BCS Rankings: How the BCS Compares to the AP and Coaches Polls

This is the time of year when the season truly starts. Not just for the players and coaches, for the staffs and trainers, but for the media and prognosticators to begin taking a huge mixture of polls, data, votes and other metrics in order to decide the best college football teams in the country.

Not only are these week-to-week shifts in the NCAA universe good for football, they're good for America. They keep our attention focused, not complacent to say, "Oh, this team's good now, they'll always be good" and the like. Is Boise State truly a top five school, or are we missing something? Kansas State's rise is impressive, but will they be able to sustain under the pressure?

This time of year, polls come in to fill the void between Saturdays, giving us six more whole days of concentrating on the greatest sport ever conceived: amateur college football. There are three major polls to which we pay attention, and they all have minor shifts back and forth depending on teams. Some are higher in one poll, some do better in another.

What ultimately matters are the BCS rankings, released today for the world's dissection.

Here now is a comparison of the BCS and AP polls to the USA Today/Coaches poll. Numbers in parentheses are first-place votes.

No. 1: BCS -- LSU; AP -- LSU (41); Coaches -- Oklahoma (31)

No. 2: BCS -- Alabama; AP -- Alabama (11); Coaches -- LSU (15)

No. 3: BCS -- Oklahoma; AP -- Oklahoma (6); Coaches -- Alabama (12)

No. 4: BCS -- Oklahoma State; AP -- Wisconsin; Coaches -- Wisconsin (1)

No. 5: BCS -- Boise State; AP -- Boise State (1); Coaches -- Stanford

No. 6: BCS -- Wisconsin; AP -- Oklahoma State; Coaches -- Oklahoma State

No. 7: BCS -- Clemson; AP -- Stanford; Coaches -- Boise State

No. 8: BCS -- Stanford; AP -- Clemson; Coaches -- tie, Clemson, Oregon

No. 9: BCS -- Arkansas; AP -- Oregon

No. 10: BCS -- Oregon; AP -- Arkansas; Coaches -- Arkansas

No. 11: BCS -- Kansas State; AP -- West Virginia; Coaches -- Nebraska

No. 12: BCS -- Virginia Tech; AP -- Kansas State; Coaches -- South Carolina

No. 13: BCS -- Nebraska; AP -- Nebraska; Coaches -- Michigan State

No. 14: BCS -- South Carolina; AP -- South Carolina; Coaches -- tie, West Virginia, Virginia Tech

No. 15: BCS -- West Virginia; AP -- Michigan State

No. 16: BCS -- Michigan State; AP -- Virginia Tech; Coaches -- Kansas State

No. 17: BCS -- Texas A&M; AP -- Texas A&M; Coaches -- Michigan

No. 18: BCS -- Michigan; AP -- Michigan; Coaches -- Texas A&M

No. 19: BCS -- Houston; AP -- Auburn; Coaches -- Georgia Tech

No. 20: BCS -- Auburn; AP -- Georgia Tech; Coaches -- Houston

No. 21: BCS -- Penn State; AP -- Houston; Coaches -- Illinois

No. 22: BCS -- Georgia Tech; AP -- Washington; Coaches -- Penn State

No. 23: BCS -- Illinois; AP -- Illinois; Coaches -- Auburn; Coaches -- Auburn

No. 24: BCS -- Texas; AP -- tie, Georgia, Arizona State; Coaches -- Washington

No. 25: BCS -- Washington; Coaches -- Arizona State