Two human polls and one formulaic ranking make up the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football rankings. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA), does not bestow a

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

title for

Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

football. That title is primarily bestowed by different polling agencies. There are several polls that currently exist. The main weekly polls are the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

and

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officiall ...

. About halfway through the season the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings are released. These are the first set of rankings since

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

that never featured

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

Legend

AP Poll

This season would be the last season that the AP Poll would be included in the BCS formula. The heavy end of the season politicking for ballot position lead the AP to believe that the BCS undermined the independence and integrity of the poll and could hurt the AP's reputation.

Coaches Poll

BCS standings

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) determined the two teams that competed in the

BCS National Championship Game The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college fo ...

, the 2005 Orange Bowl.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2004 NCAA Division I-A Football Rankings *Rankings NCAA Division I FBS football rankings Bowl Championship Series