The Zeitgeist List

The Dynasty tier is empty — and No. 1 Alabama can't get in

The board right now: 2026 preseason baseline · ▲ up 2 vs 2025 · ▼ down 3 · Dynasty empty · ·
138 programs · updated weekly · 2026 preseason baseline · the greatest coaches → · the rivalries → · the talent factory → · the throne → · every team's full history →• medium confidence — interim formula, placements will shift

The formula is calibration-grade, and the tier floors shown are published but not yet frozen — recalibration shuffles neighbors, not strata. our read, pending calibration

Composite (0–100) = Performance 45% (opponent-adjusted quality, multi-season, 3-year half-life) + Achievement 45% (national titles, playoff depth, conference titles scaled by measured league strength, and deep history fading with age) + Talent 10% (recruiting + NFL draft), plus a capped signature-win bonus and a narrow bad-loss debit. The top two tiers are title-gated: Dynasty needs 2 national titles in 3 years, or 3 in 7; Blue Blood needs 1 in 12 — score alone can't get you in. Tiers are sticky and path-dependent: a ±0.5 buffer sits on every line, and a crossing driven by a single win or loss must hold for one extra week before the tier reassigns — so two programs at the same score can legitimately sit in different tiers. The score→tier map is not a plain lookup, and we say so. arithmetic on published cutlines

This is the condensed version. Read the full methodology →

The totem

All programs, swarmed into their tier — slot height follows how many teams live there and how far their scores spread. Height inside a slot follows score. The top slot is empty: no program clears the Dynasty gate right now — 3 score past its line and sit held in Blue Blood. Hover any program for the full read · click to pin · double-click to open its row.

Lines are sticky: crossing one puts you in range — you hold it a week to lock it in (±0.5 buffer). Positions are settled physics, baked at build time — nothing moves after load. Full data in the list below.
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How to read the gauge: the dot is the program, the colored tick is the tier line above it (Dynasty · Blue Blood · Power · National), −N = points to go. = held by a title gate — points can't cross it. The Δ column is rank movement vs the 2025 final board — weekly deltas take over from Week 1.

Dynasty

empty
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No active dynasty

Nobody clears the gate: 2 national titles in the trailing 3 years, or 3 in 7 — titles only, appearances don't count. 3 programs score past the Dynasty line (Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia) and sit held in Blue Blood. The next title run reopens this tier.

the Dynasty line · 74.5promotion locks at 75.0 · demotion at 74.0 · one-week confirmation on win/loss-bonus swings — the map is sticky, not a plain lookup

Blue Blood

6 teams
the Blue Blood line · 60.8promotion locks at 61.3 · demotion at 60.3 · one-week confirmation on win/loss-bonus swings — the map is sticky, not a plain lookup

Power Program

25 teams
Power Program I · Tier 3 of 14floor 55
Power Program II · Tier 4 of 14floor 49
Power Program III · Tier 5 of 14floor 42
the Power Program line · 42.1promotion locks at 42.6 · demotion at 41.6 · one-week confirmation on win/loss-bonus swings — the map is sticky, not a plain lookup

National Program

41 teams

Rows thin out from here — sparklines and the week-outlook column stop below the Power stratum; every program still carries its full read in the drawer.

National Program I · Tier 6 of 14floor 37
National Program II · Tier 7 of 14floor 31
National Program III · Tier 8 of 14floor 26
the National Program line · 26.4promotion locks at 26.9 · demotion at 25.9 · one-week confirmation on win/loss-bonus swings — the map is sticky, not a plain lookup

Regional Program

66 teams
Regional Program I · Tier 9 of 14floor 22
Regional Program II · Tier 10 of 14floor 19
Regional Program III · Tier 11 of 14floor 15
Regional Program IV · Tier 12 of 14floor 10
Regional Program V · Tier 13 of 14floor 5
Regional Program VI · Tier 14 of 14floor 0

Movers — this board vs the 2025 final

Band-level moves land here when a program crosses a line for good; rank shuffles are the undercard. Weekly movement returns Week 1.

20222023202420252026 pre#26 CIN#27 OKST#49 UK#61 TUL#79 DUKE#83 CUSE#87 WMU#118 CLT#44 OKST ▲2#46 CIN ▼2#53 UK ▼2#58 DUKE ▼2#60 TUL ▼2#88 WMU ▼2#90 CUSE ▼2#130 CLT ▼3

Ranks are positions on each season's restated board (the whole history is recomputed under the current methodology, so years compare cleanly). Preseason rank shuffles are small by design — the score prorates between seasons.