2004 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Two human polls and one formulaic ranking make up the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), does not bestow a National Championship title for Division I-A football. That title is bestowed by different polling agencies. There are several polls that currently exist. The main weekly polls are the AP Poll and Coaches Poll. About halfway through the season, one additional poll is released; the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Rankings.

BCS Rankings

The 2004 BCS rankings were based on a formula composed of the Coaches Poll, the AP Poll and six computer rankings. These rankings are usually released beginning with the eight week of the season. It is the results of this poll that decide which teams play in which bowl games as well as which two teams will play in the BCS National Championship Game. The BCS Rankings are generated by taking the points received in each poll individually, and dividing by the total points that a single team could earn if they were ranked #1 by every member. For example, the maximum total points in the Coaches Poll is 1550, and if a team earns 1387 points, their score in the BCS for the Coaches Poll would be .895. The BCS Rankings then does the same for the AP Poll. Next, the highest and lowest rankings of the 6 computer rankings are dropped, the remaining 4 combined with the points (again awarded by position) and divided by 100. The three percentages are then averaged, and the highest average is then awarded 1st place in the BCS Rankings.

Preseason polls

Various publications release their preseason top 25 months before the season commences. Each poll uses different methodologies. For instance, some rank the teams based on their perception of the team's strength going into the season and some rank them based on their perception of the team's possible record at the end of the season. These are different because one team may be stronger but have a tougher schedule and another team may be weaker but have a weaker schedule and both teams may end the season with the same record. The 2004-05 BCS Champions USC Trojans are highlited in gold.

Legend

References

*cite web | title=College Football Rankings | publisher=ESPN | accessdate=2006-09-06 | url=http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/rankingsindex?pollId=null&weekNumber=17&seasonYear=2004 | format=HTML | language=English
*cite web | title=2004 BCS Standings, BCS Rankings | publisher=The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, Inc. | url=http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/pdf/bcs_2004.pdf | accessdate = 2007-12-14 | format=.pdf | language-English

Notes