The questions "who had the best overall season?" and "who are the conference champions?" grant, unsurprisingly, somewhat different answers. Below, in rank order, are teams listed according to network analysis of their overall body of work in the 2015 season.
The conference championship week provides an illustration of how second and third degrees of separation can affect overall ranking. For example, Oklahoma State, who had a bye week like most of the Big 12, experiences a decline due to Texas defeat of Baylor, who was one of the Cowboys' two losses. The Texas-Baylor game more firmly enmeshes Baylor in the network of losses, increasing the negative impact of OK St.'s loss to Baylor on their ranking.
Top 25 (Explanation; Full Ranking):
- Clemson (nc)
- Notre Dame (+1)
- Alabama (+1)
- Iowa (-2)
- Ohio State (nc)
- Northwestern (nc)
- Michigan State (+1)
- Oklahoma (-1)
- Stanford (nc)
- Memphis (+1)
- TCU (-1)
- Houston (+3)
- Oklahoma State (-1)
- Utah (+3)
- Texas A&M (-2)
- Michigan (nc)
- Florida (-3)
- Navy (nc)
- Florida State (+2)
- LSU (-1)
- Wisconsin (+2)
- UCLA (+6)
- Mississippi State (+2)
- Georgia (+2)
- Texas Tech (+4)