Note: These rankings are not neccesarily identical to those I actually posted before the 2003 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 | 95.98 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 94.47 |
| 3 | Florida State | 93.69 |
| 4 | Nebraska | 91.67 |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 89.54 |
| 6 | Kansas State | 89.08 |
| 7 | Texas | 89.05 |
| 8 | Tennessee | 88.48 |
| 9 | Michigan | 88.46 |
| 10 | Florida | 87.71 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech | 87.18 |
| 12 | Georgia | 85.79 |
| 13 | Maryland | 85.53 |
| 14 | Auburn | 84.92 |
| 15 | Notre Dame | 84.75 |
| 16 | Southern Cal | 84.61 |
| 17 | L.S.U. | 84.55 |
| 18 | Oregon | 84.15 |
| 19 | Alabama | 82.95 |
| 20 | Colorado | 82.86 |
| 21 | Washington | 82.46 |
| 22 | UCLA | 81.87 |
| 23 | Penn State | 81.82 |
| 24 | Arkansas | 81.81 |
| 25 | Washington State | 81.03 |
| 26 | Purdue | 80.34 |
| 27 | Virginia | 79.97 |
| 28 | North Carolina State | 79.41 |
| 29 | Texas Tech | 79.14 |
| 30 | Arizona State | 78.95 |
| 31 | Illinois | 78.83 |
| 32 | Texas A&M | 78.60 |
| 33 | Boston College | 78.56 |
| 34 | Iowa | 77.95 |
| 35 | North Carolina | 77.87 |
| 36 | Wisconsin | 77.63 |
| 37 | Ole Miss | 77.49 |
| 38 | Georgia Tech | 77.20 |
| 39 | Pittsburgh | 77.14 |
| 40 | Colorado State | 76.77 |
| 41 | Oregon State | 76.76 |
| 42 | Clemson | 76.71 |
| 43 | Fresno State | 75.36 |
| 44 | Syracuse | 75.20 |
| 45 | Minnesota | 74.24 |
| 46 | Oklahoma State | 74.14 |
| 47 | Iowa State | 73.98 |
| 48 | Boise State | 73.70 |
| 49 | B.Y.U. | 72.84 |
| 50 | Missouri | 72.73 |
| 51 | West Virginia | 72.60 |
| 52 | Southern Miss | 71.51 |
| 53 | Michigan State | 70.95 |
| 54 | Marshall | 70.62 |
| 55 | Stanford | 70.58 |
| 56 | Air Force | 70.39 |
| 57 | Kentucky | 70.24 |
| 58 | Bowling Green | 70.15 |
| 59 | Northwestern | 69.52 |
| 60 | Utah | 69.26 |
| 61 | Arizona | 69.22 |
| 62 | Miami of Ohio | 68.98 |
| 63 | Toledo | 68.28 |
| 64 | New Mexico | 67.80 |
| 65 | South Carolina | 67.61 |
| 66 | Hawaii | 67.10 |
| 67 | Louisville | 67.10 |
| 68 | East Carolina | 66.32 |
| 69 | Wake Forest | 66.05 |
| 70 | California | 65.79 |
| 71 | Indiana | 65.71 |
| 72 | Mississippi State | 65.50 |
| 73 | Northern Illinois | 64.96 |
| 74 | Central Florida | 64.51 |
| 75 | San Diego State | 64.26 |
| 76 | Cincinnati | 64.24 |
| 77 | South Florida | 63.86 |
| 78 | T.C.U. | 63.79 |
| 79 | Duke | 61.60 |
| 80 | Kansas | 61.45 |
| 81 | Memphis | 60.28 |
| 82 | Nevada | 59.99 |
| 83 | Wyoming | 59.56 |
| 84 | Louisiana Tech | 59.56 |
| 85 | Vanderbilt | 59.31 |
| 86 | Tulane | 59.28 |
| 87 | U.A.B. | 59.00 |
| 88 | San Jose State | 58.82 |
| 89 | Rice | 58.30 |
| 90 | Western Michigan | 57.62 |
| 91 | Baylor | 57.42 |
| 92 | Ball State | 57.19 |
| 93 | Temple | 56.47 |
| 94 | North Texas | 56.43 |
| 95 | New Mexico State | 56.21 |
| 96 | S.M.U. | 55.30 |
| 97 | UNLV | 55.08 |
| 98 | Houston | 54.51 |
| 99 | Middle Tennessee St. | 53.83 |
| 100 | Akron | 53.82 |
| 101 | Troy State | 53.07 |
| 102 | Connecticut | 52.89 |
| 103 | Utah State | 52.28 |
| 104 | Ohio | 51.37 |
| 105 | Idaho | 50.54 |
| 106 | Louisiana-Monroe | 49.62 |
| 107 | Navy | 49.51 |
| 108 | Central Michigan | 49.25 |
| 109 | Kent State | 47.92 |
| 110 | Tulsa | 46.17 |
| 111 | Army | 46.12 |
| 112 | Arkansas State | 45.67 |
| 113 | UTEP | 44.54 |
| 114 | Rutgers | 44.16 |
| 115 | Eastern Michigan | 43.40 |
| 116 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 41.66 |
| 117 | Buffalo | 40.60 |