Note: These rankings are not neccesarily identical to those I actually posted before the 2002 season. I have subsequently altered my algorithms, and here I show retrospectively what my current methods would have said for the season...
| rank | team | power |
| 1 | Miami | 100.93 |
| 2 | Florida State | 99.34 |
| 3 | Florida | 95.91 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 94.67 |
| 5 | Nebraska | 94.13 |
| 6 | Washington | 90.42 |
| 7 | Texas | 90.37 |
| 8 | Michigan | 90.14 |
| 9 | Tennessee | 89.56 |
| 10 | Kansas State | 88.14 |
| 11 | Oregon | 87.22 |
| 12 | Notre Dame | 86.64 |
| 13 | Virginia Tech | 86.30 |
| 14 | Colorado | 86.22 |
| 15 | Georgia | 84.60 |
| 16 | Texas A&M | 84.37 |
| 17 | Alabama | 83.57 |
| 18 | UCLA | 82.97 |
| 19 | Boston College | 82.92 |
| 20 | Purdue | 82.05 |
| 21 | Auburn | 82.04 |
| 22 | L.S.U. | 81.34 |
| 23 | Ohio State | 81.33 |
| 24 | Texas Tech | 81.32 |
| 25 | Washington State | 81.06 |
| 26 | Syracuse | 80.54 |
| 27 | Georgia Tech | 80.17 |
| 28 | Oregon State | 79.76 |
| 29 | Louisville | 79.69 |
| 30 | Southern Cal | 78.60 |
| 31 | Michigan State | 78.53 |
| 32 | Wisconsin | 78.38 |
| 33 | Clemson | 78.24 |
| 34 | Arizona | 78.06 |
| 35 | Ole Miss | 77.49 |
| 36 | Illinois | 77.37 |
| 37 | Stanford | 77.25 |
| 38 | Iowa State | 77.00 |
| 39 | Penn State | 76.80 |
| 40 | Virginia | 76.27 |
| 41 | Maryland | 76.07 |
| 42 | Marshall | 75.81 |
| 43 | Mississippi State | 75.54 |
| 44 | North Carolina State | 75.40 |
| 45 | Southern Miss | 75.28 |
| 46 | North Carolina | 74.89 |
| 47 | Arkansas | 74.77 |
| 48 | South Carolina | 74.50 |
| 49 | Fresno State | 74.39 |
| 50 | Colorado State | 74.36 |
| 51 | Pittsburgh | 73.79 |
| 52 | Utah | 73.27 |
| 53 | Boise State | 73.06 |
| 54 | Arizona State | 73.06 |
| 55 | B.Y.U. | 72.31 |
| 56 | Iowa | 72.06 |
| 57 | Minnesota | 70.65 |
| 58 | West Virginia | 70.39 |
| 59 | East Carolina | 70.30 |
| 60 | Oklahoma State | 69.97 |
| 61 | Missouri | 69.64 |
| 62 | T.C.U. | 69.42 |
| 63 | Cincinnati | 69.18 |
| 64 | Toledo | 68.93 |
| 65 | Northwestern | 68.90 |
| 66 | California | 68.54 |
| 67 | Indiana | 68.08 |
| 68 | Wake Forest | 67.00 |
| 69 | Miami of Ohio | 66.26 |
| 70 | New Mexico | 65.49 |
| 71 | Kansas | 65.31 |
| 72 | Kentucky | 65.01 |
| 73 | Air Force | 64.73 |
| 74 | UNLV | 64.55 |
| 75 | Memphis | 64.52 |
| 76 | Hawaii | 64.34 |
| 77 | Central Florida | 62.83 |
| 78 | Bowling Green | 62.74 |
| 79 | Louisiana Tech | 62.74 |
| 80 | Baylor | 62.62 |
| 81 | Northern Illinois | 62.39 |
| 82 | Temple | 62.32 |
| 83 | South Florida | 61.75 |
| 84 | U.A.B. | 60.97 |
| 85 | Western Michigan | 60.77 |
| 86 | Troy State | 59.86 |
| 87 | Tulane | 59.51 |
| 88 | Wyoming | 59.48 |
| 89 | Ball State | 59.31 |
| 90 | Vanderbilt | 59.23 |
| 91 | Rice | 59.23 |
| 92 | San Diego State | 59.05 |
| 93 | UTEP | 58.20 |
| 94 | Nevada | 57.35 |
| 95 | Idaho | 57.14 |
| 96 | North Texas | 56.58 |
| 97 | Utah State | 56.08 |
| 98 | S.M.U. | 55.48 |
| 99 | Middle Tennessee St. | 55.16 |
| 100 | Central Michigan | 55.09 |
| 101 | Tulsa | 55.00 |
| 102 | Rutgers | 54.97 |
| 103 | Akron | 54.27 |
| 104 | San Jose State | 53.96 |
| 105 | Duke | 53.57 |
| 106 | Ohio | 52.98 |
| 107 | Kent State | 51.83 |
| 108 | Houston | 49.16 |
| 109 | Army | 47.90 |
| 110 | New Mexico State | 47.26 |
| 111 | Connecticut | 46.23 |
| 112 | Navy | 44.25 |
| 113 | Eastern Michigan | 44.12 |
| 114 | Arkansas State | 43.24 |
| 115 | Louisiana-Monroe | 42.05 |
| 116 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 41.73 |
| 117 | Buffalo | 35.47 |