NFL Rankings and Weekend Predictions

Last week's top 6 teams either had a bye week or struggled with inferior opponents, which caused a reshuffling of the entire top 10, with the exception of the Denver Broncos at #1, who were at home watching the turmoil unfold for its biggest challengers, most of which still pulled it out in the end. Here are my full rankings, along with each team's predicted final record and playoff seeding:

Rank	LW	Team	Rec	Rating	Pred	Change	Seed
1	1	Denver	7-1	-11.7269	13-3		A1
2	7	Carolina	5-3	-9.43801	10-6		N6
3	2	Seattle	8-1	-8.44239	13-3		N1
4	4	San Francisco	6-2	-8.11148	11-5	-1	N5
5	8	Kansas City	9-0	-6.91155	13-3		A5
6	3	Indianapolis	6-2	-6.82368	11-5	-1	A2
7	6	New Orleans	6-2	-6.78312	11-5	-1	N2
8	5	Green Bay	5-3	-6.62574	11-5	-1	N3
9	10	Cincinnati	6-3	-5.43509	11-5		A3
10	9	Dallas	5-4	-4.94224	9-7		N4
11	13	New England	7-2	-3.57941	11-5	+1	A4
12	11	Detroit	5-3	-3.37352	10-6
13	18	Chicago	5-3	-1.44144	9-7	+1
14	14	Arizona	4-4	-0.81207	8-8
15	16	Tennessee	4-4	-0.45703	9-7	+1	A6
16	17	Miami	4-4	-0.00057	8-8
17	15	Baltimore	3-5	0.087181	7-9	-1
18	12	San Diego	4-4	0.305248	7-9	-1
19	24	Philadelphia	4-5	1.272183	7-9	+1
20	19	Cleveland	4-5	1.656536	8-8	+1
21	22	Buffalo	3-6	2.937514	7-9
22	23	Washington	3-5	3.930956	6-10
23	20	Saint Louis	3-6	4.400123	5-11	-1
24	25	Atlanta	2-6	4.935328	4-12	-1
25	26	Houston	2-6	6.130791	5-11
26	30	Tampa Bay	0-8	6.316462	2-14
27	28	NY Giants	2-6	6.480035	5-11	+1
28	29	Minnesota	1-7	6.680907	3-13
29	31	NY Jets	5-4	7.379094	7-9	+1
30	27	Pittsburgh	2-6	7.593999	4-12	-1
31	21	Oakland	3-5	7.980105	5-11	-2
32	32	Jacksonville	0-8	18.27587	1-15

Carolina made the biggest jump in the top 10 this week, moving all the way up to #2 by playing the way they were supposed to, which nobody ahead of them did. They have won 4 straight games, each by at least 15 points, since losing at Arizona to open October. They get a chance to beat their first strong opponent this weekend, when they visit San Francisco, who is coming off a bye and has won 5 in a row.

Kansas City enters their bye week at a perfect 9-0, and they did it in interesting fashion, beating Buffalo on the road by 10 points without scoring an offensive touchdown in the game. If the Chiefs want to win their 10th straight after the bye, the offense will have to start scoring, since Denver is the league's highest-scoring team.

Oakland dropped 10 spots this week after being blown out at home by the Philadelphia Eagles, who had been struggling all season leading up to this past weekend, but exploded on Sunday, with backup QB Nick Foles tying the NFL record with 7 touchdown passes in the game. The Raiders had been looking promising, with a 3-4 record and a manageable schedule for the next month, but maybe they weren't as good as they looked.

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

Tuesday

Bowling Green at Miami (OH) - Falcons by 22
Ohio at Buffalo - Bulls by 3

Wednesday

Central Michigan at Ball State - Cardinals by 29

Thursday

(10) Oklahoma at (6) Baylor - Bears by 36
Troy at Louisiana-Lafayette - Ragin Cajuns by 15
(3) Oregon at (5) Stanford - Ducks by 11

Washington at Minnesota - Redskins by 1

Friday

(20) Louisville at Connecticut - Cardinals by 36
Air Force at New Mexico - Lobos by 10

Saturday

(2) Florida State at Wake Forest - Seminoles by 33
Vanderbilt at Florida - Gators by 17
TCU at Iowa State - Horned Frogs by 6
(8) Missouri at Kentucky - Tigers by 19
Penn State at Minnesota - Golden Gophers by 6
UAB at Marshall - Thundering Herd by 29
Western Kentucky at Army - Hilltoppers by 6
Southern Methodist at Cincinnati - Bearcats by 18
Iowa at Purdue - Hawkeyes by 21
(9) Auburn at Tennessee - Tigers by 5
Kansas State at (25) Texas Tech - Red Raiders by 5
Arkansas at Ole Miss - Rebels by 26
Appalachian State at Georgia - Bulldogs by 42
Virginia at North Carolina - Tar Heels by 16
Western Michigan at Eastern Michigan - Eagles by 2
Tulane at UTSA - Roadrunners by 6
USC at California - Trojans by 19
Nevada at Colorado State - Rams by 11
Illinois at Indiana - Hoosiers by 14
Syracuse at Maryland - Terrapins by 2
Nebraska at Michigan - Wolverines by 7
Boston College at New Mexico State - Eagles by 30
Mississippi State at (15) Texas A&M - Aggies by 13
UTEP at North Texas - Mean Green by 34
BYU at (24) Wisconsin - Badgers by 10
Hawaii at Navy - Midshipmen by 20
Tulsa at East Carolina - Pirates by 26
North Carolina State at Duke - Blue Devils by 19
Kansas at (14) Oklahoma State - Cowboys by 36
FIU at Middle Tennessee - Blue Raiders by 34
(22) Arizona State at Utah - Sun Devils by 6
Tennessee-Martin at Memphis - Tigers by 22
Old Dominion at Idaho - Monarchs by 1
Texas at West Virginia - Longhorns by 8
Houston at (21) UCF - Knights by 5
Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech - Bulldogs by 20
Virginia Tech at (11) Miami - Hurricanes by 13
Arkansas State at Louisiana-Monroe - Warhawks by 1
(23) Notre Dame at Pittsburgh - Panthers by 3
Colorado at Washington - Huskies by 29
(13) LSU at (1) Alabama - Crimson Tide by 16
Utah State at UNLV - Aggies by 25
(18) UCLA at Arizona - Wildcats by 3
(16) Fresno State at Wyoming - Bulldogs by 4
San Diego State at San Jose State - Spartans by 16

Sunday

Seattle at Atlanta - Seahawks by 11
Detroit at Chicago - Lions by 1
Philadelphia at Green Bay - Packers by 10
Jacksonville at Tennessee - Titans by 19
Saint Louis at Indianapolis - Colts by 14
Oakland at NY Giants - Giants by 6
Buffalo at Pittsburgh - Bills by 2
Cincinnati at Baltimore - Bengals by 3
Carolina at San Francisco - 49ers by 3
Denver at San Diego - Broncos by 12
Houston at Arizona - Cardinals by 11
Dallas at New Orleans - Saints by 4

Monday

Miami at Tampa Bay - Dolphins by 4

Most Confident vs the Spread

(Spread is in parentheses)

College Football

1. Baylor (-14.5)
2. Middle Tennessee (-18)
3. Old Dominion (+13)
4. Utah State (-14)
5. Duke (-9)
6. San Jose State (-6.5)
7. Cincinnati (-8.5)
8. Ole Miss (-16.5)
9. North Texas (-25)
10. East Carolina (-17.5)

NFL

1. Arizona (-1)
2. Tennessee (-12)
3. Buffalo (+4)
4. Seattle (-6)
5. Denver (-7)

Prediction Results

College Football: 41-9 (.820) 448-125 overall (.782)
Upsets: 8-2 (.800) 38-46 overall (.452)
Vs. Spread: 6-4 (.600) 40-39 overall (.506)
NFL: 7-6 (.538) 79-54 overall (.594)
Vs. Spread: 2-3 (.400) 23-15 overall (.605)
NBA: 28-19 (.596) 30-20 overall (.600)
Upsets: 3-3 (.500)