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The Bowl Championship Series ('''BCS''') is a selection system designed to pair the top two teams in College Football against each other in the BCS National Championship Game , with the winner crowned the BCS national champion. The system also selects matchups for the other prestigious BCS Bowl Game s. The ten teams selected include the conference champion from each of the six BCS Conference s plus four others ("at-large" selections). It has been in place since the 1998 Season . Prior to the 2006 Season eight teams competed in four BCS Bowls. The BCS 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 primarily on FOX while only the Rose Bowl will continue to be aired on ABC . BCS BOWL GAMES For a complete list of bowl games for the 2006-2007 season, see NCAA Football Bowl Games, 2006-07 . In the current BCS format, four bowl games, and the National Championship Game, are considered "BCS bowl games". The other four bowl games are the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena , the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans , the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona , and the Orange Bowl in Miami . In the first eight seasons of the BCS contract, the championship game was rotated among the four bowls; for example, the Sugar Bowl would have the national championship "weight" once every four years. Starting with the 2007 BCS, the site of the game that served as the last game on January 1 (or if January 1 fell on a Sunday, January 2 ) in the BCS will now serve as the host facility of the new stand-alone BCS National 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 twenty-seven Non-BCS Bowls . 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. A complicated set of rules is used to determine which teams compete in the BCS bowl games {Link without Title} . Certain teams are given automatic berths depending on their BCS ranking and conference, as follows: The top two teams are given automatic berths in the BCS National Championship Game. The champions of the ACC , Big 12 , Big East , Big Ten , Pac-10 , and SEC conferences are guaranteed automatic BCS bowl appearances. The highest ranked champion of a non-BCS conference will receive an automatic berth if it is ranked in the top twelve, or ranked in the top sixteen and higher than another BCS Conference champion. A special case is made for independent Notre Dame , which receives an automatic berth if they finish in the top eight. If there is an available spot the third-ranked team will receive an automatic berth. Again if there is another available spot, and the third-ranked team did not require an at-large berth, then the fourth-ranked team will receive an automatic berth. After the automatic berths have been granted, the remaining berths, known as "at-large" berths, are filled from a pool of teams who are ranked in the top fourteen and have at least nine wins. The actual teams that are chosen for the at-large births are determined by the individual bowl committees. A final consideration is that no more than two teams from any conference may play in BCS Bowls in any year, regardless of whether they are automatic or at-large selections. 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 relax requirements to give mid-major conferences 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 National Championship game, the conference tie-ins are as follows:
The Big East champion takes one of the at-large spots remaining. Using the 2005 BCS standings and the above tie-ins as an example, here is what the new system likely would have resulted in had it been in effect:
The pool of "at large" teams also would have included Miami (FL) and Virginia Tech from the ACC, and LSU and Auburn from the SEC. Ohio State (BCS #4), TCU (BCS #14, higher than that of ACC champion Florida State), and Notre Dame (BCS #6) would have been auto-locked into 3 of the at-large berths, with the last spot likely to have gone to Oregon due to its higher ranking than Miami (BCS #5 v. BCS #8). BCS RANKINGS For the portions of the ranking that are determined by polls and computer-generated rankings, the BCS uses a series of , and Mason Porter that employs the science of Complex Networks . 1998-99 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 that received the 25 lowest scores were ranked in descending order. The factors were:
1999-2000 formula Five more computer rankings were added to the system. The new five were Richard Billingsley, Richard Dunkel, Kenneth Massey , Herman Matthews/'' Scripps Howard '' and David Rothman. The lowest ranking was dropped and the remainder averaged. 2000-01 formula No changes were made. 2001-02 formula In place of the ''NYT'' and Dunkel rankings, the Peter Wolfe and Wes Colley/'' Atlanta Journal-Constitution '' computer rankings were used. The change was made because the BCS wanted computer rankings that did not depend heavily on margin of victory. {Link without Title} The highest and lowest rankings were discarded, and the remainder averaged. A team's poll average, computer average, strength of schedule points, and losses were added to create a subtotal. In addition, a Quality Win component was added. If a team beat a team which was in the top 15 in the BCS standings, a range of 1.5 to .1 points was subtracted from their total. Beating the #1 ranked team resulted in a subtraction of 1.5 point, beating the #2 team resulted in a deduction of 1.4 points, and so on. Beating the #15 ranked team would have resulted in a deduction of .1 points. A team would only be awarded for a quality win once if it beat a Top 10 team more than once (such as in the regular season and a conference championship game), and quality wins were determined using a team's current subtotal, not the ranking when the game was played. The subtotal ranks were used to determine quality win deductions to create a team's final score. 2002-03 formula The BCS continued to purge ranking systems which included margin of victory, causing the removal of the Matthews and Rothman ratings. Sagarin provided a BCS-specific formula that did not include margin of victory, and the ''New York Times'' index returned in a form without margin of victory considerations. In addition, a new computer ranking, the Wesley Colley Matrix, was added. {Link without Title} The lowest ranking was dropped and the remaining six averaged. In addition, the quality win component was modified such that the deduction for beating the #1 team in the BCS would be 1.0, declining by 0.1 increments until beating the 10th ranked team at 0.1. Teams on probation were not included in the BCS standings, but quality win points were given to teams who beat teams on probation as if they were ranked accordingly in the BCS. 2003-04 formula No changes to the formula were made. However, selection criteria for bowls were changed slightly. 2004-05 formula In response to the controversy created by the voters in the AP poll naming USC as the No. 1 ranked team at the end of the year and a general consensus that USC would have been a preferable opponent for BCS Champion LSU (over Oklahoma, the actual opponent), the formula was completely rewritten. Supporters of USC and the media in general criticized the fact that human polls were not weighted more heavily than computer rankings and this criticism led to the new math.
For USC, dropping their highest and lowest computer rankings would have left them with four third-place finishes, worth 23 points each for a total of 92, while LSU would have had four second-place finishes for a total of 96. The BCS Averaged the three numbers obtained above, divided the result by 100, and converted it to a decimal fraction. This system placed twice as much emphasis on human polls than computer rankings, and 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 was the same as in the 04-05, except that the Harris Interactive College Football Poll replaced the AP poll. The Harris Interactive College Football Poll's maximum point value was 2,825 {Link without Title} and for the Coaches' Poll, it was 1,550. The Harris Interactive College Football Poll was created expressly to replace the AP Poll after the Associated Press refused the use of its poll as a component of the BCS formula going forward. 2006-07 formula There was no change to the formula for this season, although the maximum point value of the Harris Poll was 2,850 and the USA Today/Coaches' Poll was 1,575. BCS CONTROVERSIES Among the criticism of the BCS (and the bowl system in general) is the fact that the final ranking of Division I FBS NCAA football teams is decided by arbitrary and subjective standards. Opponents of the current system believe that the “champion” of the largest and most popular collegiate sport should be decided on the field, in a head-to-head match-up. In 2003, 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 . More recently, the Associated Press has prohibited the BCS from using its rankings in the BCS formula, and ESPN has removed itself from the USA Today coaches poll. Only playing a single national championship game requires a formula to determine which two teams receive bids. The most recent year in which there were only two undefeated Division I-A or FBS teams at the end of the regular season was 2006 , when Ohio State and Boise State both finished the regular season undefeated, but the Buckeyes were believed to have played a tougher schedule. Florida lost one game in SEC play. Florida's victory over Ohio State in the Title Game In 2007 might have vindicated the process. However, if USC had beaten UCLA, it would have likely played in the title game, leaving Florida out of luck because of the lack of a playoff. Another criticism of the system is that it is often accused of institutionalized bias towards the six BCS conferences (and Notre Dame , which is independent) at the deliberate expense of the five non-BCS conferences. Brigham Young won a national title in 1984 against a perceived "weak" schedule. Since the inception of the BCS in 1998, five non-BCS conference Division I-A or FBS teams have finished the regular season undefeated ( Tulane in 1998, Marshall in 1999, Utah in 2004, and Boise State in 2004 and 2006 ) without being given an opportunity to win the national championship, making it impossible for a non-BCS conference team to compete for the BCS title regardless of their achievements on the field. In 1998 Marshall was in danger of not going to any bowl game despite their #11 final ranking, due to MAC bowl tie-ins. 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 Ohio State (ranked 4th) and Florida (ranked 8th). The following season, the BCS adopted the "Kansas State Rule," which provides that the 3rd ranked team (or 4th ranked team if the 3rd ranked team has already qualified as a conference champion) in the final BCS standings 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 (as well as that of undefeated Tulane who was denied a BCS bid because they played in Conference USA ) inaugurated the long-standing media controversies regarding the system. 2000-01 season One-loss Florida State was chosen to play undefeated Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl for the national championship, despite their one loss coming to another one loss team, the Miami Hurricanes, that was ranked #2 in both human polls. Adding to the confusion, Miami's one loss came to yet another one loss team, the 10-1 Washington Huskies, leaving three teams with a legitimate claim to play Oklahoma in the National Championship game. Florida State lost to Oklahoma 13-2, after Florida State was finally able to score on a safety with minutes to go in the game. Washington and Miami both easily won their bowl games, adding more fuel to the fire. As a result of the controversy, the BCS was tweaked in the off-season. A "quality-win" bonus was added to the formula, giving extra credit for beating a top ten team. 2001-02 season In another controversial season, second-ranked Nebraska in the BCS was chosen as a national title game participant despite being ranked #4 in the human polls and not playing in the Big 12 championship game or winning their conference or division. The Huskers went into their last regularly scheduled game at Colorado undefeated, but left Boulder with a 62-36 loss. The Buffaloes went on to win the Big 12 championship game. However, the BCS computers did not (and still do not) take into account time of loss, so one-loss Nebraska came out ahead of two-loss Colorado and one-loss, second-ranked Oregon. Nebraska beat Colorado for the #2 spot in the BCS poll by .05 points. Chants of "Number Four!" were heard throughout the title game held at the Rose Bowl. Nebraska was routed in the game, 37-14, by the Miami Hurricanes. Meanwhile Oregon, the consensus #2 team in both human polls (and #4 in the BCS), routed Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl. 2002-03 season Though the top 2 teams in the country, Miami (FL) and Ohio State, were unanimous picks to play in the Fiesta Bowl for the National Championship, the 2002-03 season was not without controversy. Upon losing their conference tie-ins to the National Championship Game, both the Orange Bowl and the Rose Bowl were given an opportunity to replace those teams with any number of other elite teams. The Orange Bowl was given the first choice, as they lost the #1 team (Miami). Their selection of Big Ten co-champion Iowa sparked outrage, as it prevented the Rose Bowl from having its traditional Big Ten vs. Pac-10 match-up for the second year in a row. The BCS has since adopted a rule preventing such an occurrence in the future. The rule says, in effect, that the bowl who loses the number one ranked team cannot choose a team from the same conference as the number two ranked team unless the bowl who lost the number two team consents.http://www.bcsfootball.org/bcsfb/eligibility 2003-04 season The 2003-2004 season aroused much controversy when three schools from BCS conferences finished the season with one loss (in fact, no Division I-A team finished the season undefeated, something that hadn't happened since 1996 , two years before the advent of the BCS). The three schools in question were: Three non-BCS schools also finished with one loss: USC was ranked #1 in both the AP and ESPN-USA Today Coaches poll, but was burdened by a collective 2.67 computer ranking due to a schedule deemed weaker by computer analysis. Meanwhile Oklahoma, after an undefeated regular season, was beat by Kansas State (35-7) in the Big 12 Championship Game. The loss dropped Oklahoma to #3 in the human polls (while the computers still had them at #1). LSU had earned a stronger computer ranking than USC and a #2 human poll ranking, and went on to claim the BCS championship with a 21-14 win over Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. USC, which beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, retained its #1 ranking in the AP Poll by out-polling LSU in first place votes by a vote of 48 - 17. Oklahoma (which finished 12-2) had been clearly eliminated from national championship contention, but the split in polls left many LSU (13-1) and USC (12-1) fans displeased, as USC was named the AP national football champion. This incident has been considered a lightning rod of controversy by some sportswriters covering college football.Tim Layden, Embarrassing moments in College Football (#10) , SportsIllustrated.com, Aug. 2, 2006 , ''Accessed Aug. 2, 2006''. The college coaches involved in the coaches poll were contractually obligated to award their organization's trophy and first place votes to the winner of the BCS championship game, LSU. However, for the first and, so far, only time in the history of the BCS Championship Series, the BCS Champion was not a unanimous #1 in the final Coaches Poll as the final vote was 60 - 3 for LSU as National Champion with USC as a runner-up. It is speculated that the three coaches who broke rank, violating their contractual obligation, did so to USC receives AP national championship trophy , USA Today, Jan. 5, 2004, ''Accessed Mar. 7, 2007'' show disrespect for the BCS contract requirements that the coaches were to vote for the team winning the BCS Championship and not out of any disrespect for LSU. 2004-05 season The 2004-2005 regular season finished with five undefeated teams for the first time since 1979. Despite having perfect records, the Auburn Tigers , Utah Utes , and Boise State Broncos were denied an opportunity to play for the BCS championship; the most controversial of these was Auburn. Also, preseason rankings this year had USC and Oklahoma at #1 and #2, a fact that enabled ESPN and pollsters to argue for an increasing bar of "style points" for the other three schools. Oklahoma went on to play USC for the title. USC thrashed Oklahoma, 55-19. Auburn and Utah both won their BCS games easily, leaving 3 undefeated teams at season's end. Ironically, the PAC-10, which called endlessly for the "style points" change, was harmed by it when the at-large bids were issued. The pollsters jumped the Texas Longhorns over the California Golden Bears in the final regular-season poll. Texas coach Mack Brown publicly lobbied for the pollsters to give Texas the final at-large bid. 2005-06 season The 2005-2006 season resulted in few controversies, as USC and Texas went wire-to-wire as the number 1 and number 2-ranked teams, respectively, and played in the Rose Bowl for the BCS title. However, a minor controversy ensued as after all the automatic bids, there were two at-large bids available. The first was taken by the fourth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes . The second was taken by the sixth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish over the fifth-ranked Oregon Ducks , in spite of the fact that Notre Dame had a loss to the unranked Michigan State Spartans in addition to a loss to the first-ranked USC Trojans that both teams shared. This was due to a clause that gave Notre Dame an automatic bid to a BCS bowl game if it finished in the top eight of the BCS rankings, as Notre Dame is unaffiliated with any league. Many felt that Oregon deserved the BCS Bowl Bid and would have provided a better match for OSU. Both Oregon and Notre Dame ended up losing the Holiday and Fiesta Bowls, respectively, making a clear argument either way difficult. 2006-07 season Going into the final poll, undefeated Boise State and four one-loss teams ( Louisville , Michigan , Wisconsin and Florida ) were up for a spot against undefeated top-ranked Ohio State in the BCS National Championship game in Glendale, Arizona . Most fans and pundits did not consider Wisconsin, Louisville, or Boise State contenders because they played significantly weaker schedules than Florida and Michigan. Michigan lost to Ohio State 42-39 in its regular season finale, but was still ranked ahead of Florida going into the final ballot. Florida defeated Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game , leaving Michigan and Florida as one-loss teams who both claimed they deserved to play for the national championship against Ohio State. Many pundits denied that Michigan should get another chance to play Ohio State, and Florida coach Urban Meyer lobbied heavily in the press using this argument. Ultimately, the BCS National Championship was a meeting between Ohio State and Florida. A mere .0101 points separated #2 Florida from #3 Michigan. This small difference was a result of the human polls (USA Today's Coaches' Poll and Harris Interactive Poll) ranking Florida above Michigan while the computer polls had the two teams tied for second. Michigan went to the Rose Bowl, which they lost to USC 32-18. Florida officially became the national champions by impressively beating Ohio State 41-14. Florida also received all but one of the 65 first-place votes in the final Associated Press poll (the other went to undefeated Boise State, which won An Epic Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma ). | ||
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| Image:20041129 PhpF8eiVegif1998-2005 BCS Logo An Alternate Version Of This Logo (used More Often On Television) Had The | "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/American_Broadcasting_Company" class="copylinks">ABC network's logomark in place of the star |
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