We have a million different ways to rank the top teams in the college football world in 2023. Whether it’s the conventional Associated Press Poll, the US LBM Coaches Poll, or ESPN’s Football Power Index, there are a handful of numbers that are considered the standard among fans and media members.
On top of those pillars of the ranking community, you also have ESPN’s SP+, USA TODAY’s 1-133 ranking, Josh Pate’s Power Poll, and a new 1-665 ranking from ESPN’s Bill Connelly.
It’s safe to say that we don’t need any new rankings going forward.
What about old rankings, though?
There is a popular account on Twitter/X that goes back to “an era when the Harris Interactive Poll was really important to college football,” and brings those rankings to the present day, though that may have been a time that is frustrating for some fans, particularly in Eugene.
We’re talking about the BCS era, a time when there wasn’t a committee of voters who decided the final rankings each year, but rather a set of computers that calculated the final rankings based on numerous formulas that often led to convolution and controversy.
Just for our entertainment, we wanted to look at how those BCS standings would look if there in practice today. Take a look: