Sports: BCS math

The BCS numbers.

Hmmm ...

Clearly the "humans" got Florida into the BCS championship game. The computers pretty much split between Florida and Michigan. 3 computers had Michigan #2 and 3 had them #3. As for Florida, 1 computer had then #1, 2 had them #2 and 3 had them #3.

There are some discrepancies between the computer polls and human polls: the humans had USC at #7 while the computers had then at #4, the humans had Wisconsin #5/6 while the computers had them at #10 and Oklahoma was #8 in the human polls while the computers had then down at #16.

My guess is that the computers take into account strength of schedule in a more objective way than the humans do.

Believe it or not, UCLA is ranked! They are #25 in the BCS composite due to the computers saying they are #20.

For supporters of a playoff system, the numbers are difficult. Let's say you go for a 4-team playoff. Ohio State and Florida are in. But who would you put in for the #3 and #4 spots?

Michgan, LSU, USC and Louisville are listed at #3-6 in the BCS poll. However, people might complain that Michigan and LSU didn't win their conferences. And so on and so on ...

As I see it, we are stuck with the BCS. Everyone might claim to want a playoff but I don't think there would be any agreement on how to structure it.