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Northwestern Wildcats college football team

We've compiled computer rankings from the past 50 years. The rankings for Northwestern are shown below for each season the school competed at the highest level of college football. Create a single game matchup or build brackets made up entirely of Northwestern Wildcats teams.

Top 3 Northwestern Wildcats Teams

2015
2
1995
1
2017
3

Interactive tools

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Single-game matchup

Create a matchup between the two best Northwestern Wildcats teams.

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Build a Northwestern Wildcats bracket

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Team ratings and rankings

This table shows how the computer ranking systems measure (rating) every season of Northwestern football. The rankings are the end-of-season rank for the team compared to the other teams of that season. Each rating system has it's own value range.

Northwestern football rankings
Massey Howell Sorenson TFS Hatch Loudsound Jellyjuke Squaregear Entropy CPI Moore Bihl Sagedrive Congrove M Cubed
Season Overall Rating Record Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating Rank Rating
2021 0.335 9 - 3 87 6.48 106 0.37 94 -4922 90 131.29 101 0.26 107 26.72 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 105 62.84 106 -9.35 N/A N/A 109 62.99 110 -2.36
2020 0.636 7 - 2 11 8.21 21 0.70 20 13393 N/A N/A 25 0.67 N/A N/A 18 0.91 17 0.60 25 56.66 26 0.06 11 88.05 15 12.87 N/A N/A 40 73.95 31 0.71
2019 0.393 3 - 9 76 1.46 109 0.37 94 18942 101 126.78 102 0.28 103 30.31 107 -0.78 116 0.43 87 41.21 118 0.00 72 62.36 100 -6.97 112 0.28 106 18.40 102 -1.91
2018 0.589 9 - 5 23 1.99 32 0.69 28 22590 24 147.55 22 0.60 29 48.43 27 0.71 29 0.58 41 52.71 34 0.05 36 73.38 27 8.43 29 0.70 27 53.55 31 0.38
2017 0.641 10 - 3 16 2.05 16 0.76 13 27471 13 149.95 16 0.64 16 53.40 15 1.13 15 0.61 31 55.75 19 0.07 27 78.11 15 13.17 13 0.81 17 60.32 16 1.01
2016 0.564 7 - 6 33 1.84 51 0.61 40 24195 44 141.24 43 0.54 41 44.77 42 0.53 56 0.53 36 80.06 56 0.03 26 74.06 33 6.77 56 0.57 52 41.90 46 0.03
2015 0.654 10 - 3 27 1.99 22 0.75 21 28035 13 152.04 16 0.68 14 55.84 14 1.17 14 0.62 53 72.06 13 0.10 61 67.42 18 12.53 14 0.82 33 61.35 17 1.16
2014 0.476 5 - 7 60 1.62 76 0.50 68 18531 65 135.56 76 0.40 76 36.90 78 -0.19 79 0.49 64 66.56 87 0.01 61 65.07 72 -1.18 83 0.45 85 28.50 89 -1.64
2013 0.468 5 - 7 61 1.58 80 0.47 58 17099 66 129.98 70 0.42 84 33.45 81 -0.26 82 0.49 50 70.16 83 0.01 62 66.04 72 -1.67 82 0.44 79 29.33 80 -0.84
2012 0.604 10 - 3 20 1.99 20 0.72 19 28335 18 97.83 17 0.66 26 50.64 19 0.86 20 0.59 33 77.07 22 0.07 26 75.80 21 9.99 19 0.77 22 56.26 23 0.77
2011 0.455 6 - 7 60 1.55 69 0.52 65 21350 69 84.33 66 0.42 69 37.07 75 -0.25 77 0.49 63 68.95 77 0.01 49 68.24 69 -1.84 76 0.45 67 33.55 87 -0.68
2010 0.462 7 - 6 70 1.52 65 0.53 66 18055 65 80.33 60 0.44 55 40.65 60 -0.03 61 0.51 69 70.40 60 0.02 70 61.72 64 -0.64 60 0.52 63 34.48 72 -0.28
2009 0.501 8 - 5 51 1.68 55 0.59 62 20259 60 83.65 50 0.50 49 42.81 54 0.20 53 0.53 56 74.35 56 0.03 51 68.10 54 1.73 54 0.57 51 41.38 67 -0.19
2008 0.551 9 - 4 44 1.80 39 0.63 40 28511 37 96.57 41 0.54 34 46.65 36 0.46 35 0.56 38 77.59 34 0.05 36 70.89 37 4.96 34 0.66 34 46.95 46 0.26
2007 0.440 6 - 6 74 1.40 76 0.47 73 19015 74 80.10 74 0.39 62 37.31 69 -0.18 70 0.49 79 68.88 66 0.02 70 63.23 73 -1.94 68 0.47 72 29.41 86 -0.67
2006 0.398 4 - 8 73 1.44 92 0.36 82 17375 77 78.50 88 0.28 78 31.58 77 -0.43 89 0.45 80 65.24 87 0.01 55 67.69 74 -3.60 91 0.32 85 21.74 80 -0.65
2005 0.563 7 - 5 31 1.89 28 0.66 27 30516 28 101.03 29 0.59 24 46.05 25 0.65 24 0.57 30 79.03 30 0.04 52 68.39 22 7.93 25 0.68 43 41.20 23 0.84
2004 0.494 6 - 6 53 1.56 57 0.57 50 24936 49 93.71 45 0.50 54 40.18 52 0.15 54 0.52 48 72.93 57 0.02 62 65.04 44 2.21 53 0.54 56 36.34 50 0.20
2003 0.476 6 - 7 55 1.57 62 0.53 51 24011 52 89.41 58 0.46 56 40.35 60 0.06 61 0.51 47 73.30 64 0.02 56 61.11 53 1.53 61 0.52 67 31.89 50 0.30
2002 0.374 3 - 9 79 1.27 89 0.37 87 14012 86 103.97 89 0.26 84 29.02 91 -0.76 91 0.43 86 62.07 99 0.00 83 52.15 88 -7.89 91 0.29 98 14.29 78 -0.71
2001 0.439 4 - 7 67 1.56 79 0.46 67 22713 69 112.81 78 0.36 87 30.09 81 -0.38 83 0.46 64 68.20 86 0.01 72 59.28 70 -1.68 83 0.38 80 25.63 82 -1.43
2000 0.586 8 - 4 40 1.75 34 0.66 27 28711 27 122.89 24 0.62 22 49.24 24 0.69 27 0.57 31 78.76 30 0.05 30 69.64 22 8.47 28 0.70 33 53.06 28 0.80
1999 0.401 3 - 8 80 1.43 90 0.39 74 20006 79 95.28 77 0.34 80 30.55 84 -0.52 83 0.46 78 62.63 91 0.00 86 53.00 76 -3.40 86 0.35 96 18.45 71 -0.34
1998 0.355 3 - 9 80 1.34 90 0.36 83 -1305 82 91.31 89 0.25 93 24.87 91 -0.85 92 0.43 75 62.76 88 0.00 78 55.00 89 -8.94 91 0.27 90 20.82 93 -1.21
1997 0.468 5 - 7 53 1.64 63 0.50 55 -30 57 100.77 59 0.45 55 40.34 59 -0.04 62 0.49 55 69.86 67 0.01 24 73.00 58 -0.02 64 0.47 60 41.42 55 0.09
1996 0.604 9 - 3 22 2.04 21 0.71 22 10928 22 112.59 22 0.65 19 51.37 22 0.86 24 0.58 25 79.27 25 0.06 29 73.00 21 10.79 23 0.76 21 70.32 29 0.73
1995 0.724 10 - 2 9 2.30 4 0.86 4 17226 2 126.66 2 0.83 5 58.91 7 1.51 4 0.65 4 94.32 5 0.13 14 79.00 5 18.38 4 0.93 4 92.43 6 1.64
1994 0.416 3 - 7 - 1 43 1.61 63 0.48 53 549 52 100.98 74 0.33 76 29.71 64 -0.24 68 0.47 49 71.38 78 0.00 75 57.00 53 -0.20 72 0.40 70 14.62 69 -0.43
1993 0.376 2 - 9 70 1.35 74 0.41 69 1079 69 96.27 68 0.35 80 28.79 79 -0.65 80 0.44 63 64.21 95 0.00 70 58.00 78 -6.17 83 0.30 81 7.95 80 -0.88
1992 0.416 3 - 8 71 1.38 82 0.40 65 625 68 95.27 71 0.36 84 27.85 81 -0.47 79 0.46 67 73.33 85 0.00 82 55.00 67 -2.55 82 0.36 N/A N/A 69 -0.60
1991 0.383 3 - 8 82 1.22 86 0.34 79 -1582 78 91.02 84 0.26 80 28.99 79 -0.64 86 0.43 74 65.52 86 0.00 80 54.00 80 -6.66 N/A N/A N/A N/A 82 -1.03
1990 0.341 2 - 9 82 1.16 94 0.32 79 -5041 85 88.08 94 0.18 96 20.21 93 -1.10 96 0.39 84 56.15 96 0.00 79 55.00 89 -9.71 N/A N/A N/A N/A 96 -2.05
1989 0.255 0 - 11 95 0.80 100 0.19 99 -11239 98 81.51 101 0.07 104 11.95 104 -1.73 103 0.34 99 42.79 106 0.00 93 47.00 102 -20.02 N/A N/A N/A N/A 102 -2.79
1988 0.353 2 - 8 - 1 79 1.17 90 0.30 77 -5548 83 88.58 93 0.13 93 21.73 89 -0.90 92 0.41 82 65.41 94 0.00 72 58.00 85 -9.68 N/A N/A N/A N/A 88 -1.27
1987 0.366 2 - 8 - 1 73 1.17 95 0.34 72 -4965 82 88.74 91 0.21 87 25.25 91 -0.85 95 0.42 82 62.85 97 0.00 66 59.00 82 -7.97 N/A N/A N/A N/A 84 -1.27
1986 0.392 4 - 7 69 1.24 73 0.43 77 -6209 78 90.12 73 0.32 80 28.59 80 -0.68 81 0.44 74 61.95 76 0.01 58 61.00 78 -7.01 N/A N/A N/A N/A 87 -1.45
1985 0.375 3 - 8 82 1.00 87 0.37 76 -5237 76 91.56 77 0.28 76 30.48 87 -0.69 87 0.43 78 65.57 94 0.00 91 50.00 83 -6.70 N/A N/A N/A N/A 85 -1.21
1984 0.357 2 - 9 86 1.11 96 0.33 82 -4776 86 89.76 83 0.27 92 23.86 98 -1.01 94 0.41 86 65.66 101 0.00 96 48.00 85 -7.75 N/A N/A N/A N/A 78 -1.01
1983 0.339 2 - 9 100 0.83 102 0.27 77 -3782 87 92.64 95 0.19 91 26.00 96 -0.94 97 0.41 95 60.08 101 0.00 102 45.00 92 -9.15 N/A N/A N/A N/A 88 -1.10
1982 0.366 3 - 8 79 1.23 96 0.35 90 -6113 94 88.90 97 0.22 95 23.70 89 -0.75 94 0.42 91 64.73 92 0.00 89 51.00 83 -6.68 N/A N/A N/A N/A 84 -1.02
1981 0.270 0 - 11 134 0.26 134 0.20 117 -8244 120 84.69 123 0.15 134 14.27 135 -1.61 130 0.37 109 59.40 137 0.00 129 39.00 129 -16.84 N/A N/A N/A N/A 121 -1.89
1980 0.256 0 - 11 124 0.66 133 0.23 122 -9638 125 83.31 133 0.02 135 11.81 136 -1.78 136 0.34 116 41.64 137 0.00 122 45.00 133 -17.30 N/A N/A N/A N/A 130 -2.54
1979 0.320 1 - 10 118 0.71 128 0.29 100 -5345 105 90.18 128 0.13 N/A N/A 134 -1.30 130 0.38 102 55.81 132 0.00 128 43.00 124 -11.69 N/A N/A N/A N/A 120 -1.97
1978 0.264 0 - 10 - 1 132 0.46 137 0.18 117 -8774 116 86.49 137 -0.01 137 14.50 136 -1.58 136 0.36 111 54.69 138 0.00 129 42.00 133 -15.73 N/A N/A N/A N/A 123 -1.82
1977 0.332 1 - 10 112 0.91 129 0.30 102 -4085 106 92.57 119 0.21 136 18.62 136 -1.25 133 0.39 99 54.15 142 0.00 90 53.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 121 -1.47
1976 0.326 1 - 10 105 0.95 124 0.28 103 -5748 109 90.09 117 0.23 136 15.31 132 -1.35 129 0.38 102 56.20 133 0.00 96 54.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 123 -1.76
1975 0.369 3 - 8 101 0.89 110 0.35 79 -1132 87 95.85 99 0.29 106 25.60 104 -0.70 102 0.42 87 56.45 105 0.00 94 54.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 100 -1.29
1974 0.384 3 - 8 86 1.09 104 0.36 68 -541 80 98.05 88 0.31 102 26.09 103 -0.72 100 0.43 82 61.13 106 0.00 85 56.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 90 -0.90
1973 0.440 4 - 7 54 1.50 82 0.46 61 1601 58 105.32 67 0.42 79 32.82 80 -0.32 79 0.47 56 70.15 93 0.01 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 82 -0.53
1972 0.348 2 - 9 84 1.05 103 0.37 84 -3141 91 94.25 103 0.23 112 21.64 114 -1.09 112 0.39 84 59.84 114 0.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 106 -1.76
1971 0.525 7 - 4 26 1.71 32 0.61 27 6120 30 111.70 30 0.59 35 42.21 33 0.37 37 0.53 28 77.32 40 0.03 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 38 0.41
1970 0.550 6 - 4 24 1.96 39 0.65 21 9573 21 117.82 35 0.57 30 46.64 41 0.39 41 0.54 23 81.22 46 0.03 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 46 0.39

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