FCS Grouping System

The Colley Matrix system, as applied to college football from 2001 to 2006, did not account for FCS teams whatsoever. This stance was based upon the idea that good FBS teams who might be of relevance to the BCS should not lose to FCS teams, and as such, FCS could be rightly ignored.

However, 2006 saw the expansion of the schedule from 11 games to 12 games. In response to this addition of a 12th game, many FBS teams have added FCS teams to their schedules. The significantly higher number of FBS vs. FCS games has created three problems for the complete exclusion of FCS results. First, a larger fraction of results are ignored. Second, the increased competition between the two divisions has increased the parity between them, making FCS victories more likely. Third, the larger number of games makes the previously "flukish" win by a FCS more likely, just statistically. These three issues demand that a good ranking system for FBS somehow account for the games against FCS.

The Colley Matrix has addressed this problem in a straight-forward way that does not change the fundamental mathematics of the Colley Matrix rankings system. Here is how it works.

  1. Selecting only games involving two FCS teams, rank the FCS teams using the normal Colley Matrix system.
  2. Form groups of FCS teams.
  3. We now have groups of FCS teams that have played about the same number of games against FBS as most FBS teams have played this season.
  4. Add these groups into the list of FBS teams.
  5. Rank the FBS teams plus the FCS groups as normal with the Colley Matrix ranking system.
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