The BCS operates somewhat in the shadows during the regular season. Individual ballots in the two human polls aren't available for week-to-week inspection.

But the final regular-season polls give us a chance to peek behind the curtain because each ballot in the coaches' and Harris polls is released.

The meeting of Alabama and Texas in the BCS championship game seemed inevitable at the end of the day Saturday, but some fans might be surprised to see how little an impact the other three undefeated teams made in the rankings.


Brian Kelly voted his team No. 1 in the final coaches' poll.
In the combined 173 human ballots that make up two-thirds of the BCS, only 27 did not have some combination of Alabama and Texas in the top two. By comparison, only three of the six computer rankings would have matched the Crimson Tide and the Longhorns in the title game.

Here's a look at some of the trends and peculiarities from the ballots in the coaches' and Harris polls:

From the coaches' poll

Here's a look at how the coaches of undefeated teams voted (Complete ballots from USA Today) at the top of their ballots (Texas' Mack Brown does not have a vote this season):

Cincinnati's Brian Kelly: 1. Cincinnati, 2. Alabama, 3. Texas, 4. TCU, 5. Boise State. Kelly was the only coach to have the Bearcats ranked No. 1. He also had Florida, his team's opponent in the Sugar Bowl, ranked seventh. He and Memphis coach Tommy West gave the Gators their lowest ranking.

TCU's Gary Patterson: 1. Alabama, 2. TCU, 3. Texas, 4. Florida, 5. Boise State. Cincinnati leapfrogged TCU in the final BCS standings, but not on Patterson's ballot. He ranked the Bearcats sixth.

Boise State's Chris Petersen: 1. Alabama, 2. Texas, 3, TCU, 4. Boise State, 5. Cincinnati. Petersen was the only coach of an undefeated team to leave his team out of the top three.

Alabama's Nick Saban: 1. Alabama, 2. Texas, 3. TCU, 4. Cincinnati, 5. Florida.

Only nine of 59 coaches didn't have an Alabama-Texas combination in the top two. TCU's Patterson, Ball State's Stan Parrish, Navy's Ken Niumatalolo, UNLV's Mike Sanford, Houston's Kevin Sumlin and Louisiana-Monroe's Charlie Weatherbie favored an Alabama-TCU title game.

Cincinnati's Kelly, Rutgers' Greg Schiano and USF's Jim Leavitt - three Big East coaches - voted Cincinnati in the top two, along with Alabama.

Air Force's Troy Calhoun - whose team, like TCU, is in the Mountain West - voted Alabama No. 1 and Florida No. 2.

Four coaches had Texas at the top of their ballots: Idaho's Robb Akey, Minnesota's Tim Brewster (a former Texas assistant), Michigan State's Mark Dantonio and Nebraska's Bo Pelini (whose team lost to Texas in the Big 12 title game).

Boise State was ranked no higher than third in any ballot. Akey, Utah State's Gary Andersen and Illinois' Ron Zook had the Broncos at No. 3 - one spot higher than Boise's coach.


Les Miles didn't show much respect for undefeated Boise State and Cincinnati.
LSU's Les Miles voted the two-loss Rose Bowl participants - Ohio State and Oregon - ahead of undefeated Boise State (whom he ranked seventh) and Cincinnati (eighth).

Stanford's Jim Harbaugh gave his team its highest ranking at No. 12. He ranked the Cardinal ahead of Oregon State and Arizona, teams that defeated Stanford. He placed Oregon, who lost to his team, at No. 5, ahead of Boise State and Cincinnati.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel ranked Rose Bowl opponent Oregon ahead of his team, with the Ducks at No. 7 and his Buckeyes at No. 8.

Five coaches ranked Oregon ahead of Boise State, which defeated the Ducks 19-8 in the first week of the season: Harbaugh, Miles, Sanford, Missouri's Gary Pinkel and Washington State's Paul Wulff.

Florida State's Bobby Bowden did not rank Pittsburgh (which was No. 16 in the final coaches' poll) or Oklahoma State (No. 1. He was the only coach to rank five-loss Georgia. He was one of two to rank five-loss Oklahoma and one of three to rank four-loss California.

Former Louisiana-Monroe coach Charlie Weatherbie was the only coach to leave LSU unranked. Among his top 25 were East Carolina, Houston and Troy.

Utah State's Andersen is a friend of the Sun Belt. He ranked Troy 24th and Middle Tennessee 25th.

From the Harris Poll

Of the 114 voters (Complete ballots (.pdf) from Harris Interactive. Details on Harris voters), only nine didn't have Alabama No. 1. Six put Texas at the top of their polls. Three listed TCU as No. 1. No one had Alabama out of the top two.

Alabama and TCU appeared in the top two on 13 ballots. Two had Alabama and Cincinnati at the top of their ballots. Two others put Alabama first and Florida second.

Some voters dropped Florida with a thud. Former Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier and former Minnesota coach Glen Mason dropped the Gators to No. 9. Mason, now an analyst with the Big Ten Network, had Ohio State (sixth) and Penn State (eighth) ahead of the Gators. One voter had Florida ranked eighth. Two other voters moved the Gators to No. 7

As in the coaches' poll, no voter had Boise State higher than third. Five ranked the Broncos third.

Mike McGee, a former athletic director at USC and Cincinnati, gave both TCU and Boise State their lowest rankings, with the Horned Frogs at No. 8 and Broncos at No. 9. His top seven: Alabama, Texas, Florida, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon.

Six voters ranked Oregon ahead of Boise State.

Larry Keech, a former sports writer in Greensboro, N.C., is a fan of non-Big Six programs. He gave MAC champion Central Michigan its highest ranking, at No. 13. He rounded out his ballot with No. 22 Troy, No. 23 Middle Tennessee and No. 24 Temple. He also was one of the voters who had TCU second.

Former Miami and Kentucky coach Fran Curci was the only voter to put either four-loss Missouri or five-loss Tennessee on his ballot. Both were in his top 20.

The format is easier to read at the link. It is hilarious how random some of the voting really is. I mean some of the votes are a joke. Brian Kelly for one has no shame!