Prepare yourself for buzzword central over the next few weeks as college football enters its home stretch. Metrics, data points, game control, record strength, the all-new conference flex addition -- yeah, they're coming. With the College Football Playoff Selection Committee's first top 25 rankings debuting Nov. 3, we thought it would be a great time to look at how we used to determine the teams who would play for a title during the Bowl Championship Series postseason.
In the BCS era (1998-2013), three equally weighted components were used to determine each team's BCS "score" and produce a ranking: the Harris Interactive Poll, the Coaches Poll and the computers. The "computers" were a combination of separate rankings (Billingsley, Colley, Massey, Sagarin, Wolfe) into a single value system. The AP poll replaced the Harris Interactive Poll as part of the formula in 2004.
Prior to the three-tiered component system in 2004, schedule strength, quality wins and other factors were included, making the process considerably more subjective than the more widely accepted scoring system. The four-team playoff began in 2014, giving way to the current 12-team bracket in 2024. Courtesy of BCSKnowHow on X, here's how the current top 25 would look this season in simulated BCS standings.
The human component of the BCS formula appreciates what the Hurricanes are doing this season after their destruction of Pittsburgh. Quarterback Darian Mensah is off to a record-setting pace in terms of efficiency, and Malachi Toney has continued to detonate opposing defenses as a sophomore with jaw-dropping numbers. That said, schedule matters and Wake Forest -- No. 21 this week in the Sagarin top 25 -- is Miami's best win.
That same poll has Ohio State and Notre Dame ahead of Miami. We think the Hurricanes will be No. 1 in the first CFP rankings going into South Bend next month. No. 1 this week in the Massey Ratings and Sagarin, the Buckeyes might be a different team moving forward without Julian Sayin at quarterback.
We'll wait and see before further assessing that, but what the computers will not do is downgrade a team due to injury before playing another game. That's for human opinion. Freshman Luke Fahey faces immense pressure to keep this going at Ohio State with the schedule intensifying at USC and a date with nationally-ranked Northwestern over the next three weeks.
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