Alabama claimed the BCS national title, but was not a unanimous choice among the components of BCS system and the AP poll.
To see just how the bevy of season’s end rankings played out, we’ve set out to simulate a set of BCS rankings, using the AP poll in place of the Harris poll. What we get is a good aggregate of all of the final rankings, and the equivalent of a year-end, final BCS rankings.
We also used the six BCS computers, not all of which declared Alabama as the top team in the nation. In fact, both Oklahoma State and LSU claimed the top spot in one computer ranking.
Mostly, this is just for fun, a good look at what the BCS standings would look like if they were released after the end of the season. The formula is exactly the same as the BCS utilizes during the regular season, except the AP poll is subbed in for the Harris Interactive Poll, which does not release a post-season edition.
Unsurprisingly, Alabama leads the way, despite its non-unanimous support. LSU and Oklahoma State finish in their expected No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively.
Arkansas and Oregon see the completion of strong regular seasons and impressive bowl victories to both finish in the top five.
A little further down, we get a surprising sixth-place finish from South Carolina, who are chased closely by Boise State, where the Broncos finish just .0003 behind the Gamecocks. For fun, we placed USC in the mix, as they are named in all six computers and in the AP. We just replicated the portion the No. 9 Trojans got in the AP for the Coaches’ and used the computers as per usual.
Other surprises include No. 10 Baylor, who completes a fantastic season led by Heisman-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III and the non-AQ No. 16 Houston and No. 17 TCU, both of which had shots at BCS bowl bids but were shut out on the last weekend — a Houston loss and TCU finishing outside of the top-16.
Here’s BCS Know How’s simulated post-season BCS rankings:
Simulated Post-Season BCS Rankings
Rank |
Team |
BCS Score |
1 |
Alabama Crimson Tide |
.9922 |
2 |
LSU Tigers |
.9540 |
3 |
Oklahoma State Cowboys |
.9298 |
4 |
Oregon Ducks |
.8260 |
5 |
Arkansas Razorbacks |
.8214 |
6 |
South Carolina Gamecocks |
.7267 |
7 |
Boise State Broncos |
.7264 |
8 |
Stanford Cardinal |
.7193 |
9 |
USC Trojans |
.6981 |
10 |
Baylor Bears |
.5718 |
11 |
Michigan Wolverines |
.5688 |
12 |
Wisconsin Badgers |
.5337 |
13 |
Oklahoma Sooners |
.5250 |
14 |
Michigan State Spartans |
.5234 |
15 |
Kansas State Wildcats |
.5040 |
16 |
Houston Cougars |
.4305 |
17 |
TCU Horned Frogs |
.4156 |
18 |
West Virginia Mountaineers |
.3068 |
19 |
Georgia Bulldogs |
.2689 |
20 |
Virginia Tech Hokies |
.2483 |
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