This year's BCS rankings debuted Sunday night with Alabama's Crimson Tide at the top of the heap directly above the Florida State Seminoles, which were ranked #2 after an impressive 51-14 blowout over the Clemson Tigers.
The Bowl Championship Series is responsible for selecting the top ten rated NCAA Division I Football teams that will then face off in five bowl match-ups at the end of the season.
The rankings are determined by three components according to BCSFootball.org: USA Today Coaches Poll, Harris Interactive College Football Poll and an average of six computer rankings. All three of these components are then added together to determine the BCS rakings.
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After selecting the top 10 teams for the past 16 years, the BCS selection process will be discontinued after this year and replaced by the College Football Playoff for the 2014–15 Season. In the new process, four teams will play in two semifinal games, the winners of which will then advance to the newly created College Football Championship Game, much like the Super Bowl for college football.
Rounding out the top five teams of this year's BCS rankings thus far are the Oregon Ducks, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Missouri Tigers, all of which have a record of 7-0.
Despite their start at the top of the list,
Sports Illustrated, citing an article by Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News, noted that in the 15 prior seasons in which the BCS system was used the initial top two teams only once met in the championship game.
In its assessment of the BCS rankings,
the Bleacher Report noted several teams it contended should have been included in the top 25 on the list including, the University of Mississippi's Ole Miss Rebels, Michigan State Spartans, and Arizona State Sun Devils, writing the "The Top 25 drops off significantly after Texas A&M at No. 10."
The top 25 teams,
as listed on ESPN.com, are ranked as follows:
1. Alabama
2. Florida State
3. Oregon
4. Ohio State
5. Missouri
6. Stanford
7. Miami
8. Baylor
9. Clemson
10. Texas Tech
11. Auburn
12. UCLA
13. LSU
14. Virginia Tech
15. Oklahoma
16. Texas A&M
17. Fresno State
18. Northern Illinois
19. Oklahoma State
20. Louisville
21. South Carolina
22. Michigan
23. UCF
24. Nebraska
25. Oregon State
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