Originally Published: January 22, 2009
Meet the BCS-era Top 25
By Chris Fallica, Nick Loucks and Harold Shelton
ESPN Research
ESPN Research
Who is No. 1? That debate rages weekly during each college football season, and often long after the season is over and the trophies have been handed out. The debate is as much a part of the annual ritual as the touchdowns, fight songs and bowl games.
ESPN's Prestige Rankings may settle a few bets, or start a few arguments. Point values were assigned for certain successes (win a national title, earn 25 points) and failures (get your program banned from the postseason, lose two points). We ran all the numbers through the computer to come up with the No. 1 program (and Nos. 2-119) of the past 73 seasons. Following is the Top 25 FBS programs during the BCS era, with commentary by the ESPN Research team that worked on the project:To continue reading this article you must be an Insider
ESPN RESEARCH'S PRESTIGE RANKINGS
If you think the annual BCS standings can spark a debate, try ranking each FBS team's all-time position in college football history. But the ESPN Research Department devised a plan to settle the argument. Their Prestige Rankings system lets the numbers do the talking.
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- Rumors: Kelly, Meyer odds leaders for Irish job
- Feldman: A Week 12 wrap-up
- Tools: Game Predictor | PickCenter
- Draft: Mel's Big Board (11/18) | NFL draft blog
