Colley's Bias Free Matrix Rankings An Official Bowl Championship Series Ranking for 2001–2006

About Wes Colley

• Background:
  Born in 1971, in Bristol, TN, smack-dab in the middle of the Hokies and the Vols. Raised in Abingdon, VA. Graduated from Abingdon High School in 1989.
  
  
• Education:
  • Ph.D. in Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton, 1998
    Thesis Title: "Statistics for New Datasets in Cosmology"
    Advisor: J.R. Gott, III
    

    Awards:

    Attended Princeton as Fannie & John Hertz Fellow nominated for the Jacobus Prize

  • B.A. with Highest Distinction in Astronomy/Physics at the University of Virginia, 1993

    Awards:

    Outstanding Astronomy Undergraduate, 1993 Echols Scholarship Robert C. Byrd Scholarship Phi Beta Kappa

• Resume
• Publications



• Employment:
  • Center for Modeling, Simulation and Analysis, 2005-present
    Senior Research Scientist
  • Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center, 2004-2005
    Senior Research Scientist
  • University of Virginia, 2002-2004
    Lecturer, Astronomy Department
  • M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory, 2001-2002
    Missile defense technology development
  • Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 1997-2000
    Gravitational Lenses as Cosmological Probes
    Genus Topology of Large-Scale Structure in the Universe
  
  
• College Football Experience
  • My brother, Will Colley, played for Georgia in the Tim Worley/Rodney Hampton hey-day. During that time, I made countless trips to Athens to see the 'Dawgs Between the Hedges, and to away venues, including the Gator Bowl. Aside from attending games, hanging around with the players was a formative experience for me. During Will's recruiting, I met such legends as Vince Dooley, and Johny Majors, and countless other big name coaches and players.
    
  • Aside from being a life-long Virginia fan, I attended Virginia during the Shawn and Herman Moore era, when Virginia ascended to #1 in the polls. I was there when UVa beat Clemson for the first time, setting up that monster year in 1990.
    
  • Stadiums Attended:
    1. Scott (Charlottesville, Virginia)
    2. Sanford (Athens, Georgia)
    3. Aloha (Honolulu, Hawaii)
    4. Georgia Dome (Atlanta, Georgia) (Peach Bowl, SEC Championship)
    5. Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans, Louisiana) (Sugar Bowl)
    6. Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, Florida) (Gator Bowl)
    7. Ericsson (Charlotte, NC) (Continental Tire Bowl)
    8. Alltel (Jacksonville, Florida) (Georgia-Florida)
    9. The Coliseum (Nashville, Tennessee) (Music City Bowl)
    10. Death Valley (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
    11. Death Valley (Clemson, South Carolina)
    12. Jordan-Hare (Auburn, Alabama)
    13. Bryant-Denny (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
    14. Williams-Brice (Columbia, South Carolina)
    15. Neyland (Knoxville, Tennessee)
    16. Ben Hill Griffin (Gainesville, Florida)
    17. Bobby Dodd (Atlanta, Georgia)
    18. Kenan (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
    19. War Memorial (Laramie, Wyoming)
    20. Lane (Blacksburg, Virginia)
    21. Byrd (College Park, Maryland)
    22. Heinz Field (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
    23. Palmer (Princeton, NJ)
    24. Harvard (Boston, MA)
    25. Jopson (Bridgewater, VA)