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The Bowl Championship Series ('''BCS''') is a system which selects the College Football matchups for four prestigious Bowl Game s, called the BCS bowl games. The teams selected include the conference champion from each of the six BCS Conference s plus two others ("at-large" selections). The top-ranked and second-ranked teams are pitted in the BCS National Championship Game in order to crown an unofficial NCAA Division I-A National Football Champion . It has been in place since the 1998 Season ; it replaced the Bowl Alliance (in place from 1995 - 1997 ), which followed the Bowl Coalition (in place from 1992 - 1994 ). As of the 2006-07 season, the BCS will air on both Fox and ABC (each network will air specific games in the series, as noted below under ''Changes for 2006-07''). FORMULAE For the portions of the formulae that are determined by polls and computer-generated rankings, the BCS uses a series of Borda Count s to arrive at its overall rankings. This is an example of using a Voting System to generate a complete ordered list of winners from both actual and computer-constructed votes. 2003-04 formula The BCS formula calculated the top 25 teams in poll format. After combining a number of factors, a final point total was created and the teams who received the 25 lowest scores were ranked in descending order. The factors were:
The exact formula of how the final point total for any team was calculated was not public information, but it was known that it is derived from these factors. Some were able to guess the formula and thus predict the results before the official standings were released. 2004-05 formula After the 2003-04 controversy (see BCS Controversies ) in which the top team in the human polls, the University Of Southern California (USC) was denied a place in the title game, the formula was revamped. Schedule strength, losses, and quality wins were no longer to be considered as distinct components in the formula, though of course the human voters remain free to consider whatever factors they wish. Also, the exact formula was made public information, and shown to consist of an arithmetic average of the following three numbers:
The BCS Averaged the three numbers obtained above, divided the result by 100, and converted it to a decimal fraction. This formula made it highly unlikely that the top team in both human polls would be denied a place in the title game, as it happened in 2003-04. 2005-06 formula The BCS formula for 2005-06 is the same as in the 04-05, except that the Harris Interactive College Football Poll replaces the AP poll. BCS BOWL GAMES ''For a complete list of bowl games for the 2005-2006 season, see NCAA Football Bowl Games, 2005-06 .'' In the current BCS format, four bowl games outside of the National Championship Game are considered "BCS bowl games". They are the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena , the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans , the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona , and the Orange Bowl in Miami . The championship was rotated among the different bowls; for example, the Sugar Bowl would have the national championship "weight" once every four years. Starting with the 2007 BCS, the site of that game that served as the last game in the BCS will now serve as the host facility of the new stand-alone BCS Championship Game played on January 8 of that year, one week following the playing of the traditional bowl game which would follow the Rose Bowl with the exception of the games to be played in 2010. There are also 24 Non-BCS Bowls . The BCS National Championship Game pairs the top two BCS-ranked teams. The winners of the six major conferences ( Big East , ACC , SEC , Big 12 , Big Ten , Pac-10 ) are guaranteed automatic BCS bowl appearances. Independent teams not affiliated with a conference receive an automatic bid (displacing one of the at-large berths) if they meet certain criteria. There are currently four Independents ; Army , Navy , Notre Dame and Temple . In 2007, Temple will leave the independent ranks and become a football-only member of the non-BCS Mid-American Conference . There were two "at-large" berths which can be granted either to teams in those conferences who did not win their championship or to teams belonging to other conferences. The procedure for selecting at-large berths is, in this order:
If at any step, the two berths are filled, the process stops. If there are not two teams by this point, any other team from the top 12 of the final BCS rankings with at least nine wins is eligible. Starting in 2006, the number at-large berths will be increased to four. Initial plans were for the additional BCS bowl game to be held at the site of that year's championship game, such that the additional, non-championship bowl be named after the original bowl (e.g. the Sugar Bowl when the championship is in New Orleans), and have the extra game just be called "The National Championship Game". Later, the BCS considered having cities bid to be the permanent site of the new BCS game, and to place the new game in the title rotation. In the end, the BCS opted for its original plan. Despite the possibility of an "at-large" berth being granted to a "mid-major" conference team, this didn't happen until the 2004-05 season, when Utah received a BCS bid to play in the Fiesta Bowl, in which the Utes convincingly defeated Pittsburgh 35-7. The extra BCS game will at least theoretically give mid-majors better access to a BCS bowl game, possibly ahead of a higher ranked school from a major conference. Unless their champion is involved in the BCS Championship Game, the conference tie-ins are as follows:
The Big East Champions are in the pool with the four at-large teams. Using the 2005 BCS standings and the above tie-ins as an example, here is what the new system would have looked like had it been in effect:
The pool of "At Large" teams would have included Miami (FL) and Virginia Tech from the ACC, Oregon from the Pac-10, Ohio State from the Big Ten, LSU and Auburn from the SEC and Notre Dame. There were talks of having a fifth bowl game being put in, with the choices being the Chick-fil-A Bowl (formerly the Peach Bowl), Gator, or Capital One. BCS CONTROVERSIES Among the criticisms of the BCS (and the bowl system in general) is the fact that the final ranking of Division I-A NCAA football teams is decided by arbitrary and subjective standards, much like Beauty Pageant s. Observers point-out that the “champion” of the largest and most popular collegiate sport should not be decided by fiat. The BCS was especially criticized and deemed controversial in both the 2003 - 2004 and 2004- 2005 seasons. In 2004, five teams (three from BCS Conference s) finished the regular season with one loss, with no unbeaten team, while in the following season, the same number of teams (again with three from BCS conferences) finished the regular season unbeaten. In both seasons, the three teams from BCS conferences had legitimate cases for playing in the BCS Title Game . Most recently, additional controversy has come from the decison by the Associated Press to prohibit the BCS from using their rankings in the BCS formula, and by ESPN to remove itself from the USA Today coaches poll. Much of the controversy stirred by the BCS arises simply from the fact that there is a single national championship game. As such, the formulas must be used to determine which ''two'' (and only two) nationwide teams are the most deserving teams to play for the national championship. In some minds, the 2 top teams in the nation are not always clear-cut choices . The most recent year in which there were only two undefeated Division I-A teams at the end of the regular season was 2005 , when Southern California and Texas both finished the regular season undefeated. 1998-99 Season The first year of the BCS ended in controversy when Kansas State finished third in the final BCS standings but was passed over for participation in BCS bowl games in favor of Wisconsin (ranked 9th) and Florida (ranked 8th). The following season, the BCS adopted the "Kansas State Rule," which provides that any team ranked in the top four in the final BCS poll is ensured of an invitation to a BCS bowl game. The following season, Kansas State finished 6th in the BCS standings but again received no invitation, this time being passed over in favor of Michigan (ranked 8th). Kansas State's predicament demonstrated early on the arbitrary nature of invitations to BCS bowl games. 2003-04 Season The 2003-2004 season consisted of much controversy, when three schools from BCS conferences finished the season with one loss (in fact, no I-A Division team finished the season undefeated, something that hadn't happened since 1996 , the year before the advent of the BCS). The three schools in question were: Two non-BCS schools also finished with one loss: USC was rated #1 in both the AP and ESPN-USA Today Coaches poll, but they were burdened by a collective 2.67 computer ranking (3rd place) and by having the 37th-ranked strength of schedule. LSU was rated #2 by both poll services (AP and ESPN-USA Today), held a 1.83 computer ranking, and a 29th ranked strength of schedule. Oklahoma had a #3 poll ranking, a 1.17 computer average, and the 11th ranked strength of schedule along with a quality win of .5. The final ranking was even more controversial as it came after Oklahoma suffered a lopsided loss in the Big 12 Championship when OU was upset by Kansas State 35-7. The final numeric averages for the teams were as follows:
Therefore, Oklahoma and LSU played each other in that year's championship game, the Sugar Bowl, with LSU winning. The BCS was widely criticized, particularly by the sports writers, since USC had been ranked #1 in the AP and USA Today polls but #3 in the computer rankings, yielding the Trojans their overall #3 ranking in the BCS. When USC beat 4th ranked Michigan in the Rose Bowl, the majority of Associated Press sports writers did not drop the Trojans to a ranking of #2 since the move down would be unprecedented for a team that had won its bowl game. While USC claimed the #1 ranking of the AP sportswriters poll, LSU took home the BCS National Championship Trophy by virtue of its win over Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship Game. LSU was also voted #1 by the Coaches/USA Today Poll. LSU fans and USC fans both claim a national championship from 2003. LSU fans oppose any notion of a split title, referring most often to the fact that USC did not even play in, much less win, the national championship game. They cite that all BCS conference schools agreed to the BCS rules, which allow that the top two teams according to the BCS system will play each other in the national championship game with the winner winning the national championship. USC fans base their championship claims on the fact that the AP voted USC #1, arguing that the AP is still legitimate. Congress becomes involved On who testified that the bowl system is a solution, not a problem, to college football; and from Steve Young , a NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers and BYU , who testified of many problems with the system. Following the meeting and testimony, the committee did not pursue any action. 2004-05 season The new BCS formula, however, did not end the controversy. Unlike the previous season, in which no Division I-A team entered the bowl games unbeaten, the 2004 regular season saw five teams go unbeaten, which had not happened since 1979 . Three of the five were from BCS conferences: USC and Oklahoma were both involved in the previous season's BCS controversy as two of the three BCS teams that finished the 2003 regular season with one loss. The other two were from non-BCS conferences. Although neither was generally considered to be in contention for the championship, both were possibilities for BCS bowl bids during the season (Utah more so): USC and Oklahoma were ranked 1-2 in both human polls in the preseason. On the other hand, Auburn began the season ranked outside of the top 15. Since poll voters are usually reluctant to drop highly-ranked teams that continue to win games, this gave Auburn a considerable deficit to overcome. Going into the last regular-season games on December 4 , USC had remained top-ranked in both human polls for the entire regular season by a comfortable margin, which gave the Trojans the BCS lead. Auburn had been able to close almost all of its original gap on Oklahoma by mid-November (and even tied them at #2 for one week in the AP poll), but Oklahoma took a more substantial lead going into that day's games. On that day, USC survived a close road game against rival UCLA , 29-24. This result kept USC in the top spot, and assured the Trojans of the top placing and a spot in the Orange Bowl , the season's BCS title game. In the SEC championship game, Auburn defeated Tennessee 38-28, in a closer game than expected. Meanwhile, in the Big 12 title game, Oklahoma routed Colorado 42-3. Auburn, which was already trailing Oklahoma in all three components, didn't gain in points standing enough to pass OU. Thus, the Orange Bowl matched #1 USC and #2 Oklahoma. The two teams also finished No. 1 and No. 2 in all three major polls (AP, ESPN/USA Today, and BCS). USC won that game 55-19 over the Sooners. The final outcome of all the polls could have become even more controversial if Utah, Boise State, and especially Auburn had all won their bowl games by a large point margin. Boise State lost in the Liberty Bowl , and Auburn gave up two fourth-quarter touchdowns to Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl to turn a comfortable 16-0 lead into a 16-13 win. The only team outside the top two to score a convincing bowl win was Utah, which routed Pittsburgh 35-7 in the Fiesta Bowl --however, Pittsburgh was not anywhere near as good a team as USC's opponent, Oklahoma, so Utah had no real shot at a national title. As for the non-BCS schools, Utah was generally believed to have a considerably stronger case for making a BCS game than Boise State. Utah's schedule was noticeably stronger than Boise State's, including four BCS-league teams, and no team came within two touchdowns of the Utes during their 11-0 regular season, while Boise State was pushed to overtime on the road against a simply horrific San Jose State team, won by a Field Goal against a weak Tulsa team, and won by a point at home against a so-so Brigham Young squad. The best chance for Boise State to break into the BCS depended on a loss by fifth-ranked Texas against archrival Texas A&M on November 26 at home in Austin ; however, Texas won the game, which kept Texas ahead of Boise State. The Broncos' chances of breaking into the BCS disappeared with the release of the November 29 BCS rankings, in which Georgia , whose season was then complete, leapfrogged past Boise State into seventh. Boise State finished ninth in the season-ending standings and played in the Liberty Bowl , losing to Louisville . Even before the bowl games took place, Utah's BCS entry created yet another controversy. Because of the rule requiring that a non-BCS team in the top six receive a bid to a BCS game, this left only one at-large bid for another school. Going into December 4, Cal was fourth in the BCS standings, barely ahead of Texas . Cal was 9-1 with a game at Southern Miss , postponed due to Hurricane Ivan , remaining. Texas was 10-1 with its season finished. Cal defeated Southern Miss 26-16 in a much closer game than expected; Cal's coach, Jeff Tedford had a policy of not running up the score if his team was obviously going to win. This result caused Texas to finish fourth and Cal to finish fifth in the season-ending BCS standings. Texas coach Mack Brown raised some eyebrows by openly campaigning for voters in the two human polls, especially his fellow coaches, to place his team ahead of Cal. This led to increased calls for the votes of the individual coaches who vote in the coaches poll to be released for public scrutiny. There was also an incident in which two AP voters from Texas were reprimanded by their newspapers for putting Auburn ahead of Texas. Utah finished sixth in the season-ending BCS standings, and became the first non-BCS team to play in a BCS bowl game since the adoption of the BCS, playing in the Fiesta Bowl against Pittsburgh. This caused further controversy due to the fact that Pittsburgh's 8-3 record put them in one of the top bowl games. Pittsburgh was in the game because it won a four-team tiebreaker for the Big East title. On that note, the automatic BCS bid annually given to the Big East has been the subject of controversy ever since the conference lost its two strongest football programs before the 2004 season, thanks to Miami and Virginia Tech leaving for the ACC; another highly competitive program, Boston College , joined the ACC for the 2005 season. Of the three football programs that joined the Big East in 2005, only Louisville was considered to be competitive on a national level, though another Big East newcomer, South Florida , has become a major player in the new Big East. The Big East seems to have regained a level of stability after the defections stated above, with the performances of teams such as West Virginia, Louisville, South Florida, Pittsburgh, and even an improved Rutgers , to go along with a down, but still nationally-recognized Syracuse program. Likewise, West Virginia's defeat of SEC champion Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl will likely enhance the standing of Big East football. AP disallows use of its poll in BCS rankings On December 21 , 2004 , the Associated Press issued a cease and desist letter to the BCS telling them to stop using the AP poll in the BCS rankings. In their statement, the AP says, "The Associated Press has not at any time given permission to the Bowl Championship Series to use its proprietary ranking of college football teams. This unauthorized use of the AP poll has harmed AP's reputation and interfered with AP's agreements with AP poll voters." The cease and desist letter to the BCS concludes by saying "AP hereby demands that BCS immediately cease and desist from all current and future use of the AP Poll in producing the BCS rankings and that BCS confirm to AP that it has done so by December 31, 2004." 2005-06 season Final Coaches Poll for 2005-06 to be made public After the controversies of the 2004-2005 season, the American Football Coaches Association announced on May 26 , 2005 that they would make public the individual votes of the voters in their coaches poll, which helps to determine college football's national champion. Only the final poll (initially released on December 6 , 2005) discloses the individual votes. The plan for only limited disclosure caused ESPN to disassociate itself from the USA Today coaches poll. [http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20050825/sp_usatoday/trioofespnemployeesfanexitnewestbcspollbeforeitgetsstarted Congress gets involved again On December 1 st, 2005 , a Congressional House Energy and Commerce subcommittee announced that, beginning Wednesday, December 7 , they would begin to look into a "deeply flawed" BCS system, restating what the Senate said in 2003 . This will be a "comprehensive review" of the system, according to the subcommittee. The end result was a suggestion of the plus one system, an already proposed idea for the future. No legislation was made, but the subcommitee felt that they had to be heard. USC vs Texas ' Bevo with the BCS Division I-A National Championship trophy.]] The 2005-2006 season happened to have exactly 2 major undefeated teams: the USC Trojans and the Texas Longhorns . They started the year ranked #1 and #2, respectively. They maintained those rankings all year, with UT passing USC in one weeks BCS poll. Therefore, the two teams were the obvious, uncontroversial choice to face each other in the Rose Bowl to decide the national championship. USC, playing at what could be considered practically a home field, and with an unprecedented two Heisman Trophy winners playing in the back-field, came into the game a 7 point favorite. Due largely to an MVP performance from Longhorn quarterback Vince Young , Texas won the game 41-38. A College Football News piece statistically determined that the 2005 Texas Longhorn Football Team had the greatest season in the history of college football. Non-BCS conference Debate The BCS has also been criticized for locking out programs not in BCS conferences, for instance the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA . Before 2004, no program from these conferences had gone to a BCS bowl, and some have accused the BCS and associating conferences of having a monopoly of sorts on the top bowls. There were even Congress ional hearings on the issue. It would likely take a qualified non-BCS conference program being locked out of the BCS when they were obviously deserving for this issue to be looked at more closely. With Utah making the BCS after the 2004 season, and with the addition of a fifth BCS game starting with the 2006-07 season, this may be less of an issue in the future. Formula Disputes Some, including ESPN's Lee Corso have suggested that the BCS reincorporate margin of victory into the rankings, a factor which would have changed the 2003-2004 final rankings (had LSU and Oklahoma still would have been in the championship). However, the BCS completely revamped its formula as noted previously, completely eliminating strength of schedule, losses, and quality wins, and not considering victory margin. This was done in order to discourage Running Up The Score , where a team scores far more points than are necessary to win. There are some who insist that had the 2004-05 formula been used during the 2003-04 season, the National Championship Game would have pitted USC and LSU, with Oklahoma falling to #3. Similarly, many conjecture that had the newer formula been used during the 2001-02 season, Oregon, not Nebraska, would have faced Miami (FL) in the Rose Bowl. One complaint about the current formula is that it may create a situation in which a single individual's vote in either poll may possibly decide who advances to the BCS title game. As a result, the votes for these final polls are now made public. BCS HISTORY AND SCHEDULE 1998-99 season These BCS bowl games were played following the 1998 regular season
1999-2000 Season These BCS bowl games were played following the 1999 regular season:
2000-01 Season These BCS bowl games were played following the 2000 regular season
2001-02 Season These BCS bowl games were played following the 2001 regular season
2002-03 Season These BCS bowl games were played following the 2002 regular season
2003-04 Season These BCS bowl games were played following the 2003 regular season
2004-05 Season These BCS bowl games were played following the 2004 regular season:
2005-06 season These BCS bowl games were played following the 2005 regular season in chronological order:
(NOTE: Due to damage to the Louisiana Superdome because of Hurricane Katrina , the game was played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia .) FUTURE SCHEDULES Changes for 2006-07 There will be major changes in store for the 2006-07 BCS. First, television rights (with the exception of the Rose Bowl Game) will shift to FOX , while ABC will continue telecasting the Rose Bowl. Second, the addition of a BCS National Championship Game separate from the games already in the BCS matching the top two teams in the BCS rankings at the site of one of the games one week following the Bowl Games as the current rotation will continue (as an example, the new Cardinals Stadium in Glendale, Arizona , which is the site of the Fiesta Bowl, will serve as the host of the 2006 championship game) and due to that, the addition of two more "at large" teams will take place with the same rules under use. Had this system been in place in 2005, Oregon and Miami (FL) would have played in a BCS game instead of playing in the Holiday Bowl and the Peach Bowl respectively. 2007 schedule ''To be played following 2006 season.'' 2008 schedule ''To be played following 2007 season.'' 2009 schedule ''To be played following 2008 season.'' 2010 schedule ''To be played following 2009 season.'' "YOU CAN'T BLAME THE BCS" On November 22 , 2005, ESPN Classic aired, as part of a regular series, '' The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... the Bowl Championship Series for the Lack of a Playoff in Division I-A College Football.'' ESPN and ABC are both owned by Disney and are both affiliated with the BCS. ESPN's reasons (paraphrased): :Another problem with this argument is that it assumes a good choice can be made in picking the number 1 and number 2 teams. Usually, there are not exactly two unbeaten teams. That means either that one or more unbeaten teams will be left out, or that a one-loss team will have to be selected from the ranks of several one-loss schools. Also, a play-off system does not have to involve a huge number of schools. An 8 team play-off would still be composed mainly of undefeated and one-loss teams. Therefore, each regular season game would still be hugely important. ESPN did not address a recent action by university presidents that, to some observers, undermined their position against a playoff. The presidents approved a recent NCAA move to make a 12th regular season game a permanent fixture in Division I-A college football. This fueled accusations of hypocrisy against university presidents, as a 12th regular-season game would add one game for all Division I-A schools (in most years) during the academic term, while a 16-team playoff similar to that currently used in Division I-AA would result in extra games for only a handful of teams, with many of these games during academic breaks. Also, the university presidents have allowed conference championship games to occur in many conferences. Those games could be eliminated if they wanted to avoid lengthening the season. NOTES |
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