Conferences

Coulda Woulda Shoulda

What the BCS rankings would be now if the past had turned out differently.

Forecast

What the BCS rankings will be based on your predictions of future games.

Starter

What the BCS rankings will be at season end using PWI pre-season picks. Before the season, the PWI staff picked a winner for each game.
To see the rankings based on these picks, Just click the "Rankings" button on the PWI menubar.

Get customized rankings

1. Select a conference.
2. Pick a team.
3. Change past scores (Coulda Woulda Shoulda) or future scores (Forecast).
4. Click "Get New Rankings".

If you log in, you can change games for multiple teams. Otherwise, only changes to the current team are used.

FAQ


Do I have to register to play?

Yes, you must register to play. Your user account is used to save your picks.


How much does it cost to play?

PlayWhatIf is free to all football fans. Enjoy!


How are the teams ranked?

PlayWhatIf rankings are based upon the team's strength of schedule and their win/loss record.


How do PWI's team rankings compare to the BCS Rankings or AP Poll?

For a quick comparison of the final 2006 rankings, click here.

The BCS rankings are determined by a combination of human polls and computer rankings. At the beginning of the season, the human polls and computer polls differ significantly. But at the end of the season, they tend to give similar results. Therefore, the computer rankings and the human polls are close to the BCS rankings. Since PlayWhatIf computes an end of the season ranking, it estimates what the final poll rankings would be at the end of the season.


How do I remove my picks?

Just delete the score and the pick will not influence the team rankings.


What about conference championships, bowl games, and the national championship game?

When they are announced, PlayWhatIf will include the post-season games. We have a lot of interesting sites in the works, so come back and see us.


How am I ranked?

Each week users are asked to predict the outcome of a select group of Featured Games. The users will be ranked based upon their ability to predict the straight-up winner, the score difference, and the total score. The straight-up winner is 80% of the total ranking. Predicting the score difference and the total score are each 10% of the total ranking.


How are the featured games selected?

Each week the PlayWhatIf team selects games for the users to pick the outcomes. Typically, these games are that will either impact conference titles or heavily influence the BCS rankings. Interesting match-ups and rivalries are also favorites.


What is the PWI Starter Ranking?

This ranking option combines the actual scores with the starter picks. It will use the actual score if the games been played and starter pick otherwise.


What is the Forecast Ranking?

This ranking option combines the actual scores with the user picks. It is the same as the Starter ranking, only user picks are used instead of the starter picks.


What is the Coulda Woulda Shoulda Ranking?

This option uses ALL user-picked games, even if they have been played. For unpicked games, the actual score will be used if available. Otherwise, the starter pick will be used.


How good are the PWI Starter Picks?

Better than random, but we don't claim that they are great. (That's your job--to pick the winners!) Starter picks are selected before the start of the season and may involve a blend of our own experts' opinion and those of other sources we like. They exist in order to provide a baseline for you to work from.