Dynasty Logic Seems to Have Too Much P4/Traditional-Power Bias

I’m seeing some Dynasty results that make me wonder if conference affiliation and traditional program prestige are weighted too heavily in several of the underlying systems.

I’m using Boise State and am currently 4–1, with my only loss being by 7 points on the road against #2 Oregon. Despite that, the game currently has Boise State at approximately #41 in the Media Poll calculation, and G5 representation in both polls has been extremely limited.

I’m not arguing Boise State automatically deserves to be ranked at 4–1. My issue is that the game apparently considers roughly 40 teams to have a better résumé, despite the only loss being a competitive road game against the #2 team in the country.

For a real-world comparison, Boise State recently had essentially this exact scenario: a 7-point road loss to #2 Oregon after being a 24+ point underdog. Instead of being buried for the loss, Boise State actually moved up in the rankings, getting 86 AP votes afterward, effectively placing them #26. Voters recognized opponent quality, location and margin of defeat.

It makes me wonder whether Dynasty’s poll logic is putting too much emphasis on conference, roster rating, preseason expectations or program prestige, and not enough on current record, opponent strength, margin and home/road context.

This also affects Championship Contender

This isn’t just cosmetic.

My Championship Contender screen shows:

Current Media Poll Rank: #41 — Very High Impact
Blue Chip Ratio: 2% — Very High Impact
Championship Contender Grade: C

So if the poll algorithm undervalues a program, that ranking then feeds into recruiting grades and potentially other Dynasty systems. A questionable ranking calculation can effectively penalize the program a second time.

Stadium Atmosphere / Attendance

There’s another odd contradiction here.

Boise State is:

#32 Stadium Atmosphere
83% home winning percentage
5-game home winning streak
75% home attendance / 27,445 average attendance

How does a stadium generate one of the top 35 home-field advantages in the country while supposedly being 25% empty?

Boise State’s recent real-world attendance also makes that number difficult to understand. Attendance seems like something that should be dynamic based on team success, opponent, rankings, winning streaks, etc., rather than feeling like a mostly static program value.

Program Tradition may have a similar weighting problem

Boise State is also only #44 in Program Tradition (B+).

The historical numbers shown by the game appear generally accurate. My question is more about what the formula chooses to value.

National Championships, Playoff Games and Heisman Winners all have Very High impact. Conference Championships and Bowl Games have High impact.

But apparently missing are things like:

• All-time winning percentage
• Historical Top 25/Top 10 finishes and weeks ranked
• Major/NY6 bowl wins vs. ordinary bowl wins
• Heisman finalists

That matters for programs whose success doesn’t fit neatly into the traditional-power categories. Boise State has 17 conference championships, three Fiesta Bowl wins, a CFP appearance, numerous ranked finishes, one of college football’s highest historical winning percentages, and multiple Heisman finalists, including Ashton Jeanty’s runner-up finish in 2024.

Yet three Fiesta Bowl wins appear to simply count as bowl wins, and a Heisman runner-up apparently receives the same Heisman value as a school that has never had a finalist: 0.

I’m not saying Boise State specifically needs to be ranked X spots higher in any of these categories. I’m wondering whether the underlying formulas collectively put too much weight on traditional markers of P4 success and not enough on actual résumé and sustained program performance.

When poll rankings then feed Championship Contender, and these grades affect other Dynasty systems, those biases can compound.

I’d love to see EA take another look at the weighting behind Poll Rankings, Championship Contender, Stadium Atmosphere/Attendance and Program Tradition—particularly how these systems behave for successful G5 programs.