When Oregon played UCLA last Thursday, the Ducks were introduced to the Autzen Stadium faithful as the No. 1 team in the country. And they were — but not according to every measure.
There are a variety of college football ranking systems in place today, some more reputable and accurate than others. For example, last week, Oregon was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press, Coaches and Harris Polls, but only No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series standings. This week, the same holds true. Oregon is again No. 1 in the AP, Harris and Coaches Polls, but No. 2 in the BCS.
Keeping track of all the polls and their significance can be confusing. Here’s a brief rundown of the five major polls, and why each matters.
AP Poll
For years, the Associated Press Poll was the granddaddy of all the major college football rankings. Because there was no formalized playoff for Division I teams, the highest-ranked team in the AP Poll at the end of the season was widely considered the National Champion. That all changed in 1997 with the formation of the Bowl Championship Series, or BCS. The BCS was created to end so-called “split” national titles that resulted from multiple polls having different opinions as to the nation’s No. 1 team.
Despite its prominence and high visibility, the Associated Press Poll actually has no bearing on BCS poll results, but it did at one point. The AP Poll was included in the BCS formula until 2004, when the BCS-determined bowl matchups left college football fans scratching their heads. The National Championship left out undefeated Utah and Auburn, while Texas surpassed Cal in the standings to earn a spot in the Rose Bowl. Those decisions also caught the ire of many AP Poll members, who asked that their poll not be considered as part of the BCS formula.
Now, the AP poll is viewed as more of a reference point than anything else. Unlike the BCS standings, the AP Poll comes out in the preseason, and every week of the college football season. The BCS standings aren’t released until the eighth week of the season, so the AP Poll is a good early-season indicator of each team’s relative strength.
But even though it has no postseason implications, the AP does award a trophy to its No. 1 team at the end of year. So despite a two-year postseason ban, USC does have something to play for, after all.
Coaches Poll
Unlike the AP poll, the Coaches Poll figures prominently in the BCS standings, accounting for one-third of the BCS formula. The Coaches Poll is exactly what it sounds like — a poll of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, formerly Division I-A) coaches. Approximately 50 percent, or 60 of the 120 FBS coaches, participate in the vote each week. To protect the voters, the results of the Coaches Poll are kept confidential, so there’s no way of knowing where Lane Kiffen, head coach of the USC Trojans, ranked Oregon this week, or how highly Urban Meyer, head coach of the University of Florida Gators, thinks of the Ducks.
Harris Interactive Poll
Created to replace the AP poll in the BCS formula for the 2005 season, the Harris poll is a survey of former players, coaches, former and current media members and administrators. Unlike the AP and Coaches Poll, the Harris Poll does not release a preseason poll (it actually isn’t released until mid-September), nor does it put out a post-bowl game poll. Instead, the final Harris Poll is released at the end of the regular season. There are 114 voters in the Harris Poll, which like the Coaches Poll, accounts for one-third of the BCS standings. Register-Guard columnist George Schroeder has served as one of those voters since the 2009 season.
Computer Polls
Here’s where it gets complicated. According to its website, the BCS takes the average of six different computer polls — Jeff Sagarin, Anderson and Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey and Dr. Peter Wolfe — to account for one-third of the BCS formula. The computer polls differ from the human polls in that they don’t factor margin of victory in the equation, nor do they take preseason rankings into consideration.
As can be inferred by the Ducks’ No. 2 BCS rankings, the computers aren’t as high on the Ducks as humans are, in large part because of a perceived weak strength of schedule. That should change in the upcoming weeks when Oregon plays the meat of its Pac-10 schedule.
BCS Poll
First released in week eight of the college football season, the BCS poll determines which two teams will play for the national championship at the end of the season. The Coaches Poll, Harris Poll and computer polls are used as the basis for the BCS rankings. In addition to the National Championship game, the BCS also decides who will participate in the other four BCS bowl games ­— the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, La., the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., and the Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Fla. The outright winner of each of the BCS conferences — ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10 and SEC — is guaranteed an automatic BCS bowl bid. Ohio State University currently holds the most BCS Bowl appearances with eight, but Florida and LSU have the most BCS championships to its credit with two each.

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