Oklahoma Sooners Are #1

So say the computers, as the first BCS rating, which averages in the human polls with statistics on strength of schedule and other number crunching, has anointed my alma mater’s football team #1!

Score an early round for Oklahoma.

And for computers.

The Sooners trail Oregon and Boise State in college football’s human-driven polls. But they posted higher computer ratings virtually across the board, and emerged Sunday atop the Bowl Championship Series’ first ratings of the season.

Oregon came in at No. 2 and Boise at No. 3, establishing an initial pecking order for berths in the BCS’ Jan. 10 national championship game in Glendale, Ariz. The top two teams at the end of the regular season advance.

Don’t discount Sunday’s outcome. Ten times in the BCS’ 12-year history, at least one of the first-week top two wound up in the title game.

via Oklahoma, Oregon occupy top two spots in first BCS standings – Campus Rivalry: College Football & Basketball News, Recruiting, Game Picks, and More – USATODAY.com.

But isn’t this reasonable? The human polls generally keep the previous week’s order, just bumping everybody up when a #1 team gets upset (as happened two weeks in a row, with Alabama and now Ohio State getting beat). Does anyone think Boise State, or even Oregon, has a tougher schedule than Oklahoma? Computers simply apply mathematics to the rankings and are thus bringing objective facts to bear. Isn’t that right? (I know, I know. I wouldn’t be saying that if Oklahoma got consigned a lower ranking because of the computers. But that’s because I’m not objective.)