Adam Burke shares his weekly college football power ratings
The college football news cycle is spinning fast. Coaches are getting fired left and right and some are moving on to new jobs. Realignment continues next season and that is fueling some of the decisions by both athletic departments and also coaches for prospective jobs.
Staying up on the news will be paramount this week and next. The transfer portal opens on December 4. Players will begin opting out of bowl games to “prepare for the NFL Draft”. Well-connected industry sources will start releasing bowl game pairings, but official word and opening lines will be scattered. We also have to see what happens with conference championship weekend and the College Football Playoff rankings, which will come out on Sunday during the selection show.
Bowl games will be the focus next week and our free College Football Bowl Betting Guide will come out on Monday with a look at the CFP semifinals and some general betting strategies, including my deep dive into confidence pools for people in those types of contests.
As far as this week’s Power Ratings update, this edition is kind of a hybrid. Even though bowl-eligible teams are the only ones that matter moving forward, I checked on all the teams. My Power Ratings are something of a starting point for my work over the summer on the next season, though the transfer portal, NIL, and all the other offseason changes almost lend more towards starting from scratch. Nevertheless, I moved some teams up and down simply based on some way-too-early thoughts for next season.