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| Anderson & Hester | |
|---|---|
| Name | Anderson & Hester |
| Type | Computer ranking |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Authors | Nick Anderson; Chris Hester |
| Sport | College football |
| Country | United States |
| Notable awards | College Football Playoff selections (influential) |
Anderson & Hester is a computer-based ranking system for college football teams developed by Nick Anderson and Chris Hester. The system produced weekly rankings for Division I FBS teams and published final rankings that were cited alongside human polls such as the Associated Press Poll and the Coaches Poll. Anderson and Hester’s algorithmic approach contributed to debates that involved institutions like the Bowl Championship Series and later the College Football Playoff selection processes.
The Anderson & Hester system originated in the early 1990s amid rising interest in statistical evaluation in college football and comparable movements in Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, and National Football League analytics. Nick Anderson and Chris Hester began producing weekly rankings that ran concurrently with established human polls like the Associated Press Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. During the era of the Bowl Championship Series, Anderson & Hester rankings were part of a broader ecosystem including the Colley Matrix, the Sagarin Ratings, and the Sagarin systems, which influenced bowl placements and media narratives around teams such as the Florida Gators, Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide, USC Trojans, and LSU Tigers. As the College Football Playoff era emerged, algorithmic rankings informed commentators and analysts at outlets like ESPN, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, and The New York Times.
Anderson & Hester used a deterministic algorithm grounded in game results, weighting factors similar to contemporaneous systems employed by analysts including David Wilson and proprietary models at Pro Football Focus. The methodology incorporated inputs from match outcomes involving programs such as the Michigan Wolverines, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oklahoma Sooners, Texas Longhorns, and Clemson Tigers. Adjustments accounted for strength of schedule by reference to opponents like the Penn State Nittany Lions, Miami Hurricanes, Tennessee Volunteers, and Georgia Bulldogs. The algorithm avoided subjective polling biases associated with panels convened by institutions such as the Associated Press and the American Football Coaches Association. Results were computed weekly and produced ordinal rankings akin to those from the Billingsley Report and the Harris Interactive Poll. While the precise weighting and formulaic constants remained proprietary to Anderson and Hester, the system emphasized head-to-head results, margin considerations interpreted conservatively to align with standards used by the NCAA, and transitive comparative measures present in models like the Simple Rating System.
Anderson & Hester published weekly rankings on platforms frequented by followers of teams such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, Stanford Cardinal, Washington Huskies, and Florida State Seminoles. Final season rankings were cited by media outlets including Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. The rankings appeared in compilations alongside the Bowl Championship Series standings, the Sagarin Ratings, and the Colley Matrix data sets used in retrospective analyses of seasons featuring championship runs by programs like Miami (FL), BYU Cougars, Auburn Tigers, and Virginia Tech Hokies. Anderson & Hester occasionally released methodological notes that were discussed at analytical venues such as the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference and in columns authored by commentators from The Athletic and Bleacher Report.
Reception of Anderson & Hester among commentators, analysts, and athletic administrators varied. Supporters in outlets such as ESPN and CBS Sports praised the algorithmic clarity when compared to human polls like the AP Poll. Critics from regional newspapers covering institutions including the Iowa Hawkeyes, Missouri Tigers, Arizona State Sun Devils, and Syracuse Orange argued that any computer model could insufficiently capture contextual factors such as injuries impacting teams like Rutgers Scarlet Knights or situational scheduling disparities faced by Purdue Boilermakers. Statisticians associated with the Sports Analytics community debated the treatment of margin-of-victory and home-field adjustment, referencing alternative frameworks produced by analysts at FiveThirtyEight and researchers publishing in journals affiliated with INFORMS. Legal scholars and athletic directors from conferences such as the Big Ten Conference, Southeastern Conference, Big 12 Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, and Pac-12 Conference occasionally critiqued reliance on opaque formulas for determinations affecting bowl revenue and postseason placement.
Anderson & Hester contributed to institutional and media conversations that shaped postseason policy and selection mechanisms. Their rankings, alongside those from the Sagarin Ratings, the Colley Matrix, and public polls, influenced narratives that underpinned reforms culminating in the College Football Playoff system, affecting stakeholders including conference commissioners and university presidents from schools like Michigan State Spartans and North Carolina Tar Heels. The presence of algorithmic systems prompted increased transparency demands and spurred further development in sports analytics used by front offices in the NFL and scouting departments affiliated with programs in the NCAA. Over time, Anderson & Hester became part of the archival record used by historians chronicling championship determinations involving programs such as Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Clemson.
Category:College football rankings