The rankings according to www.gaainfo.com are the following
Rank County Points
1 Cork 1822.45
2 Kerry 1768.88
3 Dublin 1733.71
4 Tyrone 1665.81
5 Down 1632.26
6 Mayo 1611.08
7 Meath 1585.08
8 Armagh 1564.94
9 Kildare 1546.13
10 Monaghan 1531.33
11 Galway 1517.11
12 Derry 1511.39
13 Donegal 1478.22
14 Wexford 1380.53
15 Louth 1374.62
16 Sligo 1367.57
17 Laois 1339.96
18 Limerick 1317.00
19 Antrim 1301.58
20 Tipperary 1266.01
21 Cavan 1259.42
22 Roscommon 1245.09
23 Westmeath 1234.28
24 Fermanagh 1227.81
25 Offaly 1220.40
26 Wicklow 1151.50
27 Longford 1128.21
28 Waterford 1052.46
29 Leitrim 1035.73
30 Clare 996.53
31 Carlow 929.46
32 London 644.23
33 New York 611.87
34 Kilkenny 409.35
How gaainfo rank them
GAAinfo has created the first ever ranking system for inter-county hurling and football teams. It draws on over 4,500 results over the last 17 years - including the complete results of the All-Ireland Football and Hurling Championships from 1991 until the present. The system has been retrospectively calculated from to 1991 to 2007 - allowing us to compare the current champions with the best teams from the past.
The system is based on the Elo ranking system which is used by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) to rank the best chess players. The system has been adapted to rank national teams in soccer and teams in Ice Hockey, American Football and Basketball. The official FIFA rankings for Women's soccer uses the Elo system. More information about the Elo ranking system can be found on Wikipedia.
Frequently Asked Questions:
* Are All-Ireland Championship more important than other matches? Of course. We use a weighting system that gives more importance to All-Ireland matches, then National League matches and then to other competitions like the Walsh Cup and the McKenna Cup.
* Why is team X ranked below team Y despite beating them? The system uses a points rating system to rank teams. It means that regular good results will lead to improved ranking but not freak results. So Donegal Footballers' strong run in the 2007 NFL has more effect than Sligo's two wins to capture the 2007 Connacht SFC.
Rank (Last rank) Team Rating Change since start of NFL
1 (1) Kerry 2518 +5
2 (4) Tyrone 2482 +20
3 (=2) Cork 2469 +2
4 (=2) Dublin 2458 -9
5 (5) Mayo 2409 0
6 (7) Donegal 2387 +9
7 (8) Kildare 2380 +5
8 (9) Galway 2361 0
9 (6) Derry 2358 -27
10 (12) Down 2319 +23
11 (11) Armagh 2310 -2
12 (10) Meath 2281 -21
13 (15) Wexford 2262 +6
14 (14) Monaghan 2261 -17
15 (13) Laois 2260 -20
16 (17) Roscommon 2181 +4
17 (19) Westmeath 2179 +15
18 (18) Sligo 2178 +4
19 (20) Louth 2170 +16
20 (16) Limerick 2162 -24
21 (25) Longford 2159 +62
22 (21) Antrim 2153 +9
23 (27) Fermanagh 2116 +38
24 (23) Cavan 2113 -19
25 (26) Wicklow 2100 +14
26 (22) Tipperary 2099 -34
27 (24) Offaly 2094 -33
28 (29) Leitrim 2046 -14
29 (28) Waterford 2044 -20
30 (30) Clare 2018 +29
31 (31) Carlow 1944 -10
32 (32) London 1818 -16
IF Sean Boylan eventually takes the reins in Meath again, more optimistic Royals might start dreaming that his second coming may recreate the glory of 1996.
That year, Meath were supposed to be starting a long rebuilding process and some more excitable pundits even wrote that they might come a cropper in the first round of that year's Leinster championship, against Carlow.
They not only didn't lose to Carlow, but didn't lose to anyone, winning the All-Ireland only a year after being crushed by Dublin for the first time in living memory.
According to our ratings system, however, Meath are among the teams most unlikely to do a 'Meath 96' this year. If you're looking for a team with an outside shot of winning the All-Ireland on the back of a fresh injection of high-grade talent just 12 months after being destroyed by the Dubs, you should not look beyond Tyrone.
The system tells us that Tyrone are one of the most improved teams in Ireland since the start of the year. We have been compiling results and using the Elo system – a mathematical method initially used to rank chess players but now used by major sports organisations around the world – to rank counties since the end of 2008.
One of the most interesting points since then is that the teams who have been the most improved over a league season have tended to have excellent championships. Down were that team in 2010, Donegal in 2011.
This year's most improved team by some distance are Division Three table toppers Longford, although before you go out and remortgage the house to back them to beat Laois in the Leinster championship, do be aware that there are still 100 rating points between the teams, meaning that the Larries' win expectancy against the O'Moore's is about 36 per cent.
Regardless of what happens in that game, however, Glenn Ryan must surely already be one of the managers of the year, having presided over such an improvement in his side's fortunes, moving them from being the 25th-best team in the country to the 21st.
Another county that must be chuffed with their choice of boss are Fermanagh, the second-biggest improvers, who were in freefall before Peter Canavan took over. Clare were another big winner from the past few months, even if they are coming from a series of seasons so poor that they remain 30th in the rankings.
Back up north, Down are heading in the right direction again despite another sound beating from Cork on Sunday. Things may not be as gloomy as they seem in Donegal, either, as they moved up a place, despite coming nowhere near matching their improvement at this time last year.
When we last wrote about this system, it seemed inevitable, given their results in 2010 and 2011, that Dublin would close the gap to the number one ranked team, Kerry. However, the wheels have fallen off that ratings charge this spring, to the extent that our old friend Mr Elo now ranks the Dubs as only the fourth-best team in the country.
Mayo people may already be having their minds torn apart by the hope inherent in their draw and win against Kerry in recent weeks, but the ratings show they are unlikely to win Sam this September. The table shows them ranked about where they always are, a highly-respectable fifth. A win over any of the counties rated above them would not be a surprise, but to win the big one, they would probably have to beat two of those teams, which is a statistical improbability.
Meath may be the crisis county of the moment, but Derry dropped even more sharply, as the league consistency that kept them highly-ranked in recent times deserted them. Offaly, Monaghan, Laois, Tipperary and Limerick are other counties that appear to be going nowhere fast, apart from downhill.
Cork, Kildare and Galway are about where they were, as are Kerry, who remain the most likely All-Ireland winners. The ratings say they would have a win expectancy of more than 80% against Meath, almost 60% against Dublin, but, and these are odds Mickey Harte would undoubtedly take, only 55% against Tyrone.
http://www.irishpost.co.uk/index.php/component/content/article/27-comment-a-analysis/346-gaelic-football-counties-ranked-1-32 (http://www.irishpost.co.uk/index.php/component/content/article/27-comment-a-analysis/346-gaelic-football-counties-ranked-1-32)
Sounds like Bollix, Tyrone and Kildare were division 2 teams.
Mayo actually did beat Dublin and Kerry. But we have to prove they were no flashes in the pan by beating another county ranked above them. Even if they manage thst they'll have to win Sam. And if they ever manage to win Sam, they will have to do it the following year. And so on, and so on ad infinitum. ::)
League should be used for rankings.
i wonder do points earn decrease in value as the years go by .
An allireland final win in 2007/8(not getting at any one) may have little current relavance if most or all the players have since retired . may be if old sucess lost 20% of their value every year you migh get a more realistic picture , for Example
despite looking good again this year tyrone hardly deseve 2nd place on the last cople of years form which included relagation and have fewer and fewer players surviving with all ireland final medals