Collegiate Sports

[BullNBear52]

Compilation of Standings
The BCS Standings are compiled by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.

This year, the BCS Standings will once again include three components: USA Today Coaches Poll, Harris Interactive College Football Poll and an average of six computer rankings. Each component will count one-third of a team's overall BCS score in the BCS Standings.

The statistical rating system used to determine the teams that will participate in the championship game of the Bowl Championship Series consists of three components and each will count as 1/3rd of the final BCS formula - subjective polls of Harris Interactive (replaces AP) and coaches (USA Today) and six computer rankings.

The first BCS Rankings for 2008 will be released October 19, then weekly through December 7.

A breakdown of the components:

I. Harris Interactive Poll (1/3rd)
Replaces the AP Poll. The first poll will be released September 23, then weekly through December 3. A team's score in the Harris poll will be divided by 2,850, which is the maximum number of points any team can receive if all 114 voting members rank the same team as Number 1. (Example: 2,850 / 2,850 = 1.0. If a team receives a total of 114 voting points, an average of 25th place, their BCS quotient of this component would be .04. (1.0 / 25

II. Coaches Poll (1/3rd)
A team's score in the USA Today poll will be divided by 1,500, which is the maximum number of points any team can receive if all 60 voting members rank the same team as Number 1. (Example: 1,500 / 1,500 = 1.0. If a team receives a total of 60 voting points, an average of 25th place, their BCS quotient of this component would be .04. (1.0 / 25 = 0.04.)

(Better understanding the polls: In both human polls, voting members fill out their own top 25 rankings ballot. Each team receives 1-25 points in reverse order of the way they are ranked. The 25th place team on each ballot receives 1 point, 24th place gets 2 points, 23rd receives 3 points... first place receives 25 points.

In the Harris Interactive College Football Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll, a team will be evaluated on the number of voting points it receives in each poll. The number of actual voters, which can vary and has varied in the past, is figured into the computation on a weekly basis in stating each team's percentage of a possible perfect score.

III. Computer rankings (1/3rd)
Six computer ranking systems will participate. The highest and lowest rating of each team will be thrown out and the remaining four will be averaged. The current participating computer rankings are:

Peter Wolfe
Wes Colley
Sagarin
Seattle Times
Richard Billingsley
Kenneth Massey

Simplifying the formula
A = Harris Poll
B = Coaches Poll
C = Throw out the high and low of the six computer rankings for each team. Add the remaining four. Divide that total by four.
Result: A+B+C = Total Score

http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/bcs_explained.html