College Football Rankings by SP+ Defense, 2026

Ohio State ranks first in FBS in sP+ defense at 10.7, ahead of Indiana (10.9) and Michigan (12.7). The middle of FBS is about 26.3, and Charlotte is last of 138 (40.7). Lower is better.

What's sP+ defense?

SP+ defense: points the defense would allow to an average offense. Lower is better.

Opponent-adjusted power ratings. These drive the projection.

Games through Oct 31, 2026. Ranks are among the 138 FBS teams with the number.

Every FBS team by sP+ defense

Rank	Team	Conference	SP+ defense
1	Ohio State	Big Ten	10.7
2	Indiana	Big Ten	10.9
3	Michigan	Big Ten	12.7
4	Georgia	SEC	12.9
5	LSU	SEC	13.3
6	Oklahoma	SEC	14.2
7	Texas	SEC	14.5
8	Notre Dame	Independents	14.7
9	Wisconsin	Big Ten	15.1
10	Iowa	Big Ten	15.3
11	Missouri	SEC	16.5
11	Oregon	Big Ten	16.5
11	TCU	Big 12	16.5
14	Alabama	SEC	16.6
14	Miami	ACC	16.6
16	Nebraska	Big Ten	16.7
17	North Dakota State	Mountain West	16.8
18	Tennessee	SEC	16.9
19	UCLA	Big Ten	17.1
20	BYU	Big 12	17.6
20	New Mexico	Mountain West	17.6
22	Utah	Big 12	17.7
23	Texas Tech	Big 12	18.2
24	Arizona	Big 12	19.0
24	Clemson	ACC	19.0
26	Northwestern	Big Ten	19.1
27	Minnesota	Big Ten	19.8
27	Penn State	Big Ten	19.8
29	Baylor	Big 12	20.0
30	Washington	Big Ten	20.2
31	Auburn	SEC	20.4
31	SMU	ACC	20.4
33	Texas A&M	SEC	20.8
34	Liberty	Conference USA	21.0
35	Wake Forest	ACC	21.3
36	Virginia	ACC	21.5
37	James Madison	Sun Belt	21.7
38	Kentucky	SEC	22.3
39	Pittsburgh	ACC	22.4
39	USC	Big Ten	22.4
39	Virginia Tech	ACC	22.4
42	North Carolina	ACC	22.5
43	UCF	Big 12	22.8
44	Duke	ACC	22.9
45	Houston	Big 12	23.0
45	Kansas State	Big 12	23.0
47	South Carolina	SEC	23.1
48	Ole Miss	SEC	23.2
49	Fresno State	Pac-12	23.4
50	Florida	SEC	23.5
51	Boise State	Pac-12	23.6
52	Oklahoma State	Big 12	24.1
53	Arizona State	Big 12	24.3
54	South Florida	American Athletic	24.5
55	Nevada	Mountain West	24.6
56	Oregon State	Pac-12	24.7
57	Kansas	Big 12	25.0
57	Wyoming	Mountain West	25.0
59	Boston College	ACC	25.1
60	Iowa State	Big 12	25.2
61	Florida International	Conference USA	25.4
61	Louisville	ACC	25.4
63	Illinois	Big Ten	25.5
63	Ohio	Mid-American	25.5
65	Toledo	Mid-American	25.8
65	Western Michigan	Mid-American	25.8
67	Utah State	Pac-12	25.9
68	Michigan State	Big Ten	26.3
68	Mississippi State	SEC	26.3
70	East Carolina	American Athletic	26.4
71	Colorado	Big 12	26.5
72	Memphis	American Athletic	26.6
73	Louisiana	Sun Belt	26.7
74	Louisiana Tech	Sun Belt	26.8
75	San José State	Mountain West	27.0
76	Florida State	ACC	27.1
77	Miami (OH)	Mid-American	27.3
78	Cincinnati	Big 12	27.4
79	Old Dominion	Sun Belt	27.5
80	Air Force	Mountain West	27.6
80	UNLV	Mountain West	27.6
82	UTSA	American Athletic	28.0
83	Jacksonville State	Conference USA	28.1
83	Tulane	American Athletic	28.1
85	Arkansas	SEC	28.3
85	Syracuse	ACC	28.3
87	Buffalo	Mid-American	28.5
88	UConn	Independents	28.6
89	Maryland	Big Ten	28.7
89	Vanderbilt	SEC	28.7
91	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	28.8
91	Hawai'i	Mountain West	28.8
91	Troy	Sun Belt	28.8
94	Tulsa	American Athletic	28.9
95	Georgia Tech	ACC	29.4
96	App State	Sun Belt	29.5
96	Army	American Athletic	29.5
96	Washington State	Pac-12	29.5
99	Massachusetts	Mid-American	29.6
100	New Mexico State	Conference USA	30.2
101	Navy	American Athletic	30.4
101	Purdue	Big Ten	30.4
103	California	ACC	30.5
103	UAB	American Athletic	30.5
105	Kennesaw State	Conference USA	30.7
105	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	30.7
107	NC State	ACC	31.0
108	Central Michigan	Mid-American	31.3
109	Sam Houston	Conference USA	31.6
109	San Diego State	Pac-12	31.6
109	Texas State	Pac-12	31.6
112	Eastern Michigan	Mid-American	31.9
113	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	32.2
114	Stanford	ACC	32.3
115	Rice	American Athletic	33.2
115	West Virginia	Big 12	33.2
117	Temple	American Athletic	33.3
118	Bowling Green	Mid-American	33.5
119	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	33.7
119	Kent State	Mid-American	33.7
119	Middle Tennessee	Conference USA	33.7
119	North Texas	American Athletic	33.7
123	Florida Atlantic	American Athletic	33.9
124	Rutgers	Big Ten	34.0
125	Delaware	Conference USA	34.4
125	Marshall	Sun Belt	34.4
127	Georgia State	Sun Belt	35.3
128	Missouri State	Conference USA	35.4
129	Southern Miss	Sun Belt	35.6
130	UTEP	Mountain West	36.6
131	Colorado State	Pac-12	37.0
132	Ball State	Mid-American	37.1
133	South Alabama	Sun Belt	37.5
134	UL Monroe	Sun Belt	38.2
135	Akron	Mid-American	38.4
135	Northern Illinois	Mountain West	38.4
137	Sacramento State	Mid-American	39.2
138	Charlotte	American Athletic	40.7

The best team in each conference

Big Ten: Ohio State (10.7, 1st); SEC: Georgia (12.9, 4th); Independents: Notre Dame (14.7, 8th); Big 12: TCU (16.5, 11th); ACC: Miami (16.6, 14th); Mountain West: North Dakota State (16.8, 17th); Conference USA: Liberty (21.0, 34th); Sun Belt: James Madison (21.7, 37th); Pac-12: Fresno State (23.4, 49th); American Athletic: South Florida (24.5, 54th); Mid-American: Ohio (25.5, 63rd).

College Football Rankings by SP+ Defense, 2026

What's sP+ defense?

Every FBS team by sP+ defense

The best team in each conference

More ratings stats