The first edition of the 2012 BCS rankings is to be released Sunday night, ranking the nation's college football teams for selection to the BCS Championship Game. The BCS rankings are based on two human polls -- the USA Today Coaches' Poll and the Harris Poll -- and six computer rankings. A weighted formula based on these polls determines who plays for the National Championship.
Both human and computer polls are given specific criteria to consider in ranking the teams. In particular, the voters and computers are required to disregard margin of victory. Jeff Sagarin of USA Today administers one of the computer rankings that makes up the BCS, but Sagarin's rankings include margin of victory. Therefore, Sagarin generates a second poll, known as ELO-CHESS, that removes margin of victory from the calculation.
Sagarin released his ELO-CHESS Sunday morning, listing Alabama as the nation's top team. Florida, Kansas State, Notre Dame and Ohio State are ranked second through fifth, though the Buckeyes are ineligible for postseason play. LSU, Oregon, Oregon State, Oklahoma and South Carolina round out the top ten.
Here are the top 25 teams:
1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Kansas State
4. Notre Dame
5. Ohio State
6. LSU
7. Oregon
8. Oregon State
9. Oklahoma
10. South Carolina
11. USC
12. Rutgers
13. Texas A&M
14. Mississippi State
15. Georgia
16. Cincinnati
17. Stanford
18. West Virginia
19. Boise State
20. Louisville
21. Texas
22. Texas Tech
23. TCU
24. Florida State
25. Ohio
The full BCS standings will be released at 8:30 p.m. ET.