Now Seen ... but Not Nerd

A look at the men behind the BCS computers:

DAVID ROTHMAN

Background check: Retired statistician, University of Wisconsin graduate. Executive director of FACT, the Foundation for the Analysis of Competitions and Tournaments. Has been producing ratings since 1963. Third year in BCS.

Bias meter: Wisconsin ranks No. 35 in unofficial BCS standings, No. 39 in Rothman’s standings.

Quoting Rothman: “Last time I went to a game? I recall a Wisconsin Rose Bowl in the 1960s. I don’t know. But I do watch. But it’s not like Constitutional reform, that’s where I really have something to offer.”

PETER WOLFE

Background check: Physician and associate clinical professor at UCLA, specializing in infectious diseases. Harvard undergraduate degree, University of Pittsburgh medical school. First year in the BCS.

Bias meter: Wolfe has not yet released his first rankings.

Quoting Wolfe: “Take UCLA and USC. If they played 10 games, with the same personnel, no injuries, the same weather, even though I think UCLA is a better team, they would not win all 10 games. There’s built-in error, random things, like balls bouncing.”

JEFF SAGARIN

Background check: Math degree from MIT, MBA from Indiana University. Has been providing ratings for USA Today since 1985. One of three original BCS members. Does not divulge how his system works.

Bias meter: Indiana ranks No. 59 in unofficial BCS standings, No. 55 in Sagarin.

Quoting Sagarin: He favors a playoff, but told the Chicago Tribune in 1999: “What I would like to see is chaos. But if there’s chaos, I don’t want to be the guy who’s blamed for causing it.”

KENNETH MASSEY

Background check: Doctoral candidate in the mathematics department at Virginia Tech. Has been doing ratings since 1995. Third year in the BCS.

Bias meter: Virginia Tech is No. 5 in unofficial BCS standings, No. 14 in Massey’s ratings.

Quoting Massey on his ratings system: “The sophistication of the model and algorithm is beyond any other method I am aware of.”

WES COLLEY

Background check: Earned degree in Astronomy/physics at University of Virginia, PhD in Astrophysical sciences at Princeton. Current employed as a missile tracker. First year in BCS. Calls his system the “Bias Free College Football Rankings.”

Bias meter: Virginia ranks No. 52 in BCS, No. 60 in Colley’s rankings.

Quoting Colley: “Why am I doing this? I’m a huge college football fan and am interested in statistical questions such as these.”

ANDERSON & HESTER/SEATTLE TIMES

Background check: Jeff Anderson and Chris Hester attended the University of Washington. Anderson teaches political science at the Air Force Academy; Hester is a Seattle-area sports broadcaster. Anderson/Hester started ratings in 1994 because they were dissatisfied with, what Anderson says, “the polls’ prejudging of teams.”

Bias meter: Washington is No. 13 in the BCS, No. 4 in Anderson/Hester. Archrival Washington State checks in at No. 10.

Quoting Hester: “The rankings were developed mostly with formulas we learned in high school algebra.” Quoting Anderson: “I don’t think I’ve ever been called a nerd.”

RICHARD BILLINGSLEY

Background check: Self employed as a personal consultant, specializing in time and stress management. Has been producing poll for 32 years. Says rankings were modeled on the U.S. Constitution’s template of “checks and balances.”

Bias meter: Attended, but did not graduate, from Gulf Coach Bible College in Houston. Now lives in Oklahoma, which ranks No. 1 in Billingsley’s rankings.

Quoting Billingsley: “I am not a mathematician. I am not a computer geek.”

HERMAN MATTHEWS/ SCRIPPS-HOWARD

Background check: At 71, the oldest member of the BCS computer team. Teaches mathematics at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn. Started rankings system shortly after he returned from Korean War.

Bias meter: LMU doesn’t field a Division 1 team, but Matthews has Tennessee at No. 15 this week, the best ranking among the computer polls.

Quoting Matthews: “I have thoroughly enjoyed working for the BCS program, and I think it is a significant step toward establishing what most fans can call a true national champion, despite the clamor for a playoff of some kind.”