Thanks to the Mountain West explaining their tie-breaking rules using various computer ranking systems, we will now look at where UCLA ended up being ranked in the various computer-based ranking systems.
College basketball unlike college football is well-known for its computer-based ranking systems. From Ken Pom to RPI to NET to Barttorvik and more, college basketball has numerous computer-based ranking systems that are recognized by fans who follow college basketball.
College football in the BCS era used a formula from 2004 to 2013, the computers accounted for a third of the formula. The BCS gave computer-based rankings a value unlike any time before or after. In 2013, the BCS no longer existed and was replaced by the College Football Playoff system.
Fast forward to earlier this week, a decision had to be made on who plays in a particular conference championship game this weekend. In Mountain West conference play, UNLV, San Jose State, and Boise State all had 6-2 regular season finishes. Due to none of the three teams having played each other, and no team being ranked in the most recent College Football Playoff rankings, the use of computer-based rankings were used. The tie was broken by averaging four computer rankings from Massey, Wolfe, Colley Matrix, and Anderson & Hester.
Even though San Jose State defeated UNLV by six points, the rankings had the Rebels not only ranked ahead of them but also ahead of Boise State. The Spartans were ranked third and thus were not invited to the MWC championship game. So, according to these various computer-based ranking systems, where are the Bruins ranked in these college football computer-based rankings?
Here is a look at five ranking systems and where UCLA is ranked based on the numbers.
UCLA is ranked No. 36 in these rankings.
The Bruins are ranked No. 50 in the Wolfe rankings which may seem very familiar to UCLA fans based on who is the creator of these rankings.
UCLA is ranked No. 39 in these rankings.
The Bruins are ranked No. 58 in the Billingsley rankings by the College Football Research Center.
UCLA is ranked No. 50 in the Colley Matrix rankings.