This year, the BCS standings will include three components: the rankings of The Associated Press media poll, the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll and a computer poll average. Each component will count one-third of a team's overall BCS score in the BCS Standings. Team percentages are derived by dividing a team's actual voting points by a maximum 1625 possible points in the AP Poll and 1525 possible points in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
Six computer rankings calculated in inverse points order (25 for #1, 24 for #2, etc.) are used to determine the overall computer component. The best and worst ranking for each team is dropped, and the remaining four are added and divided by 100 (the maximum possible points) to produce a Computer Rankings Percentage.
The six computer ranking providers are Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin, and Peter Wolfe.
The BCS ranking system will consist of four major components: subjective polls of the writers and coaches, computer rankings, schedule strength and team record. The two teams which have the lowest point total in the four categories will play in the national championship game.
The poll component will be calculated based on the average of the ranking of each team in the Associated Press media poll and the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. The rankings of each team will be added and divided by two. For example, a team ranked in No. 1 in one poll and No. 2 in the other poll would receive 1.5 points (1+2=3/2=1.5).
This season, the BCS will again use the computer ratings of Jeff Sagarin, The New York Times and the Seattle Times, Richard Billingsley, Dunkel Index, Kenneth Massey, David Rothman and Matthews-Scripps Howard.
A school's lowest ranking from the eight computer services will be thrown out, eliminating the possibility of a team being hurt by an unusual difference in one of the polls.The third component will be the team's strength of schedule. This component will be calculated by determining the cumulative won/lost records of the team's opponents and the cumulative won/lost records of the team's opponents' opponents. The formula shall be weighted two-thirds for the opponent's record and one-third for the opponents' opponents record. The team's schedule strength shall be calculated to determine in which quartile it will rank: 1-25, 26-50, 51-75, 76-100 and shall be further quantified by its ranking within each quartile (divided by 25). For example, if a team's schedule strength rating is No. 28 in the nation, that team would receive 1.12 points (28/25=1.12). Note: only victories against Div1-A teams count; but all loses count.
The final component shall evaluate the team's won/lost record. Each loss during the season will represent one point in this component.
All four components shall be added together for the total rating. The team with the lowest point total shall rank first in the Bowl Championship Series standings. The BCS standings will not be published until the second week of November each season. This system will be utilized only to select the teams that will participate in the championship game of the Bowl Championship Series and to determine any independent team or team from a conference without an automatic selection which shall qualify for a guaranteed selection in one of the games of the Bowl Championship Series as a result of being ranked in the top six in the BCS standings.