Three human polls and one formula ranking make up the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

NCAA 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 an ...

Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the

, does not bestow a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, 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 be ...

title. That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason: 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 broadca ...

and the

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 officially ...

. Two additional polls are released midway through the season; the Harris Interactive Poll is released after the sixth week of the season and the

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, including ...

(BCS) standings is released after the seventh week. The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll are factors in the BCS standings. At the end of the season, on Sunday, December 5, 2010, the BCS standings determines who plays in the BCS

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

s as well as the

2011 BCS National Championship Game The 2011 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game was a college football bowl game to determine the national champion of the 2010 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season. The finale of the 2010–2011 Bowl Championship Series was p ...

on January 10, 2011 at the

University of Phoenix Stadium A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located approximately northwest of Downtown Phoenix. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 248,325. History In the la ...

Legend

AP Poll

Coaches Poll

Harris Interactive Poll

BCS standings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2010 NCAA Division I Fbs Football Rankings *Rankings NCAA Division I FBS football rankings Bowl Championship Series