What the BCS Top 25 standings would look like ahead of Week 10 of college football

As nearly every team has made it at least two thirds of the way through its schedule, all college football rankings are becoming more accurate. The College Football Playoff committee will release its first rankings on Tuesday night, but for now, here is a simulation with the old system:

BCS rankings ahead of Week 10

1. Georgia Bulldogs (8-0)
2. Cincinnati Wildcats (8-0)
3. Oklahoma Sooners (9-0)
4. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-1)
5. Michigan State Spartans (8-0)
6. Ohio State Buckeyes (7-1)
7. Michigan Wolverines (7-1)
8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-1)
9. Oregon Ducks (7-1)
10. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-0)
11. Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-1)
12. Baylor Bears (7-1)
13. Auburn Tigers (6-2)
14. Texas A&M Aggies (6-2)
15. Ole Miss Rebels (6-2)
16. Iowa Hawkeyes (6-2)
17. UTSA Roadrunners (8-0)
18. Kentucky Wildcats (6-2)
19. BYU Cougars (7-2)
20. Houston Cougars (7-1)
21. Wisconsin Badgers (5-3)
22. Penn State Nittany Lions (5-3)
23. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (7-1)
24. SMU Mustangs (7-1)
25. NC State Wolfpack (6-2)

The top-four teams in this week’s BCS simulation remain the same as last week, although Oklahoma and Alabama switched spots. The Crimson Tide had an off week, while the Sooners crushed Texas Tech just a few days after they fired former head coach Matt Wells. 

Like last week, if the BCS standings still determined who had a chance to play for the national title, Georgia would play Cincinnati. The Bearcats struggled for the second-straight week, beating Tulane 31-12 after the game was close for three quarters.

The SEC and the Big Ten lead the way in the rankings with six teams each, while the Big 12 has three, the ACC has two, and the Pac-12 has one. Every Power Five conference has at least one team in the top 10. There are also two independents and five Group of Five teams in the rankings. 

Despite being the third team left out of the AP Poll this week, Wisconsin is No. 21 here. They are one spot ahead of Penn State, whom they lost to Labor Day Weekend. NC State is the only other team in the BCS rankings that is not ranked in the AP Poll. 

Even after suffering its second-consecutive embarrassing loss, the computers still like Iowa. The Hawkeyes fell to No. 19 in the AP Poll after getting trampled by Wisconsin, but they are No. 16 in the BCS rankings, which is the largest deviation from the official poll. Eleven teams are in the same spot in these rankings as they are in the AP Poll.

From BCS to CFP

Prior to the current CFP system, college football was governed by the BCS, whose final rankings were computer generated, and two teams faced off in the national championship to conclude the season. The system also created matchups for four additional prestigious bowl games: the Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. 

The BCS formula used a number of factors to produce its list. There were three components to the rankings, with a mix of human and computer generated thoughts: the Harris Poll, the Coaches Poll and the computer rankings. All three parts were weighted equally. 

The Harris and Coaches Polls had values assigned to each spot in reverse order. For example, in the Harris Poll of 25 teams, the top team receives 25 points, the second team receives 24 points, etc. The Coaches Poll had a similar scoring system, although there were fewer voters involved.

The third part, the computer rankings, included six additional polls: Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin’s USA Today and Peter Wolfe. In the end, the final values assigned to each team in the three categories are averaged, and the BCS rankings were produced.

Beginning in 2014, the CFP replaced the BCS. Two semifinal games are played around New Year’s Day, and the games take place on a rotating basis at six of the country’s top bowls – the Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. The two winners advance to the College Football Playoff National Championship. That game is played on a Monday night in the second week of January.

The CFP selection process is more subjective than the BCS, as the teams are decided upon by 13 people and there is no longer a strict computer component. The selection committee is composed of athletic directors, former coaches and student-athletes, and others in the college administration world. The current chair of the committee is Gary Barta, the athletic director at Iowa.

“The selection committee ranks the teams based on the members’ evaluation of the teams’ performance on the field, using conference championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head results, and comparison of results against common opponents to decide among teams that are comparable,” the website says.

Additionally, there is a board of governors made up of presidents and chancellors from the 10 FBS conferences plus Notre Dame which governs the administrative actions of the CFP.

Alabama is the reigning national champion and holds the most CFP wins at eight. In total, the SEC and the ACC each have eight playoff appearances, driven largely by Alabama and Clemson’s near-constant presence at the top in recent years. Technically, all FBS teams have equal access to the playoff; there are no automatic qualifiers. 

College football remains the only college sport in the country without an officially NCAA-sanctioned championship. At its core, the CFP is really a television contract currently owned by ESPN.