The BCS is BS.
The Bowl Championship Series is a complex formula-based system
used by NCAA Division I football to determine which teams play in
the championship game. This formula is filled with problems that
have led to national debates about whether the right teams made the
title game in three of the four BCS years.
In response to this, the Daily Bruin Championship Series will be
launched. The DBCS system will rank all 117 college football teams
and also attempt to fix several of the problems with the BCS.
It will include four main factors: the Daily Bruin staff poll,
computer rankings compiled by myself, a different form of strength
of schedule, and losses.
The Daily Bruin staff poll is a composite ranking voted on by
staff members of the Daily Bruin, similar to polls conducted by the
Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association.
The computer rankings will incorporate several factors,
including wins, losses, conference rank, conference strength,
strength of schedule, quality opponents, quality wins, and strength
of a team when played against. All 117 Division I-A teams will be
ranked by this C++ program that uses team records, team schedules,
matrices and z-scores to perform all of the calculations.
The schedule strength will be calculated slightly differently
than than the BCS. There will be a 7:3 ratio when adding
opponents’ winning percentage and opponents’
opponents’ winning percentage instead of a 2:1 ratio. This
slightly rewards teams more for playing a good weaker conference
team like BYU or Fresno State instead of a weak major conference
team like Cal or Temple. The big change will be that the schedule
strength rank will be divided by 50 instead of 25.
Each loss will be added to a team’s total. A quality win
index will not be used in the DBCS, since the computer rankings
already incorporate a similar method and idea.
Look for the first DBCS release Tuesday, Oct. 1, with updated
rankings every Tuesday the for the rest of the season.