Georgia checks in at #4 in BCS

ATHENS – Coming off their 34-17 win over Vanderbilt, the Georgia Bulldogs were ranked fourth in the first Bowl Championship Series standings released today.

Southern Cal was the number one ranked team followed by Texas and Virginia Tech. Alabama followed the Bulldogs at number five.

Georgia and Alabama would play one another if they remain undefeated in the SEC Championship game. Georgia was behind USC and all three categories of the BCS, but was in front of Virginia Tech in the computer standings even though they trailed in both the Harris and USA Today Poll.

1. USC .9923
2. Texas .9591
3. Virginia Tech .9067
4. Georgia .8933
5. Alabama .8220

To derive a team’s poll percentages in the Harris Interactive and USA Today polls, each team’s point total is divided by a maximum 2825 possible points in the Harris Interactive Poll and 1525 possible points in the USA Today Poll.

Teams are assigned an inverse point total (25 for #1, 24 for #2, etc.) for each of their respective computer poll rankings to determine the overall computer component. The highest and lowest ranking for each team is dropped, and the sum total of the remaining four rankings is divided by 100 (the maximum possible points). This figure produces a Computer Rankings Percentage. The six computer ranking providers are Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin and Peter Wolfe. Each computer ranking accounts for schedule strength within its formula.

The BCS Average is calculated by averaging the percent totals of the Harris Interactive and USA Today Polls, and Computer rankings. The highest BCS Average receives the #1 ranking, the second highest receives #2, and so forth.