Wareforce Power Index: Season 22, Week 2

By: David Ware (@davidware)

Week 2 did not leave anything short of chaos for the league and the rankings! The CFSL official ranking will be released Tuesday during the Inside Blitz Podcast and to say that I am glad I do not have to help decide those rankings is an understatement. Luckily the Wareforce Power Index is stat-based and all I have to do is enter the data.

Just in case we have some new members, the Wareforce Power Index is an unofficial ranking system built much like the old-school BCS ranking that the NCAA used for a long time. It is an accumulation of the winning percentage, the strength of schedule, the opponents’ strength of schedule, their net point differential, and as a bonus, the opponents’ net point differential.

The first Wareforce Power Index will drop after Week 3 is complete and I do that because it is important to have enough data to make it make sense. This week we will take a look at a couple of games that are sure to impact the rankings when they are released after next week. Before we dive into what games can impact the ranking, let’s review the official CFSL Rankings for January 13, 2025.

This week we saw six of the top 15 teams lose but it is important to say they were all top 15 matchups. In the top five alone we saw three teams lose including USC, Florida State, and Texas A&M. There are also two teams in the top 15 from last week that is now (0-2) and that would be Texas A&M and Penn State. Five teams are (1-1) and only five teams remain undefeated after just two weeks in the CFSL, if that is not parity please tell me what is. While you try and decide how to explain to me a better version of parity, we will review a game that will surely gonna shake up the initial Wareforce Power Index Rankings.

The Games That Will Change the Index

The number two Florida State Seminoles traveled to Columbus Ohio to face the number eight Ohio State Buckeyes, who were not ranked week one. Through the first three quarters, it was the Seminoles who held a slim lead and with the first play of the fourth quarter, halfback Emily Davis took a 31-yard halfback screen to the endzone to tie the game at 24. With 4:52 left in the fourth quarter the Seminoles’ were stopped at the Ohio State three-yard line and had to settle for a field goal and a small three-point lead. On the next drive, Ohio State could not move the ball and they were forced to punt the ball back to Florida State with three minutes left in the game. The Seminoles marched downfield and got into the PX1 Sports Redzone but again had to settle for a field goal as the red zone defense for Ohio State made the stand of the season.

The Buckeyes started the drive at their 25-yard line with exactly 30 seconds left in the game and no timeouts left. The drive started with a three-yard check-down pass to Emily Davis, which created a lot of questions about how successful the drive would be. They do clock the ball with 19 seconds left in the game before finding Smokey Woods downfield for a 45-yard gain and they quickly clock the ball to stop the clock with 12-seconds. From the 27-yard line, Korbin Hardin gets a 15-yard pass from Jaylen Tyree on the left side of the field and gets out of bounds with a mere 7 seconds to go. The next play will go down in history for Ohio State as one of the greatest plays as transfer wide receiver Boone Hyatt runs an in-route and Tyree finds him at the three-yard line and Boone simply turns upfield for the go-ahead touchdown with three seconds left on the clock. The Seminoles were unable to return the kickoff for a touchdown and Ohio State defended its home turf and upset the number two Florida State Seminoles 31-30 in an instant classic.

Keep in mind that during week one, Florida State upset the number two team Auburn Tigers, and then they got upset by the number eight Ohio State Buckeyes. Auburn then turns around and upsets the defending back-to-back national champions USC Trojans in week two. Eight teams can justifiably be in the top five, so make sure you tune into the Inside Blitz Podcast on Tuesday to find out who made the cut and who got left out of the top five. Remember, after week three, we will release the initial Wareforce Power Index Rankings of Season 22. How much more chaos will the CFSL have before then, well tune in to the games this week starting on Tuesday and find out for yourself.

Until Next Time, Keep Your Game Face On and Your Spirits High