Ratings 12/02/03  
Ratings Bowl Edition

This year's By the Numbers is just a single edition, issued well after the fact. I was just too busy in 2003 to run the system regularly. But, here's how the computer stood before the bowl games. The big BCS controversy was which two of the three excellent teams (Oklahoma, USC, LSU) should be in the championship game. The computer shows the same as what everybody thought all year long, that Oklahoma was dominant. The problem was that Oklahoma was upset by Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game. The computers and other BCS factors nevertheless held Oklahoma at #2 in the final BCS ranking, creating a Oklahoma-LSU championship game. USC coach Pete Carroll, in one of the great spin moves of all time, simply smiled and said that USC was delighted to be playing in the Rose Bowl for the national championship. And so they did! For the record, here's what the computer thought about the 2003-2004 bowl games.

12/11 New Orleans Bowl:    Memphis over North Texas by 1
12/18 GMAC Bowl:    Miami O over Louisville by 14
12/22 Tangerine Bowl:    NC State over Kansas by 8
12/23 Fort Worth Bowl:    Boise State over TCU by 5
12/24 Las Vegas Bowl:    New Mexico over Oregon State by 1
12/25 Hawaii Bowl:    Hawaii over Houston by 6
12/26 Motor City Bowl:    Bowling Green over Northwestern by 5
12/26 Insight Bowl:    Virginia Tech and California even
12/27 Continental Tire Bowl:    Virginia over Pittsburgh by 1
12/29 Alamo Bowl:    Nebraska over Michigan State by 3
12/30 Houston Bowl:    Texas Tech over Navy by 10
12/30 Holiday Bowl:    Texas over Washington State by 7
12/30 Silicon Valley Bowl:    UCLA over Fresno State by 3
12/31 Music City Bowl:    Auburn and Wisconsin even
12/31 Sun Bowl:    Minnesota over Oregon by 6
12/31 Liberty Bowl:    Utah over Southern Miss by 5
12/31 Independence Bowl:    Arkansas over Missouri by 4
12/31 San Francisco Bowl:    Colorado State over Boston College by 1
1/1 Outback Bowl:    Iowa over Florida by 1
1/1 Gator Bowl:    Maryland over West Virginia by 5
1/1 Capital One Bowl:    Georgia over Purdue by 3
1/1 Rose Bowl:    Southern Cal over Michigan by 1
1/1 Orange Bowl:    Florida State over Miami by 4
1/2 Cotton Bowl:    Ole Miss over Oklahoma State by 1
1/2 Peach Bowl:    Tennessee over Clemson by 6
1/2 Fiesta Bowl:    Ohio State and Kansas State even
1/3 Humanitarian Bowl:    Georgia Tech over Tulsa by 7
1/4 Sugar Bowl:    Oklahoma over LSU by 5
1 Oklahoma 68.56
2 Southern Cal 63.83
3 LSU 63.53
4 Florida State 63.25
5 Michigan 62.51
6 Texas 61.75
7 Ohio State 59.73
8 Kansas State 59.48
9 Georgia 59.39
10 Miami 59.11
11 Miami O 58.96
12 Tennessee 58.18
13 Iowa 57.73
14 Florida 56.77
15 Purdue 56.69
16 Minnesota 55.35
17 Nebraska 55.14
18 Maryland 55.14
19 Arkansas 54.82
20 Ole Miss 54.71
21 Boise State 54.60
22 Washington State 54.31
23 Utah 54.27
24 Oklahoma State 53.46
25 Michigan State 52.51
26 Clemson 52.32
27 Auburn 51.71
28 Wisconsin 51.33
29 Texas Tech 51.33
30 Bowling Green 51.19
31 Virginia 51.16
32 Virginia Tech 51.11
33 NC State 51.11
34 California 50.93
35 Missouri 50.66
36 West Virginia 50.33
37 Pittsburgh 49.78
38 New Mexico 49.66
39 Southern Miss 49.28
40 TCU 49.20
41 Oregon 49.12
42 Colorado State 48.54
43 Oregon State 48.30
44 Boston College 47.15
45 Georgia Tech 46.75
46 Northern Illinois 46.73
47 Notre Dame 46.67
48 Alabama 46.02
49 Northwestern 45.95
50 Connecticut 45.58
51 Colorado 45.56
52 South Carolina 45.49
53 UCLA 45.05
54 Air Force 44.99
55 Memphis 44.85
56 Wake Forest 44.74
57 Louisville 44.54
58 Washington 44.31
59 Marshall 44.31
60 Toledo 44.05
61 Syracuse 43.91
62 UNLV 43.75
63 North Texas 43.49
64 Kansas 43.42
65 Fresno State 42.07
66 Tulsa 42.06
67 Hawaii 41.70
68 Navy 41.24
69 Penn State 41.05
70 San Diego State 40.80
71 South Florida 40.72
72 Arizona State 40.57
73 Texas A&M 40.26
74 Houston 39.70
75 BYU 39.61
76 Rutgers 39.56
77 Kentucky 38.51
78 Stanford 38.02
79 Duke 37.99
80 Akron 37.74
81 Wyoming 37.04
82 UAB 36.96
83 Cincinnati 36.32
84 Louisiana Tech 36.27
85 Nevada 35.95
86 Troy State 35.64
87 Western Michigan 35.39
88 North Carolina 34.15
89 Vanderbilt 33.99
90 Rice 33.91
91 Tulane 33.66
92 Kent State 33.27
93 Ball State 32.47
94 Arizona 32.37
95 Iowa State 32.04
96 Illinois 31.82
97 Mississippi State 31.20
98 Indiana 31.13
99 Baylor 30.49
100 Middle Tennessee 29.86
101 Utah State 29.05
102 La-Lafayette 27.92
103 Temple 27.46
104 New Mexico State 27.43
105 San Jose State 26.70
106 Ohio 25.76
107 Central Michigan 25.76
108 Arkansas State 25.54
109 Central Florida 25.44
110 Eastern Michigan 24.73
111 Idaho 24.65
112 East Carolina 24.38
113 Buffalo 21.00
114 UTEP 20.18
115 Army 19.58
116 SMU 19.28
117 La-Monroe 17.70