Arkansas Debuts at No. 13 in BCS Series Standings
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas is ranked No. 13 in the first edition of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings released on Sunday. The Razorbacks (5-1) boast a BCS average of .4714 based on a variety of components including their ranking in the Harris Interactive and USA Today Coaches’ polls as well as their standing in six computer rankings.
The Hogs jumped from No. 23 to No. 17 in the Harris Interactive listing. The USA Today Coaches’ poll also saw the Razorbacks vault five spots to No. 18 after holding down the No. 23 spot last week. Although not used in the BCS formula, the Associated Press moved the Razorbacks up three spots to No. 15 after its win over Southeast Missouri State.
To derive a team’s BCS Series poll percentages in the Harris Interactive and USA Today polls, each team’s point total is divided by a maximum 2850 possible points in the Harris Interactive Poll and 1575 possible points in the USA Today Poll. Teams are assigned an inverse point total (25 for #1, 24 for #2, etc.) for each of their respective computer poll rankings to determine the overall computer component. The highest and lowest ranking for each team is dropped, and the sum total of the remaining four rankings is divided by 100 (the maximum possible points). This figure produces a Computer Rankings Percentage. The six computer ranking providers are Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin and Peter Wolfe. Each computer ranking accounts for schedule strength within its formula. The BCS Average is calculated by averaging the percent totals of the Harris Interactive and USA Today Polls, and computer rankings. The highest BCS Average receives the No. 1 ranking, the second highest No. 2, and so forth.
The BCS is a five-game arrangement for post-season college football that is managed by the 11 Division I-A conferences and Notre Dame. Its purpose is to match the two top-ranked teams in the final BCS standings in a national championship game and to create competitive match-ups in the four other BCS bowl games. For more information, visit http://www.bcsfootball.org. The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Dec. 3 BCS standings will play in the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game Jan. 8 2007 in Glendale, Ariz. The winner of the game will be presented the American Football Coaches Association National Championship Trophy.
Ohio State is ranked No. 1 in the BCS series standings with USC, Michigan, Auburn and West Virginia rounding out the top five. A total of five Southeastern Conference teams are ranked in the BCS standings this week with Florida (No. 6), Tennessee (No. 11), and LSU (No. 18) joining Auburn and Arkansas in the poll.
