Note: These rankings are not neccesarily identical to those I actually posted before the 2004 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 | Oklahoma | 97.27 |
| 2 | Georgia | 95.13 |
| 3 | Southern Cal | 94.85 |
| 4 | Florida State | 94.43 |
| 5 | Miami | 92.54 |
| 6 | L.S.U. | 90.45 |
| 7 | Texas | 90.27 |
| 8 | Ohio State | 89.44 |
| 9 | Michigan | 89.14 |
| 10 | Auburn | 87.62 |
| 11 | Kansas State | 87.12 |
| 12 | Florida | 86.75 |
| 13 | Nebraska | 86.68 |
| 14 | Notre Dame | 85.70 |
| 15 | Clemson | 84.32 |
| 16 | Alabama | 84.30 |
| 17 | Colorado | 83.33 |
| 18 | North Carolina State | 83.31 |
| 19 | Purdue | 83.07 |
| 20 | Iowa | 82.79 |
| 21 | Texas Tech | 82.61 |
| 22 | Virginia | 82.58 |
| 23 | West Virginia | 82.28 |
| 24 | Oregon | 82.06 |
| 25 | Tennessee | 81.64 |
| 26 | Wisconsin | 81.24 |
| 27 | Miami of Ohio | 81.14 |
| 28 | Virginia Tech | 80.91 |
| 29 | Georgia Tech | 80.88 |
| 30 | California | 80.36 |
| 31 | UCLA | 80.36 |
| 32 | Oregon State | 78.98 |
| 33 | Utah | 78.83 |
| 34 | Maryland | 78.35 |
| 35 | Boston College | 78.30 |
| 36 | Penn State | 78.15 |
| 37 | South Carolina | 77.95 |
| 38 | Oklahoma State | 77.61 |
| 39 | Texas A&M | 77.49 |
| 40 | Minnesota | 77.11 |
| 41 | Arizona State | 76.73 |
| 42 | Ole Miss | 76.59 |
| 43 | Washington | 76.49 |
| 44 | Marshall | 76.02 |
| 45 | Louisville | 75.83 |
| 46 | Washington State | 75.49 |
| 47 | Southern Miss | 75.43 |
| 48 | Bowling Green | 75.42 |
| 49 | Wake Forest | 75.38 |
| 50 | Northwestern | 75.16 |
| 51 | Michigan State | 75.13 |
| 52 | T.C.U. | 74.91 |
| 53 | Boise State | 74.82 |
| 54 | Missouri | 74.51 |
| 55 | Fresno State | 74.08 |
| 56 | Toledo | 73.44 |
| 57 | Colorado State | 73.23 |
| 58 | Arkansas | 73.12 |
| 59 | Pittsburgh | 72.24 |
| 60 | North Carolina | 72.19 |
| 61 | Northern Illinois | 71.92 |
| 62 | Arizona | 71.87 |
| 63 | Cincinnati | 70.87 |
| 64 | Stanford | 70.27 |
| 65 | Kentucky | 70.11 |
| 66 | San Diego State | 69.87 |
| 67 | Hawaii | 68.74 |
| 68 | Illinois | 67.96 |
| 69 | Syracuse | 67.48 |
| 70 | South Florida | 67.10 |
| 71 | Iowa State | 67.06 |
| 72 | Vanderbilt | 66.76 |
| 73 | Memphis | 66.73 |
| 74 | North Texas | 65.63 |
| 75 | UNLV | 65.39 |
| 76 | Indiana | 65.22 |
| 77 | New Mexico | 65.17 |
| 78 | Duke | 65.12 |
| 79 | Nevada | 64.56 |
| 80 | Mississippi State | 64.48 |
| 81 | Tulane | 64.47 |
| 82 | Connecticut | 64.26 |
| 83 | B.Y.U. | 64.25 |
| 84 | Kansas | 63.85 |
| 85 | Houston | 63.11 |
| 86 | Louisiana Tech | 62.12 |
| 87 | Rice | 61.32 |
| 88 | Wyoming | 61.23 |
| 89 | U.A.B. | 61.14 |
| 90 | Tulsa | 60.80 |
| 91 | Rutgers | 60.51 |
| 92 | Central Florida | 59.51 |
| 93 | Navy | 58.78 |
| 94 | Troy State | 58.39 |
| 95 | Air Force | 57.40 |
| 96 | Baylor | 57.21 |
| 97 | Western Michigan | 57.21 |
| 98 | Ball State | 56.41 |
| 99 | Akron | 56.11 |
| 100 | Temple | 56.11 |
| 101 | New Mexico State | 54.63 |
| 102 | East Carolina | 53.67 |
| 103 | Kent State | 53.13 |
| 104 | Utah State | 52.25 |
| 105 | Central Michigan | 51.49 |
| 106 | Ohio | 51.24 |
| 107 | S.M.U. | 51.24 |
| 108 | Army | 50.19 |
| 109 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 50.05 |
| 110 | Middle Tennessee St. | 49.52 |
| 111 | San Jose State | 49.40 |
| 112 | Eastern Michigan | 49.01 |
| 113 | Louisiana-Monroe | 47.28 |
| 114 | Arkansas State | 46.31 |
| 115 | UTEP | 46.21 |
| 116 | Florida Atlantic | 44.63 |
| 117 | Idaho | 41.94 |
| 118 | Buffalo | 40.67 |