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Bowl Championship Series formula

A statistical rating system will determine which teams participate in the championship game of the Bowl Championship Series (formerly the Bowl Alliance). The ranking system consists of four major components: subjective polls of the writers and coaches, computer rankings, strength of schedule, and team record. The two teams with the lowest point total in the four categories will play in the national championship game.

1) Polls
The poll component is calculated based on the average of the ranking of each team in the Associated Press media poll (70 voters) and the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll (62 voters). The rankings of each team are added and divided by two. For example, a team ranked in No. 1 in one poll and No. 2 in the other poll would receive 1.5 points (1+2=3; 3/2=1.5).

2) Computer rankings
The second component consists of three computer rankings that are published in major media outlets. These computer rankings will include Jeff Sagarin, published in USA Today; the Seattle Times; and the New York Times. An average of these three rankings will be utilized to calculate the points in this component.

In order to prevent unusual differences which might occur as the result of individual computer formulas, a maximum adjusted deviation of no greater than 50 percent of the average of the two lowest computer rankings will be utilized in this calculation. For example, if a team is ranked No. 3 and No. 5 in two of the computer systems and No. 12 in the third computer system, the highest ranking of 12 would be adjusted to No. 6 before calculating the average points for the computer component (3+5=8; 8/2=4; 4X50%=2; 2+4=6). The average of these three rankings will be calculated for the points of this component (3+5+6=14; 14/3=4.67).

3) Strength of schedule
The third component is the team's strength of schedule. This component is calculated by determining the cumulative won/lost records of the team's opponents and the cumulative won/lost records of the team's opponents' opponents. The formula is weighted two-thirds for the opponent's record and one-third for the opponents' opponents record. The team's schedule strength is calculated to determine in which quartile it will rank: 1-25, 26-50, 51-75, 76-100 and is further quantified by its ranking within each quartile (divided by 25). For example, if a team's schedule strength rating is No. 28 in the nation, that team would receive 1.12 points (28/25=1.12).

4) Team record
The final component evaluates the team's won/lost record. Each loss during the season represents one point in this component.

The four components are added together for the total rating. The team with the lowest point total ranks first in the Bowl Championship Series standings. The BCS standings will not be published until the second week of November each season. This system will be utilized only to select the teams that will participate in the championship game of the Bowl Championship Series and to determine any independent team or team from a conference without an automatic selection that qualifies for a guaranteed selection in one of the games of the Bowl Championship Series as a result of being ranked in the top six in the BCS standings.

Automatic bids go to the champions of the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC. There are also two at-large bids. If neither the Big Ten nor Pac-10 champion finishes No. 1 or No. 2 in the BCS' point-system, they will automatically play in the Rose Bowl (except in the year the Rose is designated as the title game). The regional host concept is back for the Sugar, Orange and Fiesta bowls. If the SEC champ does not qualify for the title game, it automatically goes to the Sugar Bowl; the ACC or Big East champ would go to the Orange Bowl; and the Big 12 champ to the Fiesta Bowl (except when those bowls play host to the title game). Every other Division I-A team, from Notre Dame to the WAC champion to major conference runners-up, can qualify for the at-large berths.

Following is how the 1997 final pre-bowl rankings would have been calculated to determine who would play in the title game:

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                        Computer   Schedule    Team        
Team            Polls   Rankings   Strength   Record   Total
1. Michigan      1.0      2.33       0.84        0      4.17
2. Nebraska      2.0      1.75       1.56        0      5.31
3. Tennessee     3.0      2.92       0.08        1      7.00
4. Fla. State    4.0      2.92       0.68        1      9.01
5. Florida       7.0      4.08       0.12        2     13.20