Thu, Dec 11, 2003 - Page 19 News List

AI takes the brains out of rankings in college sports

By Buck Harvey  /  NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , SAN ANTONIO

BCS ratings, as in golf scores, are better the lower they are. And the Sooners had 0.5 sliced off their BCS rating because they beat Texas.

This falls under quality-win points (QW) that come with beating a top-10 team. Texas, the eventual No. 5, thus meant a minus-0.5 to Oklahoma.

Had the Longhorns lost just one more game, the Sooners wouldn't have gotten that QW. Without that, LSU and USC would have cut Oklahoma's BCS lead by more than half.

But that accounts only for the bonus points that a highly ranked Texas provided Oklahoma. Had Texas fallen badly, OU's strength of schedule would have fallen, too.

By how much? Just as Notre Dame losing mattered to USC, Texas winning mattered to Oklahoma.

So give Brown credit for righting his program. But also give him credit for lifting up the very program that tortures him.

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