What the BCS Top 25 standings would look like ahead of Week 12 of college football

Several top 10 teams pulled out big wins in Week 11, but there was still movement in the BCS rankings simulation this week thanks to Baylor’s win over Oklahoma.

BCS rankings ahead of Week 12

1. Georgia Bulldogs (10-0)
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-1)
3. Cincinnati Bearcats (10-0)
4. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-1)
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-1)
6. Michigan Wolverines (9-1)
7. Oregon Ducks (9-1)
8. Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-1)
9. Michigan State Spartans (9-1)
10. Oklahoma Sooners (9-1)
11. Ole Miss Rebels (8-2)
12. Baylor Bears (8-2)
13. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (9-1)
14. Iowa Hawkeyes (8-2)
15. Wisconsin Badgers (7-3)
16. Texas A&M Aggies (7-3)
17. BYU Cougars (8-2)
18. UTSA Roadrunners (10-0)
19. Houston Cougars (9-1)
20. Pittsburgh Panthers (8-2)
21. San Diego State Aztecs (9-1)
22. Arkansas Razorbacks (7-3)
23. Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (9-1)
24. Utah Utes (7-3)
25. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-4)

The top-three teams listed in the BCS simulation are the same as last week, with Georgia and Alabama in the spots that would play for a national championship and Cincinnati on the outside looking in. If the BCS rankings were applied to the College Football Playoff format, Georgia would face Ohio State while Alabama would play Cincinnati.

The Big Ten leads the way with six teams ranked in the BCS simulation, including five teams in the top 15. The SEC follows with five teams. Three Big 12 teams plus two each from the ACC and Pac-12 round out the Power Five members. Five Group of Five teams are ranked, while independents BYU and Notre Dame are in the No. 5 and No. 17 spots.

Two and three-loss teams are beginning to pepper the rankings, as solid programs are continuing to play spoiler over their conference opponents. Baylor made Oklahoma’s path to the playoff significantly more difficult this weekend by topping the Sooners 27-14 in Waco. 

Wisconsin is the top ranked three-loss team, as their defeats have come at the hands of two top-10 teams in Notre Dame and Michigan, plus Minnesota. Penn State is the only four-loss team in the rankings.

Road to the CFP goes through Columbus

With three one-loss teams in contention plus Ohio State games against both Michigan State and Michigan to finish out November, the Big Ten will be the center of attention as the CFP race comes to a close.

Ohio State is a 19-point home favorite over the Spartans this weekend, but their explosive offense could challenge a Buckeye defense prone to mistakes. Michigan hosts the Buckeyes Thanksgiving weekend.

Ohio State remains the favorite to win the conference, and Michigan State holds the tiebreaker over Michigan from their Oct. 30 victory. 

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.