NFL Rankings and Weekend Predictions

Denver maintained the #1 spot this week with a close win at San Diego, but the Carolina Panthers closed the gap by upsetting the San Francisco 49ers on the road on Sunday, upping their record to 6-3 after 5 consecutive wins, second longest in the league behind the Kansas City Chiefs. Here are my current full rankings, along with each team's projected final record and playoff seeding:

Rank	LW	Team	Rec	Rating	Pred	Change	Seed
1	1	Denver	8-1	-11.717	13-3		A1
2	2	Carolina	6-3	-11.2419	11-5	+1	N2
3	3	Seattle	9-1	-10.9656	13-3		N1
4	7	New Orleans	7-2	-10.313	11-5		N5
5	4	San Francisco	6-3	-8.91719	11-5		N6
6	5	Kansas City	9-0	-7.44754	13-3		A5
7	9	Cincinnati	6-4	-4.82105	10-6	-1	A3
8	11	New England	7-2	-4.48764	11-5		A2
9	8	Green Bay	5-4	-4.18172	9-7	-2
10	6	Indianapolis	6-3	-3.42553	10-6	-1	A4
11	10	Dallas	5-5	-3.37228	9-7		N4
12	12	Detroit	6-3	-3.30559	10-6		N3
13	14	Arizona	5-4	-2.99003	9-7	+1
14	13	Chicago	5-4	-1.43363	9-7
15	19	Philadelphia	5-5	-1.15673	8-8	+1
16	23	Saint Louis	4-6	-0.6399	6-10	+1
17	17	Baltimore	4-5	-0.40812	8-8	+1	A6
18	18	San Diego	4-5	0.046632	7-9
19	15	Tennessee	4-5	0.308227	8-8	-1
20	16	Miami	4-5	0.449817	8-8
21	20	Cleveland	4-5	1.910939	8-8
22	21	Buffalo	3-7	3.619276	6-10	-1
23	26	Tampa Bay	1-8	3.969282	3-13	+1
24	24	Atlanta	2-7	4.220971	4-12
25	25	Houston	2-7	4.593796	5-11
26	22	Washington	3-6	4.794497	6-10
27	27	NY Giants	3-6	5.749456	5-11
28	30	Pittsburgh	3-6	5.778885	5-11	+1
29	28	Minnesota	2-7	5.993769	4-12	+1
30	29	NY Jets	5-4	6.499491	8-8	+1
31	31	Oakland	3-6	7.494211	5-11
32	32	Jacksonville	1-8	15.11745	2-14	+1

New Orleans moved up 3 spots to #4 this week after destroying the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night in a game that was never as close as many predicted. It was the Saints' highest-scoring game of the season, and they look to maintain their perfect home record when they host the #5 49ers this Sunday.

New England moved up 3 spots during their bye week thanks to major collapses by Dallas, Indianapolis, and Green Bay. The Cowboys and Colts got beaten up by huge offensive outputs, while the Packers are struggling while Aaron Rodgers is hurt. With the Dolphins falling apart as well, it looks like the Patriots will coast to another division title.

The Saint Louis Rams moved up 7 spots with their surprise road blowout of the Colts on Sunday, and the biggest reason for their explosion was rookie Tavon Austin, who scored 3 touchdowns of at least 50 yards, becoming the first player younger than 23 to do that in 15 years, matching the feat accomplished by Randy Moss. The Rams are now ranked in the top half of the league despite being the lowest-ranked team in their own division.

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

Tuesday

Ohio at Bowling Green - Falcons by 9
Buffalo at Toledo - Rockets by 5

Wednesday

Miami (OH) at Kent State - Golden Flashes by 20
Ball State at (15) Northern Illinois - Huskies by 5

Thursday

Marshall at Tulsa - Thundering Herd by 20
Georgia Tech at (8) Clemson - Tigers by 5

Indianapolis at Tennessee - Colts by 1

Friday

Washington at (13) UCLA - Bruins by 2

Saturday

Troy at Ole Miss - Rebels by 23
Cincinnati at Rutgers - Scarlet Knights by 2
Iowa State at (18) Oklahoma - Sooners by 23
Purdue at Penn State - Nittany Lions by 25
(17) UCF at Temple - Knights by 20
Indiana at (22) Wisconsin - Badgers by 25
(3) Ohio State at Illinois - Buckeyes by 27
West Virginia at Kansas - Mountaineers by 4
Central Michigan at Western Michigan - Chippewas by 1
Kentucky at Vanderbilt - Commodores by 13
North Carolina State at Boston College - Eagles by 11
North Carolina at Pittsburgh - Panthers by 2
Maryland at Virginia Tech - Hokies by 25
Florida Atlantic at Southern Miss - Owls by 27
Akron at Massachusetts - Zips by 5
Washington State at Arizona - Wildcats by 15
UAB at East Carolina - Pirates by 27
Louisiana-Lafayette at Georgia State - Ragin Cajuns by 26
Idaho State at BYU - Cougars by 46
Connecticut at SMU - Mustangs by 15
(25) Georgia at (7) Auburn - Tigers by 11
Syracuse at (2) Florida State - Seminoles by 43
Michigan at Northwestern - Wildcats by 3
(23) Miami at Duke - Hurricanes by 1
(16) Michigan State at Nebraska - Cornhuskers by 1
(12) Oklahoma State at (24) Texas - Cowboys by 4
TCU at Kansas State - Wildcats by 17
South Alabama at Navy - Midshipmen by 13
Utah at (6) Oregon - Ducks by 25
California at Colorado - Buffaloes by 8
Memphis at South Florida - Tigers by 7
Houston at (20) Louisville - Cardinals by 8
Colorado State at New Mexico - Rams by 5
Texas Tech vs. (5) Baylor - Bears by 32
Louisiana Tech at Rice - Owls by 23
Florida at (10) South Carolina - Gamecocks by 13
Texas State at Arkansas State - Red Wolves by 17
(1) Alabama at Mississippi State - Crimson Tide by 17
(4) Stanford at USC - Cardinal by 3
Florida International at UTEP - Miners by 17
Oregon State at (19) Arizona State - Sun Devils by 23
Wyoming at Boise State - Broncos by 26
San Diego State at Hawaii - Warriors by 4
San Jose State at Nevada - Spartans by 1

Sunday

Arizona at Jacksonville - Cardinals by 16
NY Jets at Buffalo - Bills by 3
Baltimore at Chicago - Bears by 4
Cleveland at Cincinnati - Bengals by 7
Washington at Philadelphia - Eagles by 8
Detroit at Pittsburgh - Lions by 7
Atlanta at Tampa Bay - Buccaneers by 3
Oakland at Houston - Texans by 5
San Diego at Miami - Dolphins by 2
San Francisco at New Orleans - Saints by 4
Green Bay at NY Giants - Packers by 7
Minnesota at Seattle - Seahawks by 19
Kansas City at Denver - Broncos by 5

Monday

New England at Carolina - Panthers by 7

Most Confident vs the Spread

(Spread is in parentheses)

College Football

1. UTEP (-6)
2. Arkansas State (-7)
3. Virginia Tech (-15)
4. Florida Atlantic (-17)
5. Arizona State (-13.5)
6. Hawaii (+4.5)
7. Houston (+16)
8. Mississippi State (+25)
9. Nebraska (+6.5)
10. Auburn (-4)

NFL

1. Green Bay (+7)
2. Arizona (-7)
3. Pittsburgh (+1)
4. Seattle (-14)
5. Philadelphia (-4)

Prediction Results

NFL: 6-8 (.429) 85-62 overall (.578)
Upsets: 0-1 (.000) 9-21 overall (.300)
Vs. Spread: 3-2 (.600) 26-17 overall (.605)