Visually Analyzing College Football's BCS Rankings

The 2007 college football season ended with LSU hoisting the $30,000 Waterford Crystal BCS Championship Trophy.

If you're unfamiliar, BCS (Bowl Championship Series) is the organization that determines which teams play in the major college football bowls – including matching the top two teams against each other for at least a share of the national championship.

Four of the five BCS bowl games this year were blowouts, including a lackluster title game. These match ups were decided using a formula that consists of three equally weighted components: the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Harris Interactive College Football Poll, and an average of six computer rankings. Despite the controversy that surrounds it, there is one thing the BCS does do right – it waits until mid season to release its first rankings rather than judge a team on what it did last year or its weak pre-conference opponents.