The BCS is likely to echo the final network rankings, at least as far as 1 and 2 are concerned. Interestingly, as an example of why how you think and rank matters so greatly, there would likely be stark differences between how the network rankings v. the BCS v. a selection committee would think about Bowl selection beyond the national championship and/or playoff seeding. For example, the network rankings claim that of the top 4 teams, 3 of them are in the SEC. Intuitively quite reasonable to many people, but I strongly doubt a selection committee is going to let 3 teams from the same conference go to a playoff, even if they've earned it. As a comparison to what will be released later today, below today's rankings I've included a BCS Bowl slotting using the current BCS rules, selection order, and program revenue.
Also interesting about this week is the network rankings' responsiveness to new evidence. We see NIU drop from 3 last week to 27 this week with the loss to a very bad Bowling Green team. Likewise, Ohio State falls from 2 to 9 losing to a Michigan State team that the network rankings have never held higher than the top 20.
Final Regular Season Top 25 (Explanation; Full Rankings)
- Florida State (nc)
- Auburn (+3)
- Alabama (+1)
- Missouri (+2)
- South Carolina (+2)
- UCF (+4)
- Clemson (+1)
- Georgia (+1)
- Ohio State (-7)
- LSU (+1)
- Texas A&M (+1)
- Oregon (+1)
- Stanford (+1)
- Oklahoma (+4)
- Baylor (nc)
- Louisville (+1)
- UCLA (-1)
- Ole Miss (+1)
- Miami (+1)
- Michigan State (+8)
- Arizona State (nc)
- Vanderbilt (+1)
- Oklahoma State (-1)
- Duke (nc)
- Wisconsin (+1)
Network Ranking Bowl Selection:
BCS National Championship: Florida State v. Auburn
Rose Bowl: Michigan State v. Stanford
Orange Bowl: Clemson v. Ohio State
Sugar Bowl: Alabama v. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl: Baylor v. UCF
Network Ranking Playoff Seeding:
Game 1: Florida State v. Missouri
Game 2: Auburn v. Alabama