It’s still too early to really put a lot of faith into the SRS ratings, but hey, we’ve got enough games to at least give it the old college try. As always, thanks to Dr. Peter Wolfe for providing the game scores for all of college football. As a reminder, here’s the system.

1) For each game not played at a neutral site, 3 points are given to the road team. After that adjustment, all wins and losses of between 7 and 24 points are scored as however many points the team won by. So a 24-10 road win goes down as +17 for the road team, -17 for the home team.

2) With one exception, wins of 7 or fewer points are scored as 7-point wins and losses of 7 or fewer points are scored as 7 point losses. So three 4-point home wins (+3 before the adjustments, +21 after) is worth more than two 10 point road wins and a 1 point home loss (+19 before, +19 after). The one exception is that road losses of 3 or fewer and home wins of 3 or fewer are graded as 0 point ties. So a 21-20 home victory goes down as a tie for both teams.

3) Wins/Losses of more than 24 points are scored as the average between the actual number and 24. This is to avoid giving undue credit to teams that run up the score. So a 67-point home win goes down as a 44-point win.

After four weeks, what are the results?

Rk	Team	Conf	G	MOV	SOS	SRS	REC
1	Texas	B12	3	27	38.4	65.4	3-0
2	Alabama	SEC	4	30	34	64	4-0
3	Texas Tech	B12	3	31.7	30.6	62.3	3-0
4	Georgia	SEC	4	26.1	34.6	60.8	4-0
5	Oregon	P12	4	26	33.8	59.8	4-0
6	South Carolina	SEC	4	21.6	36.9	58.6	4-0
7	Stanford	P12	3	12	46.4	58.4	3-0
8	Arizona St	P12	4	20.9	37.6	58.4	3-1
9	Texas A&M	SEC	3	22.5	34.9	57.4	2-1
10	Florida	SEC	4	16.6	40.6	57.2	4-0
11	Purdue	B10	3	20.3	36.1	56.4	2-1
12	Notre Dame	IND	4	14.8	40.9	55.6	4-0
13	Florida St	ACC	4	31.8	23.7	55.5	4-0
14	Kansas St	B12	4	20.1	35.2	55.4	4-0
15	LSU	SEC	4	23.9	31.3	55.2	4-0
16	West Virginia	B12	3	20.7	34.1	54.7	3-0
17	Oklahoma	B12	3	16.8	37.1	53.9	2-1
18	Oregon St	P12	2	5	48.4	53.4	2-0
19	UCLA	P12	4	12.3	39.7	52	3-1
20	Baylor	B12	3	19.3	32.6	51.9	3-0
21	Southern Cal	P12	4	12.8	39	51.8	3-1
22	Oklahoma St	B12	3	21.8	29.4	51.2	2-1
23	Nebraska	B10	4	21.6	28	49.6	3-1
24	Clemson	ACC	4	11.9	37.5	49.4	3-1
25	San José St	WAC	4	12.6	36.6	49.2	3-1
26	Missouri	SEC	4	0.4	48.3	48.7	2-2
27	Ohio State	B10	4	15.9	32.2	48.1	4-0
28	Arizona	P12	4	7.1	40.6	47.8	3-1
29	Louisiana Tech	WAC	3	17.8	29.9	47.8	3-0
30	Iowa St	B12	3	15.5	31	46.5	3-0
31	Mississippi	SEC	4	9	37.4	46.4	3-1
32	Fresno St	MWC	4	12	34.3	46.3	2-2
33	Utah St	WAC	4	12	34.1	46.1	3-1
34	Ohio U.	MAC	4	17.9	27.9	45.8	4-0
35	Louisville	BgE	4	14.1	30.8	45	4-0
36	Central Florida	CUS	3	10.8	34	44.8	2-1
37	Wisconsin	B10	4	3.8	41.1	44.8	3-1
38	Northwestern	B10	4	11.8	32.7	44.5	4-0
39	TCU	B12	3	24.2	20.2	44.4	3-0
40	Michigan St	B10	4	7.6	35.9	43.6	3-1
41	Tulsa	CUS	4	12.9	30.5	43.4	3-1
42	Georgia Tech	ACC	4	14.5	28.6	43.1	2-2
43	Miami FL	ACC	4	3.9	39.2	43.1	3-1
44	North Carolina	ACC	4	13.1	29.9	43.1	2-2
45	Minnesota	B10	4	12.5	30.4	42.9	4-0
46	Mississippi St	SEC	4	18.8	23.3	42.1	4-0
47	North Carolina St	ACC	4	10.9	30.9	41.8	3-1
48	Nevada	MWC	4	11.8	30	41.7	3-1
49	Brigham Young	IND	4	11.9	29.7	41.6	2-2
50	Michigan	B10	4	2.5	38.9	41.4	2-2
51	Cincinnati	BgE	2	17	24.2	41.2	2-0
52	Tennessee	SEC	4	10.4	30.2	40.6	3-1
53	Boise St	MWC	3	5.7	34.4	40.1	2-1
54	Vanderbilt	SEC	4	-1.9	41.7	39.8	1-3
55	Western Kentucky	Sun	4	7.8	31.9	39.6	3-1
56	Louisiana-Monroe	Sun	3	-0.3	39.6	39.3	1-2
57	Auburn	SEC	4	-7.3	46.5	39.2	1-3
58	Duke	ACC	4	9.5	28.9	38.4	3-1
59	Utah	P12	4	-0.4	38.6	38.2	2-2
60	Washington	P12	3	2.5	35.6	38.1	2-1
61	Penn State	B10	4	4.8	33.3	38	2-2
62	California	P12	4	-4	41.9	37.9	1-3
63	San Diego St	MWC	4	5.3	32.5	37.8	2-2
64	Rutgers	BgE	4	15.8	21.9	37.7	4-0
65	Virginia Tech	ACC	4	10.5	27.1	37.6	3-1
66	Toledo	MAC	4	4	33.2	37.2	3-1
67	Boston College	ACC	3	2.3	34.9	37.2	1-2
68	Western Michigan	MAC	4	3	34.2	37.2	2-2
69	Kentucky	SEC	4	-6.1	43	36.9	1-3
70	Louisiana-Lafayette	Sun	3	5.2	31.3	36.5	2-1
71	Maryland	ACC	4	-0.5	36.6	36.1	2-2
72	Marshall	CUS	4	-0.9	36.5	35.6	2-2
73	Connecticut	BgE	4	5.5	30	35.5	2-2
74	New Mexico	MWC	4	-3	38.5	35.5	2-2
75	Syracuse	BgE	4	-4.8	40.1	35.4	1-3
76	Ball St	MAC	4	0	34.5	34.5	3-1
77	UTEP	CUS	4	-8.3	42.6	34.4	1-3
78	Temple	BgE	3	2	32.2	34.2	1-2
79	Northern Illinois	MAC	4	7.9	26.3	34.2	3-1
80	Illinois	B10	4	-1.8	35.7	33.9	2-2
81	Iowa	B10	4	0.3	33.6	33.8	2-2
82	Troy	Sun	4	-0.5	34	33.5	2-2
83	Wyoming	MWC	4	-6	39.2	33.2	1-3
84	SMU	CUS	3	-9.2	42.3	33.1	1-2
85	South Florida	BgE	4	1.3	31.4	32.6	2-2
86	Middle Tennessee St	Sun	3	7.7	24.5	32.2	2-1
87	Texas St-San Marcos	WAC	3	-3.5	35	31.5	2-1
88	Pittsburgh	BgE	4	2.5	28.9	31.4	2-2
89	East Carolina	CUS	4	-3.9	35.1	31.2	2-2
90	Arkansas St	Sun	4	0.1	31.1	31.2	2-2
91	Air Force	MWC	3	5.8	25.1	31	1-2
92	Virginia	ACC	4	-6.1	37.1	30.9	2-2
93	Indiana	B10	3	11	19.9	30.9	2-1
94	Rice	CUS	4	-10.5	41.3	30.8	1-3
95	Kent St	MAC	3	3	27.2	30.2	2-1
96	Kansas	B12	4	-5	34.9	29.9	1-3
97	North Texas	Sun	4	-5.3	34.7	29.5	1-3
98	Florida Int'l	Sun	4	-9.3	38.3	29	1-3
99	Alabama-Birmingham	CUS	3	-18.7	46.7	28.1	0-3
100	Arkansas	SEC	4	-9.1	36.9	27.7	1-3
101	Bowling Green	MAC	4	-10.3	37.6	27.4	1-3
102	Colorado St	MWC	4	-10.8	38.1	27.4	1-3
103	Florida Atlantic	Sun	4	-14.9	41.9	27.1	1-3
104	UNLV	MWC	4	-6.3	31.8	25.5	1-3
105	New Mexico St	WAC	4	-6.1	31.5	25.4	1-3
106	Houston	CUS	3	-18.7	43.7	25.1	0-3
107	Akron	MAC	4	-3	27.9	24.9	1-3
108	Wake Forest	ACC	4	-6.9	31.7	24.9	3-1
109	Eastern Michigan	MAC	4	-17.6	42.5	24.9	0-4
110	Hawai`i	MWC	3	-9.8	34.2	24.4	1-2
111	Washington St	P12	4	-4.3	27.8	23.6	2-2
112	Central Michigan	MAC	3	-5.2	28.3	23.2	2-1
113	Buffalo	MAC	3	-6.3	29.3	23	1-2
114	Navy	IND	3	-8.8	30.9	22.1	1-2
115	Southern Miss	CUS	3	-20	40.1	20.1	0-3
116	South Alabama	Sun	4	-9.5	28.2	18.7	1-3
117	Idaho	WAC	4	-17.3	35.7	18.4	0-4
118	Miami OH	MAC	4	-9.1	27.2	18.1	2-2
119	Army	IND	3	-14.7	32.3	17.6	0-3
120	Memphis	CUS	4	-14	31.4	17.4	0-4
121	Colorado	P12	4	-9.5	26.9	17.4	1-3
122	Tulane	CUS	3	-25.3	42.5	17.2	0-3
123	Texas-San Antonio	WAC	4	19.4	-2.5	16.8	4-0
124	Massachusetts	MAC	4	-26.4	31.5	5.1	0-4

As you can tell, it will still take awhile for the results to really start to have meaning. I don’t think it’s too early to make one comment: Alabama may not look so great in the computers, especially early on. Michigan is now 50th in the SRS while Arkansas is 100th; combined, the two schools have just three wins, over Massachusetts, Air Force, and Jacksonville State. In the event Alabama needs some help from the computers, it’s possible they may not get it. Then again, the computers loved Oklahoma State over Alabama last year, too.

Texas, Texas Tech and Georgia come up high mostly for their blowout wins. We’ll learn more about those teams as their schedule gets harder. Georgia’s wins over Missouri and Vanderbilt sound better than they look, at least according to the computers right now. Meanwhile, Texas’ toughest opponent was Ole Miss (and Tech’s toughest opponent was New Mexico).

The toughest schedule so far goes to Oregon State. The Beavers have played just two games, but beat Wisconsin and UCLA.

So why is Texas #1? One reason is because Mississippi looks really good in this system. Now, why would the Rebels look good? They killed Tulane on the road and they won handily against Central Arkansas and UTEP. But those teams aren’t good, you say? Well UTEP only lost by 11 in Wisconsin, beat New Mexico State and kept it at least respectable against Oklahoma. Central Arkansas beat Murray State by 20, a pretty decent FCS team. They won all their games except for the one against Ole Miss.

By extension, Texas romping Mississippi makes the SRS think Texas is really, really good. The Longhorns also beat New Mexico 45-0. Well, UNM looks at least respectable so far, winning two of its other three games; its other loss was to Texas Tech, the #3 team in the SRS.

So until the bad teams start losing more and the good teams start winning more, perception won’t match up with reality. I don’t think it will look all that great next week, either, but in two weeks from now, we should be able to see some real trends emerge.

The table below lists all of the week 4 results, in descending order of impressiveness (based on SRS score). Here’s how to read the table below. Oregon scored 49 points against Arizona and allowed 0. Oregon was at home and won. Oregon won by 49 points, and their Margin of Victory for SRS purposes was 35 (the average of 24 and 46). Oregon is in the Pac-12, as is Arizona. Oregon’s opponent has an SRS score of 47.8 (after the game), so Oregon’s SOS score for the game is 47.8. Oregon’s SRS score for the game is therefore 82.8 (35 + 47.8).

Team	PF	Opp	PA	H/R	W/L	Diff	MOV	CON	CON	SOS	SRS
Oregon	49	Arizona	0	H	W	49	35	P12	P12	47.8	82.8
Georgia	48	Vanderbilt	3	H	W	45	33	SEC	SEC	39.8	72.8
South Carolina	31	Missouri	10	H	W	21	18	SEC	SEC	48.7	66.7
Florida	38	Kentucky	0	H	W	38	29.5	SEC	SEC	36.9	66.4
Arizona St	37	Utah	7	H	W	30	25.5	P12	P12	38.2	63.7
Oregon St	27	UCLA	20	R	W	7	10	P12	P12	52	62
Kansas St	24	Oklahoma	19	R	W	5	8	B12	B12	53.9	61.9
Louisiana Tech	52	Illinois	24	R	W	28	27.5	WAC	B10	33.9	61.4
Nevada	69	Hawai`i	24	R	W	45	36	MWC	MWC	24.4	60.4
Florida St	49	Clemson	37	H	W	12	9	ACC	ACC	49.4	58.4
North Carolina St	52	The Citadel	14	H	W	38	29.5	ACC	fcs	28.7	58.2
Virginia Tech	37	Bowling Green	0	H	W	37	29	ACC	MAC	27.4	56.4
Alabama	40	Florida Atlantic	7	H	W	33	27	SEC	Sun	27.1	54.1
Southern Cal	27	California	9	H	W	18	15	P12	P12	37.9	52.9
Texas A&M	70	South Carolina St	14	H	W	56	38.5	SEC	fcs	14.3	52.8
Miami FL	42	Georgia Tech	36	R	W	6	9	ACC	ACC	43.1	52.1
Nebraska	73	Idaho St	7	H	W	66	43.5	B10	fcs	8.5	52
Mississippi	39	Tulane	0	R	W	39	33	SEC	CUS	17.2	50.2
North Carolina	27	East Carolina	6	H	W	21	18	ACC	CUS	31.2	49.2
Michigan	6	Notre Dame	13	R	L	-7	-7	B10	IND	55.6	48.6
Notre Dame	13	Michigan	6	H	W	7	7	IND	B10	41.4	48.4
Auburn	10	LSU	12	H	L	-2	-7	SEC	SEC	55.2	48.2
TCU	27	Virginia	7	H	W	20	17	B12	ACC	30.9	47.9
Maryland	21	West Virginia	31	R	L	-10	-7	ACC	B12	54.7	47.7
Oklahoma	19	Kansas St	24	H	L	-5	-8	B12	B12	55.4	47.4
Baylor	47	Louisiana-Monroe	42	R	W	5	8	B12	Sun	39.3	47.3
Clemson	37	Florida St	49	R	L	-12	-9	ACC	ACC	55.5	46.5
Tulsa	27	Fresno St	26	H	W	1	0	CUS	MWC	46.3	46.3
LSU	12	Auburn	10	R	W	2	7	SEC	SEC	39.2	46.2
San José St	38	San Diego St	34	R	W	4	7	WAC	MWC	37.8	44.8
Northwestern	38	South Dakota	7	H	W	31	26	B10	fcs	18.5	44.5
Louisiana-Monroe	42	Baylor	47	H	L	-5	-8	Sun	B12	51.9	43.9
UCLA	20	Oregon St	27	H	L	-7	-10	P12	P12	53.4	43.4
Fresno St	26	Tulsa	27	R	L	-1	0	MWC	CUS	43.4	43.4
West Virginia	31	Maryland	21	H	W	10	7	B12	ACC	36.1	43.1
Tennessee	47	Akron	26	H	W	21	18	SEC	MAC	24.9	42.9
Western Michigan	30	Connecticut	24	H	W	6	7	MAC	BgE	35.5	42.5
Minnesota	17	Syracuse	10	H	W	7	7	B10	BgE	35.4	42.4
Wisconsin	37	UTEP	26	H	W	11	8	B10	CUS	34.4	42.4
Utah St	31	Colorado St	19	R	W	12	15	WAC	MWC	27.4	42.4
Penn State	24	Temple	13	H	W	11	8	B10	BgE	34.2	42.2
San Diego St	34	San José St	38	H	L	-4	-7	MWC	WAC	49.2	42.2
Western Kentucky	42	Southern Miss	17	H	W	25	22	Sun	CUS	20.1	42.1
Kent St	23	Buffalo	7	R	W	16	19	MAC	MAC	23	42
Boise St	7	Brigham Young	6	H	W	1	0	MWC	IND	41.6	41.6
New Mexico	27	New Mexico St	14	R	W	13	16	MWC	WAC	25.4	41.4
Central Michigan	32	Iowa	31	R	W	1	7	MAC	B10	33.8	40.8
Missouri	10	South Carolina	31	R	L	-21	-18	SEC	SEC	58.6	40.6
Ohio U.	44	Norfolk St	10	H	W	34	27.5	MAC	fcs	12.7	40.2
Brigham Young	6	Boise St	7	R	L	-1	0	IND	MWC	40.1	40.1
Rutgers	35	Arkansas	26	R	W	9	12	BgE	SEC	27.7	39.7
Ball St	31	South Florida	27	H	W	4	7	MAC	BgE	32.6	39.6
Troy	14	North Texas	7	R	W	7	10	Sun	Sun	29.5	39.5
Ohio State	29	Alabama-Birmingham	15	H	W	14	11	B10	CUS	28.1	39.1
Louisville	28	Florida Int'l	21	R	W	7	10	BgE	Sun	29	39
Duke	38	Memphis	14	H	W	24	21	ACC	CUS	17.4	38.4
Michigan St	23	Eastern Michigan	7	H	W	16	13	B10	MAC	24.9	37.9
Marshall	54	Rice	51	R	W	3	7	CUS	CUS	30.8	37.8
Colorado	35	Washington St	24	R	W	11	14	P12	P12	23.6	37.6
Alabama-Birmingham	15	Ohio State	29	R	L	-14	-11	CUS	B10	48.1	37.1
Florida Atlantic	7	Alabama	40	R	L	-33	-27	Sun	SEC	64	37
Northern Illinois	30	Kansas	23	H	W	7	7	MAC	B12	29.9	36.9
UTEP	26	Wisconsin	37	R	L	-11	-8	CUS	B10	44.8	36.8
California	9	Southern Cal	27	R	L	-18	-15	P12	P12	51.8	36.8
Arkansas St	56	Alcorn St	0	H	W	56	38.5	Sun	fcs	-2.3	36.2
Syracuse	10	Minnesota	17	R	L	-7	-7	BgE	B10	42.9	35.9
Mississippi St	30	South Alabama	10	H	W	20	17	SEC	Sun	18.7	35.7
Florida Int'l	21	Louisville	28	H	L	-7	-10	Sun	BgE	45	35
Georgia Tech	36	Miami FL	42	H	L	-6	-9	ACC	ACC	43.1	34.1
Utah	7	Arizona St	37	R	L	-30	-25.5	P12	P12	58.4	32.9
Pittsburgh	55	Gardner-Webb	10	H	W	45	33	BgE	fcs	-0.2	32.8
Toledo	38	Coastal Carolina	28	H	W	10	7	MAC	fcs	24.6	31.6
Colorado St	19	Utah St	31	H	L	-12	-15	MWC	WAC	46.1	31.1
UNLV	38	Air Force	35	H	W	3	0	MWC	MWC	31	31
Eastern Michigan	7	Michigan St	23	R	L	-16	-13	MAC	B10	43.6	30.6
Connecticut	24	Western Michigan	30	R	L	-6	-7	BgE	MAC	37.2	30.2
Temple	13	Penn State	24	R	L	-11	-8	BgE	B10	38	30
Navy	41	VMI	3	H	W	38	29.5	IND	fcs	-0.9	28.6
Rice	51	Marshall	54	H	L	-3	-7	CUS	CUS	35.6	28.6
Vanderbilt	3	Georgia	48	R	L	-45	-33	SEC	SEC	60.8	27.8
Kentucky	0	Florida	38	R	L	-38	-29.5	SEC	SEC	57.2	27.7
South Florida	27	Ball St	31	R	L	-4	-7	BgE	MAC	34.5	27.5
Virginia	7	TCU	27	R	L	-20	-17	ACC	B12	44.4	27.4
Kansas	23	Northern Illinois	30	R	L	-7	-7	B12	MAC	34.2	27.2
Wake Forest	49	Army	37	H	W	12	9	ACC	IND	17.6	26.6
Idaho	37	Wyoming	40	H	L	-3	-7	WAC	MWC	33.2	26.2
Arkansas	26	Rutgers	35	H	L	-9	-12	SEC	BgE	37.7	25.7
Air Force	35	UNLV	38	R	L	-3	0	MWC	MWC	25.5	25.5
Wyoming	40	Idaho	37	R	W	3	7	MWC	WAC	18.4	25.4
South Alabama	10	Mississippi St	30	R	L	-20	-17	Sun	SEC	42.1	25.1
East Carolina	6	North Carolina	27	R	L	-21	-18	CUS	ACC	43.1	25.1
Arizona	0	Oregon	49	R	L	-49	-35	P12	P12	59.8	24.8
Texas St-San Marcos	41	Stephen F. Austin	37	H	W	4	7	WAC	fcs	17.6	24.6
North Texas	7	Troy	14	H	L	-7	-10	Sun	Sun	33.5	23.5
Akron	26	Tennessee	47	R	L	-21	-18	MAC	SEC	40.6	22.6
Texas-San Antonio	56	NW Oklahoma St	3	H	W	53	37	WAC	fcs	-16.2	20.8
Illinois	24	Louisiana Tech	52	H	L	-28	-27.5	B10	WAC	47.8	20.3
New Mexico St	14	New Mexico	27	H	L	-13	-16	WAC	MWC	35.5	19.5
Southern Miss	17	Western Kentucky	42	R	L	-25	-22	CUS	Sun	39.6	17.6
Memphis	14	Duke	38	R	L	-24	-21	CUS	ACC	38.4	17.4
Iowa	31	Central Michigan	32	H	L	-1	-7	B10	MAC	23.2	16.2
Army	37	Wake Forest	49	R	L	-12	-9	IND	ACC	24.9	15.9
Tulane	0	Mississippi	39	H	L	-39	-33	CUS	SEC	46.4	13.4
Miami OH	27	Massachusetts	16	H	W	11	8	MAC	MAC	5.1	13.1
Buffalo	7	Kent St	23	H	L	-16	-19	MAC	MAC	30.2	11.2
Massachusetts	16	Miami OH	27	R	L	-11	-8	MAC	MAC	18.1	10.1
Bowling Green	0	Virginia Tech	37	R	L	-37	-29	MAC	ACC	37.6	8.6
Hawai`i	24	Nevada	69	H	L	-45	-36	MWC	MWC	41.7	5.7
Washington St	24	Colorado	35	H	L	-11	-14	P12	P12	17.4	3.4

Sorry, Mike Leach.

The SEC East has been the rich step-brother of college football the past couple of years, languishing in the shadows of the uber dominant SEC West. But three of the top four performances this weekend came out of the SEC East, a sign that perhaps the conference championship game this year won’t just be an afterthought.