The Only Original and Unaltered 
BCS Computer Rankings...

Showing Which Teams Have Accomplished the Most to Date

LSU Wins the National Championship

Reflections of a USC Fan:  The BCS Worked

The BCS, Not the Polls, Got It Right
  • LSU was the most accomplished team this season, posting 3 wins vs. the final top-10 to USC's 1, and 5 wins vs. the final top-25 to USC's 2
  • LSU's 3 best wins:  vs. #4 Oklahoma, #7 Georgia, and #7 Georgia again
  • USC's 3 best wins:  vs. #9 Michigan, #13 Washington St., and #31 Auburn
  • LSU's next 3 best wins:  vs. #17 Mississippi, #19 Arkansas, and #31 Auburn
  • USC's next 3 best wins:  vs. #37 Oregon St., #50 Notre Dame, and #52 UW
  • LSU lost to #26 Florida, while USC lost to #35 Cal
  • USC did beat 11 final top-75 teams to LSU's 8, but this does not make up for the Tigers having beaten more final top-50 (6 to 5), final top-25 (5 to 2), and final top-10 teams (3 to 1) than the Trojans
  • Playing one more game (between LSU and USC) would have been the perfect scenario this season, but what about last season?  Why should undefeated Ohio St. and Miami have had to win play-in games to meet each other on the field?  The BCS system should not be (re-)designed to cater to a year when no team emerges as clearly deserving a bid to the championship game.
  • LSU's .792 rating is by far the lowest for a national champion in the BCS era, as the Tigers are the first non-undefeated champions
  • 4 of the 6 BCS conferences finished within .019 of each other, with the SEC edging the ACC, Pac-10, Big Ten and Big 12 for top honors, and with only the Big East trailing relatively far behind (.042 behind the Big 12)
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The Anderson & Hester College Football 
Computer Rankings, 2003-04 
•Final Pre-Bowl Rankings
•Nov. 30 Rankings
•Nov. 23 Rankings
•Nov. 16 Rankings
•Nov. 9 Rankings
•Nov. 2 Rankings
•Oct. 26 Rankings
•Oct. 19 Rankings
•Oct. 12 Rankings
•Oct. 5 Rankings
•Sept. 28 Rankings

•Final 2002-03 Rankings
•Final 2001-02 Rankings
 
    Rating  W  L Sched.
Strength*		 Sched. 
Rank*		 vs. Current
Top-10		 vs. Current
#11-25		 Other 
Losses
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10.
LSU
USC
Miami, Ohio
Oklahoma
Ohio State
Miami, Fla.
Georgia
Florida State
Michigan
Utah
.792
.774
.758
.746
.744
.738
.722
.719
.711
.704
13
12
13
12
11
11
11
10
10
10
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
3
2
.549
.528
.501
.540
.545
.537
.559
.567
.558
.505
*to date
22
44
64
33
28
38
12
8
14
58
3-0
1-0
0-0
0-1
0-1
2-0
0-2
0-2
1-1
0-0
2-0
1-0
2-1
1-1
4-0
0-1
2-0
1-0
1-1
0-0
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
2
Rank Team  Rating W L Sched. 
Strength		 Sched. 
Rank		   Conference
Rankings		 Rating W*  L* Sched.
Strength*
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25.
Iowa
Tennessee
Washington State
Texas
Boise State
Nebraska
Mississippi
Maryland
Arkansas
TCU
Purdue
Kansas State
Bowling Green
Clemson
Minnesota
.698
.696
.692
.692
.686
.678
.675
.673
.673
.661
.660
.656
.650
.644
.643
10
10
10
10
13
10
10
10
9
11
9
11
11
9
10
3
3
3
3
1
3
3
3
4
2
4
4
3
4
3
.542
.539
.534
.534
.412
.518
.515
.513
.562
.446
.548
.518
.476
.531
.479
30
35
40
41
108
48
53
54
10
90
25
50
78
42
77
  Southeastern
Atlantic Coast
Pac-10
Big Ten
Big 12
Big East
Mountain West
Conference USA
WAC
Mid-American
Sun Belt
*non-conference play
.594
.593
.588
.587
.575
.533
.522
.452
.439
.422
.286
37
27
29
33
39
27
24
24
20
26
7
19
15
17
19
18
18
18
25
27
32
40
.498
.507
.510
.506
.464
.473
.479
.458
.483
.452
.496
Rank Team  Rating W L Sched. 
Strength		 Sched. 
Rank		   Rank Team  Rating  W L Sched.
Strength		 Sched.
Rank
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
Florida
Southern Miss
Oklahoma State
Oregon
N.C. State
Auburn
Northern Illinois
Virginia
Michigan State
California
Texas Tech
Oregon State
Boston College
Pittsburgh
Georgia Tech
West Virginia
Connecticut
Virginia Tech
Wisconsin
Memphis
Missouri
Fresno State
Louisville
New Mexico
Notre Dame
Colorado State
Washington
Marshall
Hawaii
Toledo
Colorado
UCLA
Northwestern
South Carolina
UNLV
Air Force
North Texas
South Florida
Syracuse
Wake Forest
Tulsa
Houston
Alabama
Kansas
Stanford
Texas A&M
.637
.622
.617
.616
.613
.608
.607
.607
.604
.598
.597
.590
.581
.581
.575
.573
.565
.564
.564
.563
.562
.553
.550
.550
.549
.548
.537
.537
.534
.534
.528
.527
.527
.525
.517
.514
.508
.508
.503
.502
.499
.491
.487
.481
.475
.473
8
9
9
8
8
8
10
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
7
8
9
8
7
9
8
9
9
8
5
7
6
8
9
8
5
6
6
5
6
7
9
7
6
5
8
7
4
6
4
4

5
4
4
5
5
5
2
5
5
6
5
5
5
5
6
5
3
5
6
4
5
5
4
5
7
6
6
4
5
4
7
7
7
7
6
5
4
4
6
7
5
6
9
7
7
8
.571
.507
.501
.548
.546
.540
.399
.539
.535
.556
.528
.521
.512
.512
.552
.504
.412
.495
.541
.446
.493
.466
.433
.480
.598
.525
.537
.436
.448
.433
.578
.550
.550
.574
.517
.464
.393
.426
.503
.552
.430
.468
.603
.504
.558
.574
7
57
63
23
26
32
109
36
39
16
43
46
55
56
19
59
107
67
31
89
69
83
96
76
2
45
37
95
88
97
4
20
21
5
51
85
113
101
61
18
99
82
1
60
15
6
  72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
San Diego State
Navy
Arizona State
BYU
Nevada
UAB
Louisiana Tech
Rutgers
Duke
Troy State
Akron
Cincinnati
Tulane
Western Michigan
Wyoming
Penn State
Rice
Kent State
Kentucky
Arizona
Ball State
Baylor
Mississippi State
Iowa State
North Carolina
Vanderbilt
LA Lafayette
Arkansas State
Indiana
San Jose State
Mid. Tenn. St.
Illinois
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Central Florida
Utah State
New Mexico St.
East Carolina
Ohio
Temple
Idaho
UTEP
Buffalo
Army
SMU
LA Monroe
.468
.467
.465
.463
.456
.446
.444
.439
.439
.437
.427
.419
.415
.407
.402
.401
.391
.388
.385
.383
.381
.366
.353
.351
.340
.337
.323
.319
.317
.309
.297
.288
.286
.284
.279
.276
.262
.249
.246
.244
.238
.229
.228
.191
.190
.179
6
8
5
4
6
5
5
5
4
6
7
5
5
5
4
3
5
5
4
2
4
3
2
2
2
2
4
5
2
3
4
1
3
3
3
3
3
1
2
1
3
2
1
0
0
1
6
5
7
8
6
7
7
7
8
6
5
7
7
7
8
9
7
7
8
10
8
9
10
10
10
10
8
7
10
8
8
11
9
9
9
9
9
11
10
11
9
11
11
13
12
11
.468
.398
.516
.564
.456
.496
.494
.489
.540
.437
.379
.468
.464
.457
.502
.554
.440
.437
.485
.592
.481
.518
.560
.558
.546
.543
.417
.364
.520
.439
.388
.548
.427
.424
.418
.414
.398
.498
.432
.492
.367
.418
.470
.487
.484
.395
81
110
52
9
87
66
68
71
34
93
115
80
84
86
62
17
91
94
73
3
75
49
11
13
27
29
105
117
47
92
114
24
100
102
103
106
111
65
98
70
116
104
79
72
74
112
The Anderson & Hester Rankings are distinct in four ways: 

1. These rankings do not reward teams for running up scores.  Teams are rewarded for beating quality opponents, which is the object of the game.  Margin of victory, which is not the object of the game, is not considered. 

2. Unlike the A.P. and coaches' polls, these rankings do not prejudge teams.  These rankings first appear after the season's fifth week, and each team's ranking reflects its actual accomplishments on the field, not its perceived potential. 

3. These rankings compute the most accurate strength of schedule ratings.  Each team's opponents and opponents' opponents are judged not only by their won-lost records but also, uniquely, by their conferences' strength (see #4). 

4. These rankings provide the most accurate conference ratings.  Each conference is rated according to its non-conference won-lost record and the difficulty of its non-conference schedule. 

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 Copyright 2004 by Jeff Anderson and Chris Hester, all rights reserved