Anyone who follows college football has come to understand that gruesome, annual torture is the defining element of being a fan.  Emotional distress is a byproduct of this sport. There’s the player turnover, the ridiculous officiating, the huge stakes for what seems like every single game and, above all else, the fact that teenagers are involved. So you’re never quite sure if your team is on the verge of historical greatness or if it’s about to fall face-first into a canyon.  But this season has been especially chaotic, and many of college football’s top teams have been enormously volatile. Some schools that no one saw coming still have a legitimate shot at the College Football Playoff. Then there are the teams that have crashed from contention and wrenched the emotions of their beleaguered fans.  So now, ahead of Saturday’s conference championships and with the regular season essentially over, it’s a good time for every fan to take stock and answer a simple question: Was it worth it?  To calculate the “angst” of all relevant teams, we graded them on their volatility—or how much they moved in the polls from week to week.  Let’s use Ohio State as an example. The defending national champions probably won’t make the playoff this year, but their season was quite stable: The Buckeyes never slipped lower than the top ranks until their loss to Michigan State two weeks ago. Southern California fans, by contrast, spent the entire season trying to figure out if their team was good enough to get excited about or bad enough to ignore. A chart of their week-by-week spot in the top-25 looks like something you need to be t his tall to ride.  A bumpy ride, though, isn’t so bad if you end up where you wanted to be all along. That’s why we also measured another variable: satisfaction. Stanford was a pogo stick of a football team this season, but the Cardinal can still sneak into the playoff if things go their way this weekend.  Above is a breakdown of 2015’s ranked teams and the stress they caused—with explanations for the standouts.  Clemson ( Highest rank: #1 ; lowest rank: #12)  Somehow a team that has become a synonym for crushing disappointment gave its fans something they’ve been unaccustomed to: tranquility. Clemson sailed through the season unbeaten thanks to the stellar play of quarterback DeShaun Watson. The Tigers enter the final weekend of the season ranked No. 1 and as an overwhelming favorite to take the ACC title. What could possibly go wrong?  Alabama ( Highest rank: #1 ; lowest rank: #8)  Alabama tiptoed into this season with an unproven quarterback and still had an uphill road after an early loss—which is exactly what happened before the Crimson Tide was the playoff’s No. 1 seed last year. Alabama’s season appears worth it now, but maybe not if Nick Saban’s team gets upset in the semifinal again.  Oklahoma ( Highest rank: #3 ; lowest rank: #19)  Oklahoma fans had become restless in recent years with underachieving teams that had been overtaken by the Big 12 teams that they believe to be inferior. This season is the first time since realignment that Oklahoma’s fans can have their cake and eat it, too. The cherry on top: The Sooners almost certainly clinched their playoff spot with a win against in-state rival Oklahoma State.  Iowa ( Highest rank: #4 ; weeks unranked: 5)  Much like its ball-control offense, Iowa relied on a series of steady gains that didn’t have anyone jumping out of their seat, but ultimately got the Hawkeyes where they wanted to go: the Big Ten title game.  North Carolina ( Highest rank: #8 ; weeks unranked: 9)  It seemed like a disaster when North Carolina dominated South Carolina in its season-opener and still found a way to lose. But that hasn’t happened since. The Tar Heels have won 11 in a row and enter the ACC championship Saturday as a longshot playoff candidate and a legitimate threat to spoil Clemson’s season. That’s more than enough for a school and athletic department that hasn’t yet escaped the dark cloud of its academic scandal.  Stanford ( Highest rank: #7 ; weeks unranked: 2)  It didn’t take long for Stanford fans to start feeling queasy about this season. The Cardinal dropped their opening game at Northwestern before most of them had finished brunch. Stanford rebounded to win 10 of its next 11 games, but its season could be bookended by anguish if it wins the Pac-12 on Saturday but misses out on a playoff spot.  Southern California ( Highest rank: #6 ; weeks unranked: 6)  USC lost this season to three teams that the Trojans have come to hate: Stanford, Notre Dame and Oregon. USC coach Steve Sarkisian also was fired in the middle of the season. But they still crushed UCLA and play for the Pac-12 championship Saturday. USC’s season was incredibly strange and it may get even weirder.  Houston ( Highest rank: #13 ; weeks unranked: 6)  The only discomforting part of Houston’s season was the team’s rocket-like trajectory under first-year coach Tom Herman. The Cougars opened the season with 10 straight wins and enter this weekend’s American Conference title game as the highest-ranked school outside the Power 5 conferences.  Michigan ( Highest rank: #12 ; weeks unranked: 4)  The most angsty and volatile moment this season was the botched Michigan punt that blew the Wolverines’ win over Michigan State and... well, we’d say more, but Michigan fans appear to be hyperventilating already. But the truth is Jim Harbaugh’s first season was relatively stable compared to previous years: The Wolverines lost to better teams and beat everyone else. That’s progress.  Northwestern (Highest rank: #13; weeks unranked: 5)  Behold perhaps the topsy-turviest team this season: Northwestern? In recent seasons, the Wildcats had become better known for their push to unionize than anything they did on the football field. They started this season by upsetting Stanford, then climbed to No. 13 in the rankings, then dropped out of the top 25, then returned to right where they were.  Ohio State (Highest rank: #1; lowest rank: 8)  Ohio State’s season was going to be a roller-coaster as soon as they won the national title. Despite all the loops—from the heated quarterback race to the star running back questioning the coach’s play-calling—it turns out the Buckeyes were the least volatile team in the country. But the stability didn’t bring them any satisfaction: One late-season loss will probably keep Ohio State out of the playoff.  Baylor (Highest rank: #2; lowest rank: 10)  For most of the season, the closest Baylor fans came to a feeling of uneasiness was the fear they might blink and miss a touchdown. The Bears won their first eight games this season by an average margin of 32 points and appeared playoff-bound. But calamity struck late: Baylor lost its top two quarterbacks to injury and dropped two games, including a grudge match to TCU.  Auburn (Highest rank: #6; weeks unranked: 11)  Auburn picked a terrible season to unveil a colossal new scoreboard. The Tigers had lofty expectations as a preseason top-10 team. Then the season actually started. Auburn finished dead last in its division—and its only SEC wins came on the road. That scoreboard was a massive reminder of what went wrong.  VOLATILE—AND NOT WORTH THE TROUBLE  Louisiana State (Highest rank: #4; weeks unranked: 1)  Home to one of college football’s most riotous tailgates, LSU fans are accustomed to feelings of unbridled joy being quickly replaced by a throbbing headache. But the hangover came early to Baton Rouge this season. Seemingly headed to the playoff midway through the season and with a presumptive Heisman winner in Leonard Fournette, the Tigers fell apart down the stretch.  Georgia (Highest rank: #7; weeks unranked: 8)  Most teams would take a three-loss season and go home happy. Georgia had a three-loss season, and Mark Richt is now the coach at Miami. That’s because those three losses came in Georgia’s three most important games of a season that saw the Bulldogs ranked as high as No. 7 and as low as where they are now: unranked.
A survey of the college-football teams in 2015 that had stress-free success—and the ones that caused permanent emotional damage