
5. Georgia (13-1)–#6–W 63-3 #3 Florida State
6. Oregon (12-2)–#8–W 45-6 #19 Liberty
7. Missouri (11-2)–#9–W 14-3 #7 Ohio State
8. Ole Miss (11-2)–#11–W 38-25 #10 Penn State
9. Florida State (13-1)–#3–L 63-3 #6 Georgia
10. Ohio State (11-2)–#7–L 14-3 #9 Missouri
11. Arizona (10-3)–#14–W 38-24 #12 Oklahoma
12. Penn State (10-3)–#10–L 38-25 #11 Ole Miss
13. LSU (10-3)–#13–W 35-31 Wisconsin
14. Oklahoma (10-3)–#12–L 38-24 #14 Arizona
15. Notre Dame (10-3)–#16–W 40-8 #17 Oregon State
16. Tennessee (9-4)–HM–W 35-0 #22 Iowa
17. Oklahoma State (10-4)–#23–W 31-23 Texas A&M
18. Kansas State (9-4)–HM–W 28-19 #18 NC State
19. Clemson (9-4)–#25–W 38-35 Kentucky
20. Kansas (9-4)–HM–W 49-36 UNLV
21. WVU (9-4)–WL–W 30-10 UNC
22. Louisville (10-4)–#15–L 42-28 USC
23. NC State (9-4)–#18–L 28-19 Kansas State
24. Northwestern (8-5)–WL–W 14-7 Utah
25. Liberty (13-1)–#19–L 45-6 #8 Oregon

Honorable Mention
Oregon State (8-5)–#17–L 40-8 #16 Notre Dame
Duke (8-5)–NR–W 17-10 #21 Troy
JMU (11-2)–#20–L 31-21 Air Force
Maryland (8-5)–NR–W 31-13 Auburn
Memphis (10-3)–NR–W 36-26 Iowa State

Watch List
Virginia Tech (7-6)–NR–W 41-20 Tulane
USC (8-5)–NR–W 42-28 #15 Louisville
UCLA (8-5)–NR–W 35-22 Boise State
Georgia Tech (7-6)–NR–W 30-17 UCF
Rutgers (7-6)–NR–W 31-24 Miami

This year there were 71 teams that made it into my rankings (technically 73 if you count the two or three weeks that I counted the two winless teams). I was better this year, 13 of my preseason teams ended up not ranked. My biggest miss was Missouri. I did not have them ranked until after the third week, when I said this about them: “Mizzou was on my early season Watch List last year, and I was fairly high on them, but they let me down, and I was not ready to give them a shot this season. Will they prove me wrong?” I was also very stubborn about not ranking Tulane for some reason. Two of my preseason top four made the CFP playoffs (Michigan and Alabama).