Jan. 6, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland football team finished third in the New York Times computer ranking which was one of the formulas used to determine the Bowl Championship Series. The Terps follow only split national champions USC and LSU in the poll. Maryland concluded its 2003 season with a dramatic 41-7 victory over West Virginia in the Toyota Gator Bowl on New Year's Day for its second straight bowl win in a row.
It is the Terps' highest finish in the New York Times ranking (.934).
The New York Times's computer football ranking is based on an analysis of each team's record with emphasis on who won and against what quality of opposition. The quality of an opponent is determined by examining the opponent's record against other teams.
The Times's computer model takes note of a home-field advantage. Recent games count more than earlier games. Bowl games count as one and a half times a regular season game.
The top team is assigned a rating of 1.000; the ratings of all other teams are percentages reflecting their strength relative to the top team. In the final ranking, for example, there is almost no difference between Southern California (No. 1) and Louisiana State (2), while the difference between Louisiana State (2) and Maryland (3) is much larger.
Here is the complete poll.
| Rank | Team | Prev. Rank | Wins | Losses | Rating | Opp. Wins | Opp. Losses |
| 1 |
Southern Cal |
1 |
12 |
1 |
1.000 |
84 |
67 |
| 2 |
Louisiana State |
2 |
13 |
1 |
0.996 |
96 |
70 |
| 3 |
Maryland |
11 |
10 |
3 |
0.934 |
85 |
65 |
| 4 |
Ohio State |
8 |
11 |
2 |
0.927 |
95 |
60 |
| 5 |
Miami |
10 |
11 |
2 |
0.909 |
86 |
65 |
| 6 |
Georgia |
12 |
11 |
3 |
0.902 |
98 |
67 |
| 7 |
Mississippi |
17 |
10 |
3 |
0.872 |
80 |
72 |
| 8 |
Clemson |
19 |
9 |
4 |
0.869 |
86 |
64 |
| 9 |
Iowa |
15 |
10 |
3 |
0.856 |
85 |
67 |
| 10 |
Florida State |
7 |
10 |
3 |
0.848 |
90 |
61 |
| 11 |
Washington State |
21 |
10 |
3 |
0.841 |
79 |
69 |
| 12 |
Texas |
4 |
10 |
3 |
0.840 |
88 |
65 |
| 13 |
Michigan |
3 |
10 |
3 |
0.836 |
89 |
63 |
| 14 |
Oklahoma |
5 |
12 |
2 |
0.834 |
99 |
69 |
| 14 |
Tennessee |
9 |
10 |
3 |
0.834 |
82 |
70 |
| 16 |
Kansas State |
6 |
11 |
4 |
0.826 |
114 |
62 |
| 17 |
Auburn |
26 |
8 |
5 |
0.817 |
92 |
63 |
| 18 |
Arkansas |
23 |
9 |
4 |
0.811 |
88 |
65 |
| 19 |
N.C. State |
29 |
8 |
5 |
0.804 |
89 |
62 |
| 20 |
Nebraska |
19 |
10 |
3 |
0.803 |
81 |
71 |
| 21 |
Miami (Ohio) |
22 |
13 |
1 |
0.800 |
88 |
74 |
| 22 |
Florida |
13 |
8 |
5 |
0.791 |
99 |
53 |
| 23 |
California |
27 |
8 |
6 |
0.778 |
91 |
72 |
| 24 |
Minnesota |
28 |
10 |
3 |
0.776 |
72 |
78 |
| 25 |
Virginia |
37 |
8 |
5 |
0.775 |
82 |
68 |
