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.