Top Five Look Strong During Eventless Weekend
Alabama, Texas and Florida all looked very strong against conference opponents, as no team in the top 15 loses during the fifth BCS Weekend. Fully Updated.
Alabama, Texas and Florida all looked very strong against conference opponents, as no team in the top 15 loses during the fifth BCS Weekend. Fully Updated.
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
1 |
Alabama |
2 |
Texas Tech |
3 |
Texas |
4 |
Florida |
5 |
Oklahoma |
6 |
USC |
7 |
Utah |
8 |
Penn State |
9 |
Boise State |
10 |
Ohio State |
11 |
Georgia |
12 |
Oklahoma State |
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Weekly News: There’s something about a weekend where nothing happens that shocks and amazes that has the ability to truly show what each team is made of. In a weekend that saw no top fifteen team lose, the teams who won with ease were able to show their strengths as the college football regular season winds down.
Texas, Florida and Alabama, all entering the latter half of their conference schedules, looked very strong in defeating Kansas, South Carolina and Mississippi State, respectively. In all three match ups, these top five teams showed their strengths, and continued to make cases for a berth in the national title game.
As it stands today, Alabama is in the driver’s seat to claim that berth, but Florida is lurking in the SEC Championship Game, and they seem to be hitting their stride just at the nick of time, outscoring South Carolina, formerly ranked in the top 25, by 50 points.
Texas, of the Big 12, only furthered the belief that the Big 12 is just as strong as the SEC this year, putting a beat down on Kansas, and solidifying itself as the next in line for the BCS title game, if Alabama or Texas Tech is to falter. For this victory, Texas garners the BCS Know How Big BCS Win of The Week. What should be mentioned, though is that Oklahoma and Tech, who were idle this weekend, will face off next weekend.
A win by Texas Tech would seal its Big 12 South Championship, and open the way for the Raiders to make the national title game with ease. But if Oklahoma is to walk away victorious, the BCS may be in for another wacky final few weeks. Oklahoma’s potential victory would give the Sooners a reprieve from the early season loss in the Red River Shootout to Texas, and would likely leap frog them over Texas.
If that is to occur, then Oklahoma is able to win its final game against Oklahoma State, the BCS standings would decide the Big 12 South champions. Oklahoma, on the strength of its potential Tech victory, would be the winners and would likely then be in control of its BCS National Title destiny.
Other conferences are not nearly as strong this year, but they can contribute just as much to the weekend of non-upsets as any other. The ACC, without a true favorite all year, only continued to throw itself into a jumble as Florida State and UNC, both in control of their ACC destinies, lost over the weekend. The Big East, also without a favorite, now seems to be a jumble once again, with Cincinnati, West Virginia and Pittsburgh all have a shot at the Big East’s BCS bid.
The Pac 10 too has some issues. USC, ranked sixth once again by the BCS, would not win the Pac 10’s automatic bid if they were to win out, and Oregon State was to win out as well. On the strength of their head to head victory, the Beavers would likely claim the Rose Bowl bid. Finally, the Big 10 seems to be a tad more organized, as Penn State is in the driver’s seat, and a victory next week will guarantee a BCS bid.
Alabama continues to hold the #1 ranking, and the colors on the BCS Know How homepage, but the next few weeks will truly decide who is most deserving of these colors.
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| Rank | Team | BCS Score |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Alabama |
.9787 |
2 |
Texas Tech |
.9698 |
3 |
Texas |
.8911 |
4 |
Florida |
.8755 |
5 |
Oklahoma |
.8388 |
6 |
USC |
.7873 |
7 |
Utah |
.7643 |
8 |
Penn State |
.6957 |
9 |
Boise State |
.6559 |
10 |
Ohio State |
.6154 |
11 |
Georgia |
.6129 |
12 |
Oklahoma State |
.5672 |
Calculated by the Bowl Championship Series, using the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, the Harris Interactive Poll and the six computer polls. More at the Formula and Polls pages.
1) Alabama 32 vs. Miss. St. 7
2) Texas Tech was Idle.
3) Texas 35 vs.Kansas 7
4) Florida 56 vs. South Carolina 6
5) Oklahoma was Idle.
Rank
|
Team
|
Votes
|
Share of Vote
|
1 |
Alabama |
1508 |
.988 |
2 |
Texas Tech |
1465 |
.961 |
3 |
Florida |
1373 |
.900 |
4 |
Texas |
1322 |
.866 |
5 |
|
1305 |
.855 |
6 |
|
1245 |
.816 |
7 |
|
1113 |
.730 |
8 |
Penn State |
1093 |
.717 |
9 |
Boise State |
1023 |
.671 |
10 |
|
957 |
.628 |
Rank
|
Team
|
Votes
|
Share of Vote
|
1 |
Alabama |
2789 |
.987 |
2 |
Texas Tech |
2737 |
.969 |
3 |
Florida |
2532 |
.896 |
4 |
|
2476 |
.876 |
5 |
Oklahoma |
2375 |
.841 |
6 |
|
2304 |
.816 |
7 |
Penn State |
2063 |
.730 |
8 |
|
2014 |
.713 |
9 |
|
1912 |
.677 |
10 |
Ohio State |
1748 |
.619 |
Rank
|
Team
|
Share of Vote
|
1 |
Texas Tech |
.980 |
2 |
Alabama |
.960 |
3 |
Texas |
.930 |
4 |
Utah |
.850 |
5 |
|
.830 |
5 |
Oklahoma |
.820 |
The BCS consists of two human elements, or polls from which two thirds of the BCS Rankings are taken. The two polls are the Harris Interactive College Football Poll and the USA Today/ESPN Coach's Poll. The way the human element is used is as follows: First, take the Harris Interactive which includes 114 voters. All 114 voters vote on teams 1-25 and points are awarded on a reverse basis, 25 for a first place vote, 24 for a second place vote, 23 for a third place vote, and so on until one point is awarded for a 25th place vote.
So, if all 114 voters decided to vote one team first, the team would be awarded 114 times 25 points, or 2850 Harris Poll Points. Therefore, a perfect score in the eyes of the Harris Poll voters is a 2850. The BCS uses the votes received by a team and divides that number by the perfect score of 2850 for a decimal value of 1.000 or less.
For example, Penn State, the nation's #3 in Week 1 of the BCS received 2631 points from the Harris Poll voters on October 19th, the sixth Harris Poll of the year, which included 3 first place votes. The BCS divides 2631 by the perfect score 2850, to arrive at the Penn State's Harris Poll score.
Harris Poll BCS Calculation Penn State Example: (2631/2850)=0.923
The same calculation is then mirrored with the ESPN/USA Today Coach's Poll. The Coach's Poll consists of 61 voters, and the scale scoring for the votes mirrors that of the Harris Poll's. Therefore, in the Coach's Poll, the perfect score is 1525. The BCS then completes the same calculation and divides the score received by a team by the perfect score, 1525. For example, the Penn State Nittany Lions received 1413, from the Coaches, which included 2 first place votes. The BCS would divide 1413 by 1525, the perfect score in 2008 to arrive at Penn State's Coach's Poll score.
Coach's Poll BCS Calculation Penn State Example: (1413/1525)=.927
The third and final part of the BCS calculations is derived from six computer rankings posted weekly. The six computer polls, managed by people, newspapers and the BCS itself are: Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin's USA Today and Peter Wolfe.
The BCS looks at the standings of each of the six computer polls and awards teams 25 points for a first place standing on a computer poll, 24 for a second, 23 for a third, and so on, just as in the human element, until one point is given for a 25th place vote. The BCS then takes the six point values and takes away the lowest and highest point values given to a specific team. Four point values are left and the BCS adds the four together. Because a perfect score would be receiving four first place votes, or four 25 point values, the BCS divides the team's received computer rankings by 100 to arrive at the computer ranking value.
Computer Poll BCS Calculation Penn State Example:
Poll |
A+H |
RB |
CM |
KM |
JS |
PW |
Rank |
5 |
6 |
10 |
8 |
||
Point Value |
21 |
20 |
16 |
18 |
21+20+16+18=75
75/100=.750
The BCS finishes the procedure by averaging the three values it received from the Harris Interactive College Football Poll, the USA Today/ESPN Poll and the Computer Polls. The final BCS Ranking is a decimal between .0000 and 1.0000.
(Harris Poll % + Coach's Poll % + Computer Poll %)/3 = BCS Ranking
Penn State BCS Ranking Example
(.923+.927+.750)/3= .8666
On this page you can find news and standings for all six current BCS Conferences which include the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Southeastern Conference and the Pacific 10 Conference. This year, the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12 and Southeastern Conference will hold Conference Championships to determine their automatic BCS bids. The records indicate team's name is that team's conference record.
BCS Conferences teams have begun to ensure Conference Championship appearances, and have begun to ensure bowl eligibility, eligibility signified as follows:
x- Bowl Eligible
y- Clinched Berth in Conference Championship Game
z- Clinched Conference Championship and BCS Bowl Bid
Standings:
Rank
|
Team
|
Record
|
1 |
x- Maryland |
4-2 |
2 |
x-Florida State |
4-3 |
2 |
x-Wake Forest |
4-3 |
4 |
|
3-3 |
5 |
Clemson |
3-4 |
6 |
|
2-4 |
Rank
|
Team
|
Record
|
1 |
x-Miami (FL) |
4-2 |
1 |
x-Georgia Tech |
4-3 |
3 |
x- North Carolina |
3-3 |
3 |
|
3-3 |
3 |
|
3-3 |
6 |
Duke |
1-5 |
Standings:
Rank
|
Team
|
Record
|
1 |
x-Michigan State |
6-1 |
1 |
x-Penn State |
6-1 |
1 |
x-Ohio State |
6-1 |
4 |
x-Iowa |
4-3 |
4 |
x-Northwestern |
4-3 |
6 |
x-Minnesota |
3-4 |
6 |
Illinois |
3-4 |
8 |
|
3-5 |
9 |
Michigan |
2-5 |
10 |
Indiana |
1-6 |
10 |
|
1-6 |
Standings:
Rank
|
Team
|
Record
|
1 |
x-Missouri |
5-2 |
2 |
x-Nebraska |
4-3 |
3 |
|
3-4 |
4 |
|
2-5 |
5 |
|
1-6 |
6 |
|
0-7 |
Rank
|
Team
|
Record
|
1 |
x-Texas Tech |
6-0 |
2 |
x-Texas |
6-1 |
3 |
|
5-1 |
4 |
x-Oklahoma State |
5-2 |
5 |
Texas A&M |
2-5 |
5 |
Baylor |
2-5 |
Standings:
Rank
|
Team
|
Record
|
1 |
x-Cincinnati |
4-1 |
2 |
x-Pittsburgh |
3-1 |
2 |
x-West Virginia |
3-1 |
4 |
Rutgers |
4-2 |
4 |
x-Connecticut |
4-2 |
6 |
|
1-4 |
6 |
|
1-4 |
8 |
|
1-5 |
Standings:
Rank
|
Team
|
Record
|
1 |
xy-Florida |
7-1 |
2 |
x-Georgia |
6-2 |
3 |
x-Vanderbilt |
4-3 |
4 |
x-South Carolina |
4-4 |
5 |
x-Kentucky |
2-5 |
6 |
Tennessee |
1-5 |
Rank
|
Team
|
Record
|
1 |
xy-Alabama |
7-0 |
2 |
x-LSU |
3-3 |
2 |
x-Mississippi |
3-3 |
4 |
|
2-5 |
5 |
Mississippi State |
1-5 |
5 |
|
1-5 |
Standings:
Rank
|
Team
|
Record
|
1 |
x-USC |
7-1 |
2 |
x-Oregon State |
6-1 |
3 |
x-Oregon |
6-2 |
4 |
|
4-3 |
4 |
x-California |
4-3 |
6 |
|
4-4 |
7 |
UCLA |
3-4 |
7 |
|
3-4 |
9 |
Washington |
0-7 |
10 |
|
0-8 |
Every year the championship game rotates between four traditional bowls, the Orange Bowl, held in Florida; the Rose Bowl, held in Pasadena, California; the Fiesta Bowl, held in Arizona, and the Sugar Bowl, normally held in New Orleans.
Above is a picture of Dolphin Stadium, the site of the Orange Bowl and the 2009 BCS National Championship Game. This year the BCS will continue to implement the double hosting format, in which the four former BCS Bowls, the Fiesta, Rose, Orange and Sugar will continue to host games, but one will host the National Championship as well as its traditional January bowl. This year, the stadium in Miami will hold both the Orange Bowl and the National Championship Game.
With the addition of one more effective bowl game, this opens up 10 total spots for teams wishing to compete in BCS Bowls. As in prior years, the champions of the ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, SEC and Pac 10 will receive automatic bids to one BCS bowl. In addition one champion from the so called mid-major conferences will qualify for one BCS bowl bid if they are ranked in the top 12 in the final BCS standings, released in early December, or if a champion from a mid major conference is ranked higher than any automatic bid receiving champion of the major BCS conferences in the top 16.
Although more spots have been opened for BCS bowls, there will be no conference that sends more than two teams from their conference to any of the five BCS bowl games.
The mid major conferences are: Conference USA (C-USA), the Mountain West Conference (MWC), the Sun Belt Conference, the Mid-American Conference (MAC), and the Western Athletic Conferences (WAC).
Notre Dame, the one independent school completely associated with the Bowl Championship Series, will receive an automatic BCS bowl bid if they are to finish in the top 8 in the final BCS standings.
One final caveat in the BCS bowls is the contracts or traditional bowl guarantees for various BCS Conferences with Bowl Championship Bowls. Traditionally these bowls will select the following conferences, and will gain first pick if their traditional team is taken from them to play in the National Title Game.
Orange Bowl- Atlantic Coast Conference
Rose Bowl- Big 10 vs. Pac 10
Fiesta Bowl- Big 12
Sugar Bowl- Southeastern Conference
This is the Bowl Championship Series Coaches' Trophy which was awarded to the LSU Tigers for their victory in the BCS National Championship Game, which in 2008 was held in the Superdome in Louisiana.
The National Championship Trophy and the image of the crystal football are trademarks of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). The AFCA is the copyright owner of the National Championship Trophy.
Other than the BCS there are many other bowls in which very well qualified teams play in the month of December and the bigger ones in the beginning of January. In the 2008-09 Bowl season there are 29 Other Bowls. All bowls are listed with their sponsor conferences and are all subject to the availability of enough bowl eligible teams from that conference.
December 20: Eaglebank Bowl (Navy/At-Large vs. ACC)
December 20: New Mexico Bowl (WAC vs. MWC)
December 20: St. Petersburg Bowl (Big East vs. C-USA)
December 20: Las Vegas Bowl (MWC vs. Pac 10)
December 21: New Orleans Bowl (C-USA vs. Sun Belt)
December 23: Poinsettia Bowl (MWC vs. Pac 10)
December 24: Hawaii Bowl (Pac 10 vs. WAC)
December 26: Motor City Bowl (Big 10 vs. Mid-American)
December 26: Car Care Bowl (ACC vs. Big East)
December 27: Champ Sports Bowl (ACC vs. Big 10)
December 27: Emerald Bowl (ACC vs. Pac 10)
December 28: Independence Bowl (Big 12 vs. SEC)
December 29: Papajohns.com Bowl (Big East vs. SEC)
December 29: Alamo Bowl (Big 10 vs. Big 12)
December 30: Humanitarian Bowl (WAC vs. ACC)
December 30: Holiday Bowl (Pac 10 vs. Big 12)
December 30: Texas Bowl (C-USA vs. Big 12)
December 31: Armed Forces Bowl (C-USA vs. MWC)
December 31: Sun Bowl (Big 12, Big East, Pac 10)
December 31: Music City Bowl (SEC vs. ACC)
December 31: Insight Bowl (Big 10 vs. Big 12)
December 31: Chick-Fil-A Bowl (SEC vs. ACC)
January 1: Outback Bowl (Big 10 vs. SEC)
January 1: Capital One Bowl (Big 10 vs. SEC)
January 1: Gator Bowl (ACC. Big East, Big 12)
January 2: Cotton Bowl (Big 12 vs. SEC)
January 2: Liberty Bowl (C-USA vs. SEC)
January 3: International Bowl (Big East vs. MAC)
January 6: GMAC Bowl (C-USA vs. MAC)
Yet again, the prestigious Heisman trophy will be awarded to the top college football player in the nation. This season's race is wide open and many will attempt to claim the glory that comes with achieving college football's greatest honor, receiving the Heisman Trophy in New York City. Listed below are some of BCS Know How's frontrunners for the trophy. Click on their picture and you will be treated to the story of why that candidate is deserving of a BCS Know How frontrunner position and possibly a Heisman trophy award!
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