It happens every fall.
Fierce arguments erupt over which U.S. college football team is the best in the nation.
This year, the controversy featured a mathematical element, in the form of a complicated formula for determining which two teams would play for the national championship. Based on various poll results and other factors, the formula represented an effort to avoid situations such as last year's split decision, when Michigan topped one and Nebraska the other of the two main national polls. Those two polls have long been objects of criticism. Allegations of bias, cronyism, and petty politicking have often tainted the results. Indeed, the idea of using mathematics to come up with an objective set of rankings isn't new.