Every year, we here at BCS Know How publish postseason BCS rankings, what the BCS would look like if it were to come out after the conclusion of all of the bowl games.

All we try to do is to look at what the BCS would think of the teams after all is said and done.

Thankfully, most of the components of the BCS feel the same way – that postseason rankings are appropriate, we just compile those statistics into a new BCS ranking.

After Anderson and Hester finally released their postseason rankings yesterday, we can finally reveal the top 12 in the BCS Know How Postseason BCS Rankings.

For the formula, we replace the Harris Interactive Poll with the Associated Press as the Harris does not reveal postseason rankings.

Not surprisingly, the BCS National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide claimed a unanimous No. 1 vote throughout the BCS components.

Florida comes in close behind, reaffirming the belief that the SEC held the two best teams in the nation this year.

BCS darling Boise State and BCS runners-up Texas are a close No. 3 and 4, while No. 5 Rose Bowl champion Ohio State is well off the pace.

TCU, Iowa and Cincinnati round out the top eight, all bunched closely together. The Bearcats and Horned Frogs had been third and fourth in the final BCS rankings, but losses in BCS bowls hurt their cases at better final rankings positioning.

If you want to take a closer look at all of the final rankings, you can take a look at BCS Know How’s Postseason Rankings worksheet right HERE.

BCS Rankings

An entire season passed us by we waited for an upset, some kind of drama.

Finally we got a dramatic weekend, and an upset of the No. 1 team in the nation in the final weekend of the season, and the BCS bowls were finally announced after weeks of prognostication.

After upsetting the Florida Gators in the SEC Championship Game, the Alabama Crimson Tide secured a berth in the BCS National Title game, where they will meet the Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns needed a last-second field goal to clinch the Big 12 title and spot in the National Title game.

The two teams finish a convincing 1-2 in the final BCS rankings, with Cincinnati finishing third, but outside of striking distance.

The rest of the BCS bowl bids were filled rather predictably, in fact the ten teams that received BCS bowl bids were the teams that finished 1-10 in the final BCS rankings.

Falling to No. 5 after their loss in the SEC Championship Game, the Florida Gators were rewarded for an undefeated regular season with a Sugar Bowl bid where they will meet those Bearcats.

No. 4 TCU and No. 6 Boise State will meet in the Fiesta Bowl, a first for the non-BCS conferences – not only to play each other in a BCS bowl game – but also the first time ever that more than one non-BCS school was invited to the BCS party.

No. 7 Oregon and No. 8 Ohio State have known their fates for quite some time, and when the BCS rankings were released, it mattered little where they finished – the Rose Bowl will likely provide one of the best matchups of the bowl season.

No. 9 Georgia Tech will find themselves rewarded for their ACC Championship with a matchup with Big 10 resurgent Iowa, who finish tenth in the final BCS standings.

So the regular season is done, and now we enter what ESPN calls the most wonderful time of the year. Stay tuned to BCS Know How as we will provide previews and analysis in the coming days for all the bowl games.

Final BCS Rankings – December 6th

We’ve been waiting the entire length of the college football season for a huge upset, but haven’t gotten one.

For all the boredom that that brings to the college football scene, the week seven BCS standings finally point to a final weekend of the season that could be supremely exciting.

Florida, Alabama and Texas occupy the top three spots as they have all season, and are set to play in season deciding games.

Florida and Alabama have known for quite some time that winning out during the regular season would allow for a national semifinal in the SEC Championship Game, and that’s exactly what we’re going to get, as a loss by either team would knock it out of the national title spots. A victory would send either team to the BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, Calif.

Texas only needs to beat No. 22 Nebraska in order to punch their ticket to Pasadena for the title game, but after the Longhorns had some trouble with Texas A&M anything is still possible.

After that, things get a little more interesting.

Say, for instance, that Texas is shocked in the Big 12 Championship Game. Who would fill their spot?

No. 4 TCU and No. 5 Cincinnati have sat in the two spots directly behind the Longhorns for a few weeks now, but the Bearcats have slowly but surely crept closer and closer to the Horned Frogs during these weeks.

TCU has basically locked up a BCS bowl spot, but could they take the spot of the Longhorns should they falter? Or, should they beat Pitt on Saturday, will the BCS be untrusting of a non-BCS team in the national title game and jump the Bearcats over TCU and leave the state of Texas completely out of the national title game?

At No. 6 Boise State must feel left out in all of this, even as an undefeated team. There is no chance for them to make the national title game, and it still seems like a 50-50 proposition for a BCS bowl bid.

No year has come where two non-BCS schools have participated in the BCS, but this could be that year.

After Oklahoma State lost on Saturday, which certainly helped the Broncos cause, but there remains the strong possibility of another BCS conference team being taken ahead of the Broncos with an at-large selection

No. 7 Oregon will face No. 16 Oregon State for the Pac-10’s Rose Bowl bid and conference championship, playing for the rights to face No. 8 Ohio State.

No. 9 Iowa and No. 11 Penn State will likely also be battling it out in the press for a BCS at-large selection, as both are attractive candidates for the bowls with large national followings.

No. 10 Georgia Tech lost on Saturday to instate rival Georiga, but still can make a BCS bowl if they can beat Clemson in the ACC Championship Game next Saturday.

Until that time it’s sure to be a hectic projection-filled week as we approach the final weekend of the college football season.

You’ll want to stay tuned.

BCS Rankings – November 29th

With the well documented chalk-fest that this college football season has been, its no surprise that the sixth edition of the BCS rankings look a whole lot like the first five.

The only real changes came towards the middle of the BCS bowl eligibility line (Top 16). Oregon and Ohio State both see their rankings rise after both won important conference games, and seem destined to play one another in the Rose Bowl, with Ohio State having already booked their ticket for Roses last weekend.

Oregon can join the Buckeyes if they can beat Oregon State in their Civil War in less than two weeks. The winner of that game will represent the Pac-10 in the BCS, as it is unlikely that another Pac-10 team will be BCS bowl eligible.

Another interesting development, although not exactly important down the stretch is how close Alabama has crept towards Florida. Mostly on the strength of their computer rankings, the Crimson Tide have gained some ground in the BCS on the Gators, and now sit just .005 points behind the Gators. That distance would be equivalent to just 42 extra points in the Harris Interactive Poll, or 22 in the Coaches’ Poll.

Its likely that we will not see much change next week either, setting up a huge and very important December 5^th weekend where most of the BCS bowl bids will be decided and maybe we’ll finally get some upsets and a shakeup or two.

BCS Rankings – November 22nd

All eight teams of the BCS’s top eight remain unchanged this week, after the middle weekend in November held no surprises for the nation’s best.

Moving up into the ninth spot was Pittsburgh, the beneficiary of Iowa’s loss and of some national exposure from their game against Notre Dame. The Panthers’ entrance into the BCS top ten is the first time this year that the Big East has had two teams in the top ten, joining constant No. 5 Cincinnati.

Even the scores don’t see much change along the top of the standings, as the distance between Florida, Alabama and Texas remained rather unchanged from a week ago.

Also seeing great improvement was Ohio State, on the heels of their overtime victory over Iowa, but was unable to make their way into the top ten. Not to worry though, the Buckeyes are assured a Rose Bowl bid, and therefore don’t really need to worry much about final BCS standings.

Important progress has been made in the realm of at-large bids in this week’s BCS standings despite the lack of movement at the top.

USC’s third loss of the season kicked them out of the top 14, a necessary requirement for a BCS at-large bid, and opened the door a little more for two BCS buster schools to get at-large bids this year – which would be a first.

Penn State lingers at No. 14, who theoretically could be chosen above the Broncos for an at-large bid, but they will have to survive one final test at Michigan State next weekend.

Its unlikely that the Big 12, Big East or ACC will get an at-large bid, which leaves a few spots open for at-large selections, and hope for Boise State remains.

BCS Rankings – November 15th

It’s a wonder how such huge losses last Saturday could have such little impact on the upcoming weeks of college football.

In this week’s BCS standings, Alabama (as expected) retook the No. 2 ranking from Texas, who fell to third.

Let’s examine how little this actually means:

With their win over LSU on Saturday, Alabama clinched the SEC West crown, punching their ticket to the SEC Championship Game.

If the Tide and the Florida Gators meet undefeated, the winner will play in the BCS National Title game, regardless of where in the losing team falls in the rankings.

The hardest remaining game for Florida is its trip to South Carolina, while Alabama still must play at Auburn, however both of these opponents are unranked.

The undefeated Texas Longhorns should also finish strong against a depleted Big 12, and will likely meet a four-loss underdog in the Big 12 Championship Game.

Win out and Texas is in the BCS National Title game too.

So three top 10 teams lose on Saturday, and the national title picture hasn’t changed in the slightest.

The interesting part of the BCS actually starts at No. 4.

This week TCU jumped up to claim that spot from Iowa, giving them a good shot at an at-large BCS bowl bid.

No. 5 Cincinnati needed a near-perfect performance from QB Zach Collaros to stay undefeated, and is now the top-ranked team from a BCS conference outside of the Big 12 and the SEC.

No. 6 Boise State should be thanking its lucky stars that No. 10 Iowa lost on Saturday.

Now it’s unlikely that the Big 10 will get more than one BCS bowl bid, which opens the door for non-BCS conference teams like the Broncos.

No. 7 Georgia Tech gained the most from the weekend losses by jumping up three spots. The Yellow Jackets should be Orange Bowl-bound.

There is a huge gap between No. 7 and No. 8, but after their loss, LSU should be pleasantly surprised.

The No. 9 USC Trojans find themselves back in the BCS top 10 this weekend, after just one week outside, but have no chance at a national title.

No. 11 Ohio State and No. 12 Pittsburgh round out the top 12, with the Panthers giving the Big East two top-12 teams for the first time this season.

BCS Rankings – November 8th

After spending a the first two BCS weeks looking up at two SEC teams, Texas took full advantage of a Alabama off week to impress the voters, and claimed the number two spot in the third BCS rankings of the year.

Still, this does not do anything to affect the much predicted funnel effect of a possible SEC Championship matchup between the two SEC teams, the Florida Gators and the Crimson Tide. If both teams are to make it that far, it is more than likely that the winner of the December 5^th matchup will automatically be entered into the BCS National Championship Game.

For now, Texas rests easy, knowing that completing an undefeated record of their own will be much easier, as they do not have a strong remaining schedule, but are right where they need to be if they want a berth in the championship game.

Iowa retains its fourth overall spot, but loses some of the good fortune it had seen from the computers, instead the math went the way of the Gators, but the Hawkeyes remain second in the computer rankings.

No. 5 Cincinnati follows the Hawkeyes, replacing USC, who falls all the way to No. 12 this week. The Bearcats are also the beneficiaries of some computer help, ranked fifth in the computers, while the coaches no longer see the Bearcats as viable, ranking them seventh.

TCU and Boise State, the two BCS busters jockeying for position come in at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively. TCU fends off Boise State for another week, taking one more step towards a BCS bowl bid, although Boise did tighten the gap slightly, mostly from computer help, after Oregon’s victory over USC improved the Broncos’ strength of schedule by a large percentage.

The Ducks follow the BCS busters at No. 8, up two spots from last week on the strength of both a human and computer bump after handily defeating USC on Saturday.

LSU and Georgia Tech, once defeated BCS conference members still have a slight chance of shooting up the rankings, especially next week when LSU goes against Alabama, but both need a ton of help.

Penn State and USC round out the top twelve, and are both out of national title contention.

Something to look for in the BCS rankings now will be how the remaining schedules of both Boise State and TCU effect their positioning. Boise is currently .0145 points behind the Horned Frogs, a margin that can easily be made up in the computer rankings in the coming weeks.

Also, the muddled middle – between No. 4 Iowa and No. 9 LSU – is separated by less than .2 points, which means anything can happen in the coming weeks.

For the fourth straight year, it seems likely that a team that is not a member of the six BCS conferences will make an appearance in one of the BCS bowls.

This has been assumed since Boise State beat Oregon to open the college football season. But suddenly, it looks like it might just be Texas Christian University – better known as TCU – instead of the media darling Broncos.

In the season’s second BCS rankings, TCU, following a convincing victory over their first ranked opponent of the season, jumped two spots to No. 6, while Boise State dropped three, a victim of their weak schedule, from No. 4 to No. 7 to place the two teams back-to-back in this week’s standings.

The BCS sets up quite nicely for one non-BCS conference team to make an appearance in one of the five bowls, but doesn’t really facilitate two BCS busters during any single bowl season. TCU and Boise State may have something to say about that.

Many will likely call for both to be included, but a bevy of other teams who find themselves amongst the nations best in this week’s BCS standings will play important roles in figuring out just what the matchups will be when announced in six weeks.

Florida, Alabama and Texas are all just where we saw them last week, except Florida continues to lose ground to the two teams chasing them, as unconvincing performances against the lower portion of their SEC schedule inserts doubt into their dominance.

Iowa (No. 4) gets a boost from the computers after they played a good Michigan State team on Saturday and were victorious in the final seconds of the game. Ranked first in five out of the six computer rankings, the Hawkeyes are the first team this season to claim a perfect computer score with a 1.000.

USC also sees a spike in their BCS rating, jumping from No. 7 to No. 5 this week following a close victory at home over Oregon State on Saturday, although the computers remain unconvinced, ranking the Trojans ninth.

No. 8 Cincinnati and No. 9 LSU get left in the dust, after the Bearcats played a less than stellar opponent in Louisville and the Tigers were idle.

Oregon, Georgia Tech and Penn State round out the top 12 in this week’s standings, and will look for some help from the teams above them, which could come for the Ducks as they play USC next weekend at home.

BCS Rankings – October 25th

The BCS rankings cause controversy. There’s no debating that.

But usually that controversy doesn’t come until at least a few weeks into the BCS rankings, when people can see a trend that they might disagree with.

This year however, there may be some griping to do just after one BCS rankings, following one of the most exciting and jam-packed action weekends of the college football season.

The top three of the first BCS standings may give some Alabama fans some pain, as the Crimson Tide sit at No. 2 on the first rankings, although the Associated Press poll, which is no longer a part of the BCS, had the Tide at No. 1 in their poll.

Alabama sits behind Florida, who has struggled to win the past few weeks, but in the eyes of the voters and computers, is strong enough to warrant the .046 point lead over the Tide.

Interestingly, Boise State and Cincinnati follow Texas (No. 3) in the BCS standings. Boise State gets healthy love from the computers and the human element, but Cincinnati is able to jump USC, who find themselves the victim of a poor computer ranking, and at No. 7 in the first BCS rankings.

In between the Bearcats and Trojans you can find the class of the Big 10, Iowa. The Hawkeyes also got love from the computers that was not shown in the human element, as they ranked seventh and eighth in the two polls, but find themselves at No. 6 in the BCS, just .0001 points behind Cincinnati for that No. 5 spot.

Ready to pounce on the BCS buster opportunity if Boise State is to falter, TCU enters the rankings at No. 8, a guaranteed BCS bowl berth position for the Horned Frogs if the Broncos are unable to win out.

LSU and Miami, each with one loss on their record round out the top 10, and will definitely need some major help to climb back up the rankings, where they had stood earlier this season.

Oregon, whose only loss came to Boise State, comes in at No. 11 followed by Georgia Tech, whose shocking victory over previous No. 4 Virginia Tech dropped the Hokies out of the top 12, and let the Yellow Jackets make an appearance in the year’s first BCS top 12.

BCS Rankings – October 18th

If you are looking for THIS WEEK’S projected BCS, please go to the Recap section of the Weekly Update Category, and click on the most recent article. Thanks!
One final week before the first BCS standings means just one final set of projected BCS standings, this week coming straight from the most reliable source for simulating the formula, the BCS Guru.

This time, Florida makes the huge jump to No. 1 that everyone had expected them to already hold at the beginning of the season. This jump was helped by their victory over LSU, whose came in at No. 2 on last week’s projected BCS, and also held the No. 1 spot in all available BCS computer rankings.

Alabama, likely on the strength of their inter conference rivalry game against Ole Miss, stays ahead Texas to claim the number two spot, and Virginia Tech, already considered the best one loss team in the nation, also stays ahead of the Longhorns at No. 3.

Texas does hold steady at No. 4, followed by Boise State, BCS-buster extraordinaire.

Two one-loss teams, USC and LSU come in at No. 6 and No. 7 respectively, as both still have a legitimate shot of making some noise late in the season if both are able to win out.

Three teams which will likely need a little help from the top follow the Tigers, Ohio State, Cincinnati and Iowa will probably need a fair few teams to lose ahead of them to make it into the national title picture.

TCU and Miami (FL) round out the top twelve of the projected BCS standings, and will need more than a little help from here on out.

Next week brings the arrival of the first real BCS standings, but without further ado, the current projected BCS standings, as provided by the BCS Guru, and available at BCS Know How, with a 94.166 percent confidence: