The CFB Wire
Power Ratings & Poll
Two rankings, two methods — the WPR measures pure team strength; the WP is a personal top-25 ballot.
Welcome to The CFB Wire
An introduction to the Wire Power Ratings and the Wire Poll — two different ways to look at college football, both built from the same engine.
How the Wire Power Rating Is Built
A walkthrough of the four components that feed into the WPR — from preseason priors to game-day adjustments.
The CFB Wire publishes two college football rankings: a power rating built by a model and a weekly top-25 ballot cast by hand. We will explain any major movers and any updates we make to refine the model in real time. You'll know what we're doing and why we're doing it.
The WPR (Wire Power Ratings) measures pure team strength — who would win on a neutral field, regardless of record.
The WP (Wire Poll) is a personal top-25 ballot, cast each week the way a poll voter casts one.
What sets the model apart: it aggressively trusts current-season data over preseason assumptions. By midseason, what happened last year barely matters. The hope is that this makes the WPR a more effective betting metric.
Welcome to The CFB Wire
An introduction to the Wire Power Ratings and the Wire Poll — two different ways to look at college football, both built from the same engine.
How the Wire Power Rating Is Built
A walkthrough of the four components that feed into the WPR — from preseason priors to game-day adjustments.