1896 Week 8 College Football Team Rankings
1896 rankings calculated with the Classic formula (Ken's 2016-based hybrid, applied retroactively); records, NOW and game results come from James Howell's historical college football score archive.
| Rank | Change | Rating | Team | Conf | Record | Win % | Place | NOW | Game Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0.710 |  Illinois (ILLINOIS) |  B10 | 3–0 | 1.000 | 1 | +2 | Beat Missouri 10–0 |
| 2 | 7 | 0.710 |  Michigan (MICHIGAN) | B10 | 4–0 | 1.000 | 1 | +2 | Beat Physicians & Surgeons 28–0; Beat LAKE FOREST 66–0 |
| 3 | 3 | 0.809 |  Harvard (HARVARD) | IND FBSI | 5–0 | 1.000 | 1 | +10 | Beat Brown 12–0 |
| 4 | 1 | 0.841 |  Pennsylvania (PENNSYLVANIA) | IND FBSI | 7–0 | 1.000 | 1 | +7 | Beat Virginia 20–0; Beat LEHIGH 34–0 |
| 5 | -3 | 0.852 |  Wisconsin (WISCONSIN) | B10 | 3–0 | 1.000 | 1 | +2 | Beat Madison High 18–0; Beat RUSH MEDICAL 50–0 |
| 6 | 1 | 0.860 |  Princeton (PRINCETON) | IND FBSI | 4–0–1 | 0.900 | 11 | +4 | Beat Carlisle 22–6; Beat ARMY 11–0 |
| 7 | 8 | 1.017 |  Yale (YALE) | IND FBSI | 6–0 | 1.000 | 1 | +9 | Beat Williams 22–0; Beat DARTMOUTH 42–0 |
| 8 | 4 | 1.121 |  Minnesota (MINNESOTA) | B10 | 5–0 | 1.000 | 1 | +2 | Beat Purdue 14–0 |
| 9 | 9 | 1.262 |  Navy (NAVY) | IND FBSI | 2–1 | 0.667 | 15 | +1 | Beat ST. John's (MARYLAND) 50–0 |
| 10 | 1 | 1.268 | Chicago (CHICAGO) | B10 | 11–0 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | Beat Notre Dame 18–0; Beat OBERLIN 30–0 |
| 11 | -8 | 1.295 |  Lafayette (LAFAYETTE) | IND FBSI | 4–0–1 | 0.900 | 11 | 0 | Beat West Virginia 18–0; Beat WEST VIRGINIA 6–0; Beat WEST VIRGINIA 34–0 |
| 12 | 2 | 1.301 |  Penn State (PENN STATE) | IND FBSI | 3–0 | 1.000 | 1 | +2 | BYE |
| 13 | 0 | 1.331 |  Cornell (CORNELL) | IND FBSI | 4–0 | 1.000 | 1 | +1 | Beat Tufts 18–0 |
| 14 | 2 | 1.526 |  Northwestern (NORTHWESTERN) | B10 | 4–0–1 | 0.900 | 11 | 0 | Beat Physicians & Surgeons 16–6 |
| 15 | 2 | 1.703 |  Bowdoin (BOWDOIN) | IND FBSI | 3–0–1 | 0.875 | 14 | +1 | Beat Colby 12–0 |
| 16 | -8 | 2.346 |  Purdue (PURDUE) | B10 | 2–1 | 0.667 | 15 | 0 | Lost to Minnesota 0–14 |
| 17 | -7 | 2.433 | Carlisle (CARLISLE) | IND FBSI | 2–1 | 0.667 | 15 | +2 | Lost to Princeton 6–22 |
| 18 | 2 | 2.871 |  Williams (WILLIAMS) | IND FBSI | 4–2 | 0.667 | 15 | +2 | Lost to Yale 0–22; Beat SYRACUSE 24–6 |
| 19 | -15 | 3.013 |  Army (ARMY) | IND FBSI | 1–1 | 0.500 | 20 | +1 | Lost to Princeton 0–11 |
| 20 | -1 | 3.227 |  Brown (BROWN) | IND FBSI | 2–2 | 0.500 | 20 | 0 | Lost to Harvard 0–12 |
| 21 | 1 | 3.438 | Dickinson (DICKINSON) | IND FBSI | 2–2 | 0.500 | 20 | -1 | Beat Susquehanna 40–0 |
| 22 | 4 | 3.867 |  Bucknell (BUCKNELL) | IND FBSI | 2–1 | 0.667 | 15 | 0 | Beat Pennsylvania Reserves 10–0 |
| 23 | 2 | 4.204 | Trinity (connecticut) (TRINITY (CONNECTICUT)) | IND FBSI | 2–2 | 0.500 | 20 | 0 | Beat M.i.t. 16–6 |
| 24 | 3 | 4.492 |  Lehigh (LEHIGH) | IND FBSI | 1–2 | 0.333 | 27 | 0 | Beat Rutgers 44–0; Lost to PENNSYLVANIA 0–34 |
| 25 | 3 | 4.802 | Wesleyan (WESLEYAN) | IND FBSI | 2–2 | 0.500 | 20 | -2 | Beat Amherst 6–0 |
| 26 | -5 | 5.239 |  Dartmouth (DARTMOUTH) | IND FBSI | 1–2 | 0.333 | 27 | 0 | Lost to Yale 0–42 |
| 27 | -3 | 6.478 |  Lake Forest (LAKE FOREST) | IND FBSI | 2–3 | 0.400 | 25 | 0 | Lost to Michigan 0–66 |
| 28 | -5 | 6.500 |  Tufts (TUFTS) | IND FBSI | 1–3 | 0.250 | 29 | -1 | Lost to Cornell 0–18 |
| 29 | 0 | 6.977 | Franklin & Marshall (FRANKLIN & MARSHALL) | IND FBSI | 1–2–1 | 0.375 | 26 | -1 | Tied Haverford 4–4 |
| 30 | 0 | 10.542 | Amherst (AMHERST) | IND FBSI | 0–3–1 | 0.125 | 30 | -4 | Lost to Wesleyan 0–6 |