The Harris Interactive College Football Poll was a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football teams. The rankings were compiled by Harris Interactive, a market research company that specializes in Internet research.
The poll was created in the summer of 2005 to replace the AP Poll in the BCS formula. The AP had decided it no longer wanted to be a part of the formula used by the BCS rankings to determine who plays in the BCS National Championship Game. [1] Unlike the other two seasonal polls, the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, the Harris Poll did not release a preseason poll; in fact, it did not come out until the last half of October, several weeks into the season. Also, the Harris Poll did not release a post-bowl game poll or crown a national champion; the final Harris Poll was released along with the final BCS rankings.
The Harris Interactive Poll was composed of former players, coaches, administrators, and current and former media who submitted votes for the top 25 teams each week. The panel was designed to be a statistically valid representation of all 11 FBS Conferences and independent institutions. [2]
First, Division I-Bowl Subdivision college football conferences and independent institutions nominated prospective panelists. Then Harris randomly selected 115 [3] members from the nominees to participate in the actual panel. Each week from mid October to the end of the regular college football season these 115 panelists voted on the particular ranking of teams. These rankings were then published and are used to determine 1/3 of the BCS standings.
The Harris poll's final rankings were from the last week of the regular season for the purpose of producing a final BCS ranking. The Harris poll did not crown a champion in a post-bowl poll.
See results at: Final 2005 Harris Poll Archived 2012-09-16 at the Wayback Machine
See results at: Final 2006 Harris Poll Archived 2011-11-25 at the Wayback Machine
See results at: Final 2007 Harris Poll Archived 2011-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
See results at: Final 2008 Harris Poll Archived 2011-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
See results at: Final 2009 Harris Poll Archived 2011-11-12 at the Wayback Machine
See results at: Final 2010 Harris Poll
See results at: Final 2011 Harris Poll Archived 2012-01-05 at the Wayback Machine
See results at: Final 2012 Harris Poll Archived 2013-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
See results at: Final 2013 Harris Poll Archived 2013-12-30 at the Wayback Machine
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, including an opportunity for the top two teams to compete in the BCS National Championship Game. The system was in place for the 1998 through 2013 seasons and in 2014 was replaced by the College Football Playoff under its original four-team format.
The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college football season as one of four designated bowl games, and beginning in the 2006 season as a standalone event rotated among the host sites of the aforementioned bowls.
The Associated Press poll provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadcasters from across the nation. Each voter provides their own ranking of the top 25 teams, and the individual rankings are then combined to produce the national ranking by giving a team 25 points for a first place vote, 24 for a second place vote, and so on down to 1 point for a twenty-fifth place vote. Ballots of the voting members in the AP poll are publicized.
The 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 28, 2004 and ended on December 4, 2004. The postseason concluded on January 4, 2005 with the Orange Bowl, which served as the season's Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship Game.
Three human polls and one formulaic ranking make up the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), does not bestow a National Championship title for Division I-A football. That title is bestowed by different polling agencies. There are several polls that currently exist. The main weekly polls are the AP Poll and Coaches Poll. About halfway through the season, two additional polls are released; the Harris Interactive Poll and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings.
Three human polls and one formulaic ranking make up the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a National Championship title. That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason: the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. About halfway through the season, two additional polls are released, the Harris Interactive Poll and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings. The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll are factors in the BCS standings. At the end of the season, the BCS standings determine who plays in the BCS bowl games as well as the BCS National Championship Game.
The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially as the US LBM Coaches Poll since 2023.
Three polls and one formulaic ranking make up the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship title. That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason: the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. About halfway through the season, two additional polls are released, the Harris Interactive Poll and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings. The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll are factors in the BCS standings. At the end of the season, the BCS standings determine who plays in the BCS bowl games as well as the BCS National Championship Game.
In American college football, the 2007 BCS computer rankings are a part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) formula that determines who plays in the BCS National Championship Game as well as several other bowl games. Each computer system was developed using different methods which attempts to rank the teams' performance. For 2007, the highest and lowest rankings for a team are dropped and the remaining four rankings are summed. A team ranked #1 by a computer system is given 25 points, #2 is given 24 points and so forth. The summed values are then divided by 100. The values are then ranked by percentage. This percentage ranking is then averaged with the Coaches Poll and Harris Poll average rankings, each receiving equal weight, and the results become the BCS Rankings.
The 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system used between 1998 and 2013 that replaced the previously similarly more controversial Bowl Coalition and Bowl Alliance that was used between 1992 and 1997 and was replaced by the College Football Playoff in 2014. The selection system was designed, through polls and computer statistics, to determine a No. 1 and No. 2 ranked team in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). After the final polls, the two top teams were chosen to play in the BCS National Championship Game which determined the BCS national champion team, but not the champion team for independent voting systems. This format was intended to be "bowl-centered" rather than a traditional playoff system, since numerous FBS Conferences had expressed their unwillingness to participate in a play-off system. However, due to the unique and often esoteric nature of the BCS format, there had been controversy as to which two teams should play for the national championship and which teams should play in the four other BCS bowl games. In this selection process, the BCS was often criticized for conference favoritism, its inequality of access for teams in non-Automatic Qualifying (non-AQ) Conferences, and perceived monopolistic, "profit-centered" motives. In terms of this last concern, Congress explored the possibility on more than one occasion of holding hearings to determine the legality of the BCS under the terms of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and the United States Justice Department also periodically announced interest in investigating the BCS for similar reasons.
Three human polls and one formulaic ranking make up the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship title. That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason: the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. About halfway through the season, two additional polls are released, the Harris Interactive Poll and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings. The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll are factors in the BCS standings. At the end of the season, the BCS standings determine who plays in the BCS bowl games as well as the BCS National Championship Game.
A national championship in the highest level of college football in the United States, currently the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), is a designation awarded annually by various organizations to their selection of the best college football team. Division I FBS football is the only National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sport for which the NCAA does not host a yearly championship event. As such, it is sometimes referred to as a "mythical national championship".
Three human polls and one formula ranking make up the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship title. That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason: the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. Two additional polls are released midway through the season; the Harris Interactive Poll is released after the fourth week of the season and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings is released after the seventh week. The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll are factors in the BCS standings. At the end of the season, on Sunday, December 6, 2009, the BCS standings determines who plays in the BCS bowl games as well as the 2010 BCS National Championship Game on January 7, 2010 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.
Three human polls and one formula ranking make up the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship title. That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason: the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. Two additional polls are released midway through the season; the Harris Interactive Poll is released after the sixth week of the season and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings is released after the seventh week. The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll are factors in the BCS standings. At the end of the season, on Sunday, December 5, 2010, the BCS standings determines who plays in the BCS bowl games as well as the 2011 BCS National Championship Game on January 10, 2011 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Three human polls and one formula ranking make up the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship title. That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason: the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. Two additional polls are released midway through the season; the Harris Interactive Poll is released after the sixth week of the season and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings is released after the seventh week. The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll are factors in the BCS standings. At the end of the season, on Sunday, December 4, 2011, the BCS standings determines who plays in the BCS bowl games as well as the 2012 BCS National Championship Game on January 9, 2012 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Three human polls and one formula ranking make up the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship title. That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. Two additional polls are released midway through the season; the Harris Interactive Poll is released after the sixth week of the season, and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings are released after the seventh week. The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll are factors in the BCS standings. At the end of the regular season, on December 2, 2012, the BCS standings determined who would play in the BCS bowl games as well as the 2013 BCS National Championship Game on January 7, 2013, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of college football competition in the United States. It culminates in the College Football Playoff National Championship game. The inaugural tournament was held at the end of the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season under a four-team format. The CFP Board of Managers voted in 2023 to expand the playoff to twelve teams beginning in 2024, an arrangement that will last at least through the end of the 2025 season. After 2025, the current contract between all major players expires and a new contract will be drawn up, with indications that additional expansion may take place as soon as 2026.
Three human polls and one formula ranking made up the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship title. That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. Two additional polls were released midway through the season; the Harris Interactive Poll was released after the sixth week of the season, and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings were released after the seventh week. The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll were factors in the BCS standings. At the end of the season, on Sunday, December 1, 2013, the BCS standings determined who played in the BCS bowl games as well as the 2014 BCS National Championship Game on January 6, 2014, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
The Colley Matrix is a computer-generated sports rating system designed by Dr. Wesley Colley. It is one of more than 40 polls, rankings, and formulas recognized by the NCAA in its list of national champion selectors in college football.