Written by Ell
| 29 September 2008
The BCS poll is made up three parts. First, the USA-Today ESPN Coaches' Poll - Alabama is fourth. Second, the
Harris Interactive Poll where Alabama is ranked third. Finally,
six distinct computer polls are included. Four of the six polls are out, and Alabama is first in three of those.
What does that mean?
Well, so far, the computers like the Tide.
Kenneth Massey,
Jeff Sagarin, and
Wes Colley's rankings all have Alabama first.
Richard Billingsley's rankings have Bama third.
Peter Wolfe (October 19) and the
Anderson and Hester rankings will be released later.
When it comes time to compute the computers' total, you drop the highest and lowest ranking. That means Alabama would get the #1 nod from the computers. Which is very good news. The
BCS Guru speculates that the Tide would have a good chance at first in the standings if they were released today.
Fortunately for the Tide, Kentucky is actually in the top 25 in the three polls in which Bama is ranked first. That means a win this weekend will almost certainly mean the Tide retains first in those polls. Sadly, Billingsley has the Wildcats ranked 28th, so there's less help there.
If you're interested in all the complicated math and the ins and outs, the
full BCS mess is laid out here.
Nick Saban would warn this is all getting ahead of ourselves - and he's right. There's lots of football to be played. But you can't deny it's fun.
