With "little hope" for a national playoff in sight,
college football's Bowl Championship Series (BCS) officials
yesterday unveiled a "complicated four-pronged statistical
system to determine the 1-2 matchup in the bowl championship
series' annual national title game," according to Chris
Dufresne of the L.A. TIMES. The new formula considers four
variables: POLLS -- rankings in the AP and USA TODAY/ESPN
polls will be added, then divided by two, to arrive at a
composite ranking; COMPUTERS -- computer rankings by the
N.Y. Times, Seattle Times, and statistician Jeff Sagarin are
combined to produce another point calculation; STRENGTH OF
SCHEDULE -- Two-thirds of this component will be weighted by
the record of a school's opponents, the other third on the
record of a the opponents' opponents; RECORDS -- each loss
during the regular season represents one point. At the
conclusion of the regular season, the four components will
be added, with the schools with the two lowest totals
meeting in a national title game (L.A. TIMES, 6/10).
