Bowl Championship Series

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a system used in American college football to decide the best teams and arrange important games after the regular season. It worked from the 1998 season until the 2013 season. The BCS chose eight or ten top teams to play in special bowl games, including a national championship game where the two best teams would face each other.

The BCS used a mix of votes from people and computer calculations to rank teams. The top two teams would play in the national championship game, which happened after other bowl games. The winner of this game was officially named the national champion. This system was created to make sure there was one clear champion instead of different teams being named the best by different groups.

The BCS also decided which teams would play in four famous bowl games: the Rose Bowl Game, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Orange Bowl. Teams came from six big conferences and some independent schools. In 2014, the BCS was replaced by the College Football Playoff, which changed the way the national champion is decided.

History leading to the creation and dissolution of the BCS

The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision does not have an official tournament to decide its champion. Instead, the postseason has traditionally featured individual bowl games.

The bowl system started in 1902 with the first East–West game in Pasadena, California, held on New Year's Day alongside the Tournament of Roses parade. This game matched a top team from the west coast against one from east of the Mississippi River. The first game saw the University of Michigan Wolverines defeat Stanford 49–0. The game was renamed the Rose Bowl in the 1920s when it moved to the Rose Bowl stadium.

By the 1940s, college conferences often tied their champions to specific bowls. In 1947, the Big Ten Conference and the Pacific Coast Conference, a predecessor of today's Pac-12 Conference, agreed to send their champions to the Rose Bowl each year. This sometimes meant the two best teams did not meet in a bowl game, leading to split national championships—different polls naming different teams as champions. For example, in 1991, both the University of Miami Hurricanes and the University of Washington Huskies finished undefeated but played in different bowls, each winning their games and being named national champions by different polls.

To fix this, the Bowl Coalition was created in 1992 to try to match the top two teams in a championship game. However, this did not include the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions, who were required to play in the Rose Bowl. The Bowl Coalition became the Bowl Alliance in 1995, still excluding the Rose Bowl teams.

The Bowl Championship Series began in 1998 after negotiations allowed the Rose Bowl to release its teams for a championship game if needed. The BCS aimed to ensure the top two teams met in a national championship game. However, it faced criticism for not including teams from certain conferences fairly. After many complaints and controversies, the BCS was replaced by the College Football Playoff in 2014.

Succession by College Football Playoff

Main article: College Football Playoff

The College Football Playoff took the place of the BCS starting in the 2014 season. It features four teams playing in two semifinal games, with the winners moving on to the College Football Championship Game. Each year, a different city hosts the championship game, chosen through bids, much like the Super Bowl or the Final Four. The first championship game was held at AT&T Stadium in 2015. This system will continue at least until the 2023–2024 season, as agreed with ESPN, which broadcasts all the games. Unlike the BCS, this system does not use polls or computer rankings. Instead, a group of 13 people picks and ranks the teams for the playoff games and four major bowl games, using a method similar to how teams are chosen for the NCAA basketball tournament selection process.

Bowl games

In the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) format, four regular bowl games and the National Championship Game were called "BCS bowl games." The four bowl games were the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California, the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, and the Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Florida.

For the first eight years, the championship game moved among these four bowls. Starting in 2007, the National Championship Game became its own event. The University of Oklahoma and Ohio State University were the only schools to play in all five BCS Bowls.

Television

At first, ABC showed all four BCS games. Later, Fox Sports took over most of these games, but ABC kept the Rose Bowl. After 2010, ESPN showed all BCS games until the system ended in 2014.

Selection of teams

Certain rules decided which teams played in the BCS bowl games. The top two teams automatically played in the National Championship Game. Champions from special conferences like the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-10/Pac-12, and SEC also got automatic spots. Independent teams such as Notre Dame could get a spot if they ranked high enough. Other teams could be chosen based on their rankings and wins.

Rankings

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) used a special way to rank college football teams before the College Football Playoff began. It mixed human votes and computer calculations to decide the top teams.

From 1998 to 2003, the BCS looked at several things to rank teams: average votes from two big polls, averages from three computer systems, how tough a team’s schedule was, and how many games the team lost. Later, more computer systems were added, and rules changed to make rankings fairer.

By 2004, the system changed again after some disagreements. It used two human polls and several computer rankings, giving more importance to the human votes. This helped make sure the top-ranked team could play in the big championship game. These changes continued until 2013 when the BCS was replaced by a new system with a small playoff.

History and schedule

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a way to decide the best team in college football from 1998 to 2013. It created special games called "bowl games" where top teams would play. The best two teams would meet in a national championship game to decide the national champion.

The BCS used polls and computer numbers to rank teams. It would pick the top teams to play in big games, with the top two meeting in the championship. The championship game moved around to different bowl games each year until it became its own game from 2006 to 2013.

Appearances

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) created important games for top college football teams. Many teams and conferences took part in these games over the years.

• Denotes BCS National Championship Game prior to the 2006 season
  Win(s)/Loss(es) vacated

• *Ohio State had a perfect season, but could not play in a bowl game because of rules.

Win(s)/Loss(es) vacated

USC's victory in the 2005 Orange Bowl was vacated
USC's loss in the 2006 Rose Bowl was vacated
Ohio State's victory in the 2011 Sugar Bowl was vacated
Notre Dame’s loss in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game was vacated

† Both teams in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game were from the SEC
USC's victory in the 2005 Orange Bowl was vacated

Controversies

Main article: BCS controversies

Criticism

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) faced many criticisms, mainly about how it chose the top two teams for the national championship game. Some people argued that the way the BCS ranked teams was unfair because it relied on both human votes and computer calculations. They also pointed out that sometimes, teams that had not lost any games still didn’t get to play in the championship. For example, in the last six years of the BCS, more teams without losses missed out on the championship than those who played in it. Others complained about how money from the BCS games was shared, with some groups getting much more than others.

In 2012, a survey showed that most fans preferred a playoff system instead of the BCS. Even President Barack Obama said he supported a playoff for the top teams in college football.

Antitrust lawsuits

Some people believed the BCS treated certain teams unfairly. After Utah beat Alabama in a bowl game in 2009, Utah’s attorney general looked into whether the BCS broke federal laws. There were discussions about possible lawsuits, and some leaders in government considered looking into the BCS to see if it was unfair to smaller teams.

Support

Despite the criticism, some people supported the BCS. They argued that it made teams try harder to win every game because even one loss could cost them a chance at the championship. They also said that the BCS ensured that the two best teams would always play each other for the title, which hadn’t always happened before the BCS was created.

BCS Buster

The term "BCS Buster" described any team not from a top conference (except Notre Dame) that managed to get into a BCS bowl game. These teams were often called non-AQ teams when talked about outside the post-season setup. Three teams had been BCS Busters twice: the University of Utah, Boise State University, and Texas Christian University. By the 2013 season, two of these teams had joined Conferences with an automatic spot in a BCS Bowl (Utah to the Pac-12 Conference and Texas Christian to the Big 12 Conference).

Non-AQ teams had a good record in BCS Bowls. They lost only two games to AQ teams (Hawaii lost the 2008 Sugar Bowl to the University of Georgia and Northern Illinois lost the 2013 Orange Bowl to Florida State University) but won four. Boise State beat TCU 17–10 in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, which was the only BCS Bowl with two non-AQ teams. This was seen by some as the BCS trying to avoid AQ teams losing. The success of non-AQ teams in these games showed that they were closer in skill to AQ teams than many believed.

Becoming a BCS Buster was very hard because the rules favored AQ conference teams. To get into a BCS Bowl, AQ teams just had to win their conference. Only eight teams from five schools—Utah, TCU, Boise State, Hawaii, and Northern Illinois—managed to become BCS Busters. No non-AQ team ever made it to the BCS Championship, while a team from the SEC made it every year from 2006 to 2012.

The University of Utah was the first BCS Buster in 2004 after an undefeated season. They played in the 2005 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and beat Pittsburgh Panthers 35–7. Utah made a second BCS appearance in 2008, beating Alabama 31–17 in the Sugar Bowl.

In 2006, Boise State became the second BCS Buster after a perfect season, beating the Oklahoma Sooners 43–42 in overtime in the Fiesta Bowl.

In 2007, Hawaii finished the regular season undefeated but lost to the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl.

The 2009 season saw two non-AQ teams in BCS bowls: TCU and Boise State. Boise State beat TCU in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, marking the first time two non-AQ teams met in a BCS game.

In 2010, TCU was the only non-AQ team in a BCS bowl, beating Wisconsin in the 2011 Rose Bowl.

In 2012, Northern Illinois became the first BCS Buster with a loss during the regular season. They played in the 2013 Orange Bowl but lost to Florida State Seminoles.

BCS Busters were 5–3 in BCS bowls. Utah and TCU later joined AQ conferences, while Boise State, Hawaii, and Northern Illinois did not.

Locations of all AQ conference teams

A map shows the location of every university that was part of the AQ Conferences in 2013.

Former logos

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) had different logos during its time. From 1998 to 2005, one logo was used, and a version with the ABC logo replaced the middle star on TV. From 2006 to 2009, a new logo was introduced, and a version with the Fox logo replaced the stars on television.