For much of college football’s history, a national champion was not crowned on the field in a final playoff. It was declared by people—and, increasingly, formulas—trying to compare teams that often never played one another. That’s why American football rankings evolved from newspaper judgments into a central part of the sport’s championship system.
Before the polls: selectors and early ratings
In the early decades of college football, there was no nationwide league table or postseason tournament to settle the question of who was best. Teams played schedules shaped by geography and tradition, so a strong Eastern team might never face a leading team from the Midwest or West. Newspapers, coaches, and other organizations made their own choices about the national champion, sometimes after the season and sometimes years later.
Some selectors relied on records and reputation. Others tried to make the comparisons more systematic. The Dickinson System, developed by University of Illinois professor Frank G. Dickinson in the 1920s, used a mathematical formula that considered results and the strength of opponents. It became influential, but no rating method could remove every judgment call: schedules differed, and there was no common postseason test.
The result was a familiar problem: more than one selector could name a champion, and their choices did not always agree.
The rise of the national polls
The Associated Press introduced its college football poll in 1936. Sportswriters submitted rankings, and the AP combined their votes into a national list. The poll gave fans and newspapers a shared weekly reference point, even though it was not a formal league standings table.
A second major poll followed in 1950, when the United Press began surveying coaches. It later became known as the UPI Coaches Poll and, after changes in its publisher, the Coaches Poll. With two prominent groups offering rankings, disagreements became part of the championship conversation. A team could finish No. 1 in one poll and second in another—and both groups could have a case.
For many years, the polls also shaped the selection of national champions. Their timing mattered. The AP began issuing its final poll after bowl games in 1965, while the coaches’ poll continued to crown its champion before the bowls until 1974. That meant bowl results could change one poll’s final verdict but not the other’s. Polls made national comparisons easier, but they did not create a single, universally accepted answer.
From polls to the Bowl Championship Series
By the 1990s, college football leaders wanted the top teams to meet more often in a national title game. The Bowl Championship Series (BCS), introduced for the 1998 season, used a ranking formula to match the top two teams in a championship game. Its calculations blended human polls with computer ratings and other measures, including strength of schedule. The exact formula changed over time.
The BCS was a significant step: instead of simply asking voters to name a champion, it used rankings to decide who would play for one. But a formula is only as convincing as the choices built into it. Which computer ratings should count? How much should a difficult schedule matter? And what should happen when a team’s résumé looks stronger than its position in the formula?
| Period | Main ranking approach | How it shaped the championship |
|---|---|---|
| Before the national polls | Independent selectors and early rating systems | Different groups could name different champions |
| Poll era | AP writers’ poll and coaches’ poll | Poll positions became a major basis for champion claims |
| BCS era, 1998–2013 | Combined polls and computer ratings | The formula selected two teams for the title game |
| College Football Playoff era | Selection committee rankings | Rankings helped select and seed playoff teams |
The BCS controversies showed the limits of trying to settle a complicated sport with a short list. In 2003, LSU played Oklahoma in the BCS title game and won the BCS championship, while USC finished No. 1 in the AP poll and was also recognized as a national champion. In the 2004 season, undefeated Auburn was left out of the title game, which featured USC and Oklahoma. Such disputes strengthened the argument that the top teams should settle the issue on the field.
The College Football Playoff and committee rankings
The four-team College Football Playoff began with the 2014 season. A selection committee replaced the BCS formula as the body choosing the playoff field. It released rankings during the season and considered factors such as wins and losses, schedule strength, head-to-head results, and performance against common opponents. There was no fixed equation that automatically produced the order.
That change made the rankings more directly connected to a postseason bracket, but it did not make them purely objective. Committee members had to weigh competing résumés. A one-loss team with a demanding schedule might be rated above an undefeated team from a less challenging schedule, for example. Fans could inspect the results and debate the reasoning, but the committee still made judgment calls.
The playoff expanded to 12 teams for the 2024 season, giving more programs a route into the national title race. In that format, the field includes the five highest-ranked conference champions and seven at-large teams. The four highest-ranked conference champions receive first-round byes. Rankings therefore do more than identify two finalists: they help determine which teams qualify and how the bracket is arranged.
The AP and coaches’ polls still matter as measures of public and expert opinion, but they do not select the College Football Playoff field. The committee’s rankings perform that job. Keeping those roles separate helps explain why a team’s AP position and CFP position can differ.
How NFL rankings work differently
Professional football does not use a national poll to choose its playoff teams. NFL standings are based primarily on each team’s win-loss-tie record within its division and conference. League tiebreaking procedures—such as head-to-head results and division records—determine playoff places when teams finish level. Sportswriters and broadcasters publish “power rankings,” but those are opinion-based lists and do not decide playoff qualification or seeding.
That distinction matters: in college football, rankings have helped select a champion because teams play uneven schedules and historically had no complete playoff. In the NFL, the regular-season standings and an established playoff bracket provide the route to the title.
Why rankings remain part of the game
Rankings give fans a way to compare teams outside their own conference and create a running narrative through the season. They can also influence practical decisions: a high CFP position can improve a team’s playoff chances, while a poll ranking may affect national attention and expectations.
Still, a ranking is a snapshot, not proof. A record tells you what a team has achieved; schedule strength and game context help explain how impressive it is; and the ranking reflects how a particular group weighs those facts. In football, where a handful of turnovers or a late fourth-quarter stop can swing a game, reasonable evaluators will not always agree.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When did the AP college football poll begin?
The AP poll began in 1936. It provided a regular national ranking from sportswriters at a time when teams had no unified league table or playoff to settle the champion question.
What was the BCS ranking based on?
The BCS combined human polls with computer ratings and other factors, including schedule strength. Its formula selected the top two teams for the national championship game, though the formula changed during the BCS era.
Do AP rankings decide who reaches the College Football Playoff?
No. The AP poll is influential and widely followed, but the CFP selection committee chooses and ranks the playoff field.
Are NFL power rankings official?
No. Media power rankings are commentary, not league standings. NFL playoff places are determined through regular-season records and official tiebreaking rules.
Final Thoughts
American football rankings developed because the sport needed ways to compare teams that did not share a schedule or, for much of its history, a playoff. Newspaper polls made those comparisons familiar; the BCS tried to combine votes and formulas; and the College Football Playoff committee now ranks teams to build an expanded postseason field. The systems have changed, but the underlying challenge remains: turning different schedules and close games into a fair comparison.
Aiden Cross is a sports writer and editor at BeliveSports, covering a broad range of sports with a focus on clear, accurate, and practical information. His work covers rules, techniques, player roles, competitions, equipment, statistics, and the details that help readers better understand how different sports are played. Aiden takes a research-driven approach to sports writing, using reliable sources and established sporting information to provide context rather than simply repeating surface-level facts. His goal is to make complex topics accessible while maintaining the accuracy and depth expected by knowledgeable sports fans. At BeliveSports, Aiden contributes to the site’s editorial standards by focusing on accuracy, clarity, useful context, and reader-first explanations.