| Replacing what was known as the Bowl Alliance, | | | | specializing in internet research. After it was |
| the Bowl Championship Series is the most recent | | | | commissioned by the NCAA, the Harris |
| effort to crown a National Champion. The | | | | Interactive developed a poll for college football as |
| Conference commissioners and the Notre Dame | | | | replacement for the AP poll. 114 voters coming |
| AD are the administrators of the BCS. Through a | | | | from a group or previous players, coaches, |
| rating system that identifies the teams who are | | | | administrators, and past and present media |
| to play each other at the end of the season for | | | | comprised the poll. Each week, the top 25 teams |
| the National Championship are the two teams | | | | are identified through the poll voter's submitted |
| who got the highest ratings. | | | | votes. The first poll is submitted only at the |
| Originally, the BCS consisted of four bowls namely | | | | second half of September and no longer passes a |
| Rose, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta but since the | | | | poll prior to the season or at the post-season. |
| beginningof the season in 2006, a fifth BCS game, | | | | The USA Today Coaches' Poll, the second of the |
| serving as the championship game has been | | | | two "human" elements are all composed of |
| added. This system simply means that instead of | | | | members of the American Football Coaches |
| the original eight teams who will be playing in the | | | | Association making up 61 Division 1-A head |
| BCS games, with the addition of the fifth bowl. | | | | coaches. Each of the head coaches submits his or |
| The championship game will rotate between the | | | | her ballot containing his or her top 25 picks every |
| four BCS stadiums. This year's championship | | | | week. Unlike the Harris Poll, the Coaches' Poll also |
| game will be held at the Fiesta with next year's | | | | submits a pre-season and post-season poll. The |
| game at Sugar, then Orange and the Rose. | | | | team that automatically gets the number vote is |
| There are three elements serving as the basis for | | | | the winner of the BCS National Championship and |
| the Bowl Championship Series: the Harris | | | | also the recipient of the Waterford Crystal |
| Interactive Poll, USA Today Coaches' Poll and the | | | | National Championship Coaches' trophy. |
| Computer Rankings. Only the Harris Interactive | | | | The last of the three elements is the computer |
| Poll and the USA Today Coaches' Poll are | | | | poll. Consisting of six various calculations, each of |
| manually-operated. These two human elements | | | | the programs were chose in 1998 with BCS's |
| are responsible for gathering and combining all the | | | | inception. The six people responsible for the |
| specific voter's votes at the end of every week. | | | | programs are Anderson & Hester, Richard |
| Once the votes are gathered, the relative | | | | Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Masey, Jeff |
| strength of each team will then be calculated | | | | Sagarin, and Peter Wolfe. The computer program |
| through a special formula, where a perfect score | | | | does not use a margin of victory and they each |
| is 1. Teams that follow will be assigned a number | | | | use different formulas to calculate strength of the |
| less than the number 1. A team's final BCS | | | | schedule. The teams also go through a top 25 |
| average is determined through an arrived average | | | | ranking with the computer poll. The computer |
| of the three elements. | | | | element is created through the four computer |
| In 2005, the AP decided that it no longer wished | | | | rankings used by each of the teams. The highest |
| to take part in deciding a national champion, so | | | | and lowest teams in the computer rankings are |
| the NCAA created the Harris Interactive poll. | | | | dumped and the remaining four are averaged. |
| Harris Interactive is a market research company | | | | |
