Bowl Championship Series

The Bowl Championship Series is a five-game bowl series that serves as a showcase for the top 10 teams in college football, including a BCS National Championship Game. The BCS has its own system that determines rankings and matchups that place the top two teams in the championship game, a method that occasionally has been a matter of controversy in college athletics.

BCS rankings are formed using a process that combines voted-on polls and computer rankings to take into account strength of schedule, point differential and overall win-loss ratio. They are then used both to determine the country's top two teams, which will play in the title game, and to determine other automatic qualifiers and at-large BCS bowl participants.

The BCS has been around in various forms since 1992. In that year, five conferences and independent school Notre Dame joined together with six bowl games to create the Bowl Coalition, which would assign the top two teams in the nation to a national championship game and still allowed for conference-bowl tie-ins.

That system was amended three years later, when in 1995, it was reformed as the Bowl Alliance. That agreement eliminated conference tie-ins in bowls, allowing the bowls to create better matchups. More importantly, it also included two at-large spots open to all of Division I-A as opposed to only the five conferences included in the agreement.

Many critics still found problems with the Alliance, mostly in the fact that the Pac-10 and Big Ten were eliminated because of their contract with the Rose Bowl. Finally, in 1997, the Rose Bowl -- along with its two conferences -- agreed to join the Alliance if it could be included in the rotation to host the national championship. That agreement became the Bowl Championship Series in 1998.

But since the BCS system has been introduced, it's seen its fair share of controversy. In the second year, undefeated Big 12 champion Oklahoma and one-loss ACC champion Florida State were selected to play in the national title game. The only catch was that Florida State's one loss came to another one-loss team, Big East champion Miami, which was ranked No. 2 in both of the human polls. To further the complications, Miami's one loss came to yet another squad with only one defeat, Pac-10 champion Washington. In reality, three teams had a legitimate claim to play Oklahoma, and many believed that Florida State was the one least deserving. That belief was furthered after Florida State lost to Oklahoma in the title game and both Miami and Washington won their bowls. After the season, the BCS added the "quality win" factor to its system, including extra points to a team's score after a win over a top-10 opponent.

In 2003-04, the BCS saw one of its biggest controversies. A one-loss USC team, ranked No. 1 by both the Associated Press and the coaches' polls, had a lower computer ranking than No. 2 LSU (with one loss) and No. 3 Oklahoma, which kept the No. 1 BCS spot even after it was trounced in the Big 12 Championship game by Kansas State. So USC was kept out of the national championship game at the Sugar Bowl that year and instead was relegated to the Rose Bowl as LSU beat Oklahoma 21-14. USC was ranked No. 1 in the AP poll even after the final bowls, making USC the AP national champion without playing in the title game. The USA Today poll did name LSU the national champion, as coaches are obligated to vote for the squad that wins the title game, but for the first time ever, the vote was not unanimous. Three coaches gave their votes to USC, believing the squad was the better side, despite their contractual obligations.

The next season brought another major dispute, as five teams finished the season undefeated for the first time since 1979. Oklahoma and USC were selected by the BCS to play in the national championship game based mainly on strength of schedule (the exact factor that had knocked the Trojans out the season before). The three teams left out were Utah, Boise State and Auburn. Utah and Boise State played weaker schedules than the other three squads, as they play in non-automatic-qualifying conferences. Auburn was considered the major outlier in the decision, but the BCS decided the SEC was weaker than the Pac-10 or Big 12 in that season. USC defeated Oklahoma in the national championship game, but Auburn also won its bowl game against No. 9 Virginia Tech and finished the season undefeated (as did Utah). USC was later forced to vacate its 2004 BCS National Championship.

Boise State has been at the center of many controversies, as it has finished undefeated in four seasons and never played for the title. Boise State finished without a loss in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009 yet has not been invited to the title game. In many of those years, other teams from major conferences have also been undefeated, but in 2006 the Broncos were the only undefeated team in the nation yet did not play. They did earn a BCS bowl bid that season and defeated Oklahoma in overtime, 43-42 in the Fiesta Bowl in one of the most memorable bowl games in recent history. The Broncos' second BCS bid came in the 2009 postseason, when they returned to the Fiesta Bowl and beat TCU 17-10.

2010 once again saw more unbeaten teams than could play in the national championship game. Auburn and Oregon advance to play in Glendale, while non-automatic-qualifier TCU was sent to the Rose Bowl to face one-loss Wisconsin. It was the second consecutive year the Horned Frogs ended an unbeaten regular season without a chance to play for a national championship. Auburn, which had been left out of the mix despite an unbeaten 2004, defeated Oregon to earn its first national championship of the BCS era.

The BCS hosts five bowl games at the end of each college football season: the national championship and four other games, contested by the top-ranked teams in each conference. The BCS' four bowl games are the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, Calif.; the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans; the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.; and the Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Fla. The national title game is held at one of those four stadiums after all the other bowls have been completed.

Team selection

The top two teams, as determined by the final BCS standings, play for the national title in the BCS Championship Game. Winners from six conferences are guaranteed automatic berths in one of the BCS bowls, with stipulations concerning other conferences (and Notre Dame) also available. If any of the 10 slots remain, at-large teams near the top of the BCS standings are used.

The Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10 and Southeastern conferences all earn automatic bids into the BCS games. Many of those conferences have contracts that state their champions play in a specific bowl game unless that team is playing in the national title game. Those conference tie-ins are:

Rose Bowl: Big Ten champion vs. Pac-10 champion
Fiesta Bowl: Big 12 champion
Orange Bowl: ACC champion
Sugar Bowl: SEC champion

The other three spots (and the national title game) are filled by the Big East and any other qualifiers or at-large squads. Those can be filled using a variety of BCS stipulations. Notre Dame, an independent school, earns an automatic berth if it finishes in the top eight in the BCS standings. The highest-ranked winner of a non-BCS conference can receive an automatic berth if it is ranked in the top 12 or is in the top 16 and higher than a BCS conference champion. Only one non-BCS team can earn an automatic berth in any year (although more can qualify as an at-large). The third- and fourth-ranked teams in the standings then are provided berths if they are BCS conference squads. The remaining slots can be filled by teams ranked in the top 14 and are determined by the bowl committees.

The BCS takes into account three factors when determining its rankings: the Harris Interactive college football poll, the USA Today coaches' Poll and an average of six computer ranking systems. Each component counts toward one-third of a team's overall score.

The six computer rankings used are: Jeff Sagarin, Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey and Dr. Peter Wolfe. The highest and lowest rankings for each team are discarded, and the remaining four are averaged together for the computer score. Each of the six ranking systems takes into account strength of schedule (which at one point had been a separate category in BCS rankings).

At the BCS rankings' start in 1998, a more complicated formula -- including both polls, three computer rankings, strength of schedule and number of losses -- was used to determine the rankings. Throughout the years, other factors were added or dropped -- five more computer rankings were used (and then others were eliminated) and points were awarded for "quality wins," among other things, until the BCS changed the ranking system in 2004.

Since the BCS was introduced in 1998, it has faced criticism from fans and public figures alike. Most of the debate is based on the two teams selected to play for the national title, a potentially subjective decision if more than two teams have legitimate claims. The BCS and its titles have become hot topics in the sports world and beyond. U.S. Congress even has considered bringing the legality of the system up for debate in session. When Barack Obama was campaigning for president, he named the BCS as the one thing he would change in sports, saying he was "fed up with these computer rankings." In early 2010, he discussed bringing the matter to the U.S. Justice Department.

The BCS bias

The main criticism of the system is the "BCS bias" that seems to give teams in the six major (automatic qualifying) squads more credit than teams from the non-AQ conferences. Since the BCS started, 10 teams from non-AQ conferences have gone undefeated without earning a spot in the national championship game. In some years, this is due to an extreme number of undefeated teams (as in 2004, when five teams finished the regular season undefeated) -- in others, an AQ squad with one or two losses might beat a non-AQ team to a BCS bid because of a higher ranking.

This is partly due to one of the BCS' computer components, which is calculated using strength of schedule. The teams in the AQ conferences often face more challenging opponents than do non-AQ teams, some of which roll through an easy conference to earn an undefeated season. In that case, the rankings sometimes overlook one loss to another talented team rather than rewarding a team that beat all of its (unranked) opponents.

Revenue sharing

Another issue in the BCS system is the distribution of money among the BCS and non-BCS conferences. Each AQ conference is guaranteed at least one BCS representative and occasionally sees two teams in the BCS bowls. The money varies among conferences (based on how many schools are in each conference), but schools typically earn between $1.5 million and $2.25 million if one school plays in a BCS bowl game and even more if two conference teams participate. Notre Dame also makes at least $1 million each year, and $6 million if it's in a BCS bowl.

In contrast, about $9.75 million is guaranteed to the five non-AQ conferences as a whole. That number doubles if a non-AQ squad plays in a BCS game, but the funds still are split among a total of 52 teams. The numbers even out to a drastically inferior number paid to non-AQ schools than even the least-earning BCS squads. The money is not doled out evenly among the non-AQ conferences -- they split the earnings in half, with half being split evenly and the other half divided based on performance. Even in the 2009 postseason, when two teams played in BCS bowls, the highest-earning conference (Mountain West) took home just less than $10 million. (The SEC received $22 million under the same circumstances.)

In 2010, the six major conferences earned a total of $115.2 million, while the other five earned $24 million. However, the big six took up eight of the 10 BCS bowl slots, so in theory should earn about four times more. And another rationale for the higher earning of the BCS conferences comes from the fact that those major conferences draw the most interest from viewers.

These disparities in revenue exist in non-BCS games, as well, but the BCS bids hand out so much more money than other bowls that the relative differences are not as notable.

2004 National Title

USC defeated Oklahoma 55-19 in the 2005 Orange Bowl to give the Trojans the 2004 BCS National Championship. However, Trojans star Reggie Bush was later declared ineligible for the 2004 season for having accepted extra benefits. Bush was stripped of his Heisman trophy, and USC was forced to vacate two wins from the 2004 season and all its win from the 2005 season. Included in the vacated wins was the 2005 Orange Bowl.

On June 6, 2011, the Bowl Championship Series announced it had stripped USC of its 2004 BCS National Championship, marking the first time a champion in major college football or men's basketball was forced to vacate its crown.