Early BCS Rankings Have BYU, Utah in Position for BCS Bids

The early returns of BCS computers are out, and there are speculative rankings of what information is available. The big shocker with this is how much the computers like Utah, with three that have the Utes in the top 10. Below is a chart with five of the six computer rankings inputted below.

Colley Matrix	Sagarin Ratings	Wolfe Ratings	Massey Ratings	Anderson/Hester	Billingsley Report
3. UTAH	8. BYU	N/A	4. Utah	N/A	10. BYU
23. BYU	10. Utah		19. BYU		17. Utah

The reason, in my opinion, that Utah is this high is because of a lack of information so far, and it could be the formula that includes a team's opponents' opponents' record. For example, Utah played Michigan, who plays in the Big Ten, and Utah will also play Oregon State, who plays in the Pac-10, so those teams' opponents' records are included.

Also, some computers take in information for up to the date of current results with strength of schedule and then some calculate the entire season's worth. With limited information so far, that is the reason why the BCS does not release its rankings until mid to late October, because rankings change a lot and look out of whack.

Here is ESPN's Bruce Edwards' prediction of the BCS with the info so far, and the surprising result sees Utah ahead of BYU so far this year. One odd thing I notice is that Texas Tech is ranked 12th and they have played two FCS teams on the year, and USC is ranked higher then both MWC schools.

As the rules state, BYU would get the automatic bid, and Utah would be eligible in the at-large pool. With this info out, I will be posting the updated computer and BCS rankings each week.

Mock BCS standings

Team	Record
1. Oklahoma	4-0
2. Alabama	5-0
3. LSU	4-0
4. Texas	4-0
5. Missouri	4-0
6. Penn State	5-0
7. Georgia	4-1
8. South Florida	5-0
9. USC	2-1
10. BYU	4-0
11. Utah	5-0
12. Texas Tech	4-0