Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Controversies

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is a selection system designed to force a "national championship game" between the top-ranking teams (in the BCS rankings) in American college football's top division, the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, formerly known as Division I-A). This championship is intended as a surrogate for a playoff system since the NCAA does not formally determine a champion in this category. There has often been controversy as to which two teams should be able to play for the national championship and which teams should play in the four other BCS bowl games (Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl).

Overview

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. (Indeed, of the 89 sports and divisions sanctioned by the NCAA, this is the only level at which no official NCAA champion is determined.) In 2003, six teams (three from BCS conferences) finished the regular season with one loss, with no unbeaten team, while in the following season, 5 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 (12-0) and Boise State (11-0) both finished the regular season undefeated, but the Buckeyes were believed to have played a tougher schedule. Florida (12-1) 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 (10-2) 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, an independent, at the deliberate expense of the five non-BCS conferences.^[1] Since the inception of the BCS in 1998, six non-BCS conference Division I-A or FBS teams have finished the regular season undefeated (Tulane in 1998, Marshall in 1999, Utah in 2004, Boise State in 2004 and 2006, and Hawaii in 2007) 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 1999 Marshall was in danger of not going to any bowl game despite their #11 final ranking, due to MAC bowl tie-ins.

A third criticism is that a team can fail to win its conference championship, but still play in the BCS championship game. This happened in the 2001 and 2003 seasons. In 2001 Nebraska played Miami (Florida), after losing to Colorado during the regular season and, therefore, did not play in the Big 12 Conference Championship game. In 2003 Oklahoma played LSU despite losing to Kansas State 35-7 in the Big 12 Conference title game.

A fourth criticism is that the BCS does not account sufficiently for the strength and parity of particular conferences. This criticism is commonly used in support of the SEC, which many believe is the toughest conference, where a team with a conference loss would be a more deserving opponent in the National Championship game than an undefeated team from another conference. This argument claims that most teams would not come out undefeated with a weekly schedule in a conference such as the SEC and that the computer rankings do not do enough to mitigate the problem.

Many fans and sportswriters argue that there should be a small playoff, rather than a single national championship game. Most sportswriters suggest this playoff consist of 8 or 16 teams, with the latter including the champions of all 11 FBS conferences. Another idea that has received media attention is a "plus-one" system in which two of the BCS bowl games act as semi-final games, and the winners of those games play in the naional championship game a week later.

Questions regarding disparities in revenue sharing

In addition to concerns about the inclusion of non-BCS conference teams in the five BCS bowls, some critics have noted the disparities between the amounts paid to the six BCS conferences and their respective schools, as opposed to other conferences and their own schools.

As a result, in the best-case scenario schools from the non-BCS conferences would receive approximately 34% of the least of the schools in the BCS conferences, including Notre Dame. These numbers are not the actual amounts paid to each school, but look at the amounts paid to each school on average.

The disparities between BCS conferences and non-BCS conferences continue outside the Bowl Championship Series to other bowls, but since the payouts for the five BCS bowls are so much greater than other bowls, the BCS has a major impact on revenue distribution paid to the various Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) schools. A 2003 study^[3] described the disparities between the different schools. In 2003, there were 24 bowls other than the BCS bowls, creating opportunities for 48 teams to participate in bowl games. Of these 48 teams, 33 were from BCS conferences.

In 2003, the Big Ten led all conferences with $31.9 million from its seven bowl appearances. By comparison, Conference USA, which led the non-BCS conferences with five bowl appearances, brought in a total of $5.75 million. TCU led all non-BCS schools with $1.37 million from its Liberty bowl appearance.

As a result, there has been significant criticism regarding the revenue distribution by bowls, specifically the BCS due to its significantly higher payout to participating teams. This disparity coupled with the comparative difficulty for non-BCS teams to participate in BCS bowls, compounded by the uneven split even for non-BCS teams competing in a BCS bowl, have raised calls for further reform in the revenue distribution structure. These concerns have also called into question the underlying motivations of the BCS, insofar as revenue is concerned. These issues have been the center of some Congressional inquiries, as well.^[4]

Controversies by season

1998-99 season

The first year of the BCS ended in controversy when one-loss 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 two-loss Florida (8th). Instead, the Wildcats played in the less prestigious Alamo Bowl against Purdue, a game Kansas State ended up losing. Furthermore, one-loss Arizona (ranked 7th) went to the less prestigious Holiday Bowl even though the Orange Bowl featured two teams lower-ranked teams with two losses: Florida (ranked 8th) and Syracuse (ranked 15th). It could be argued that the Orange Bowl should have pitted Arizona and Kansas State against one another. 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 rule was first utilized in 2002-03, giving an automatic berth to USC. The rule has only been used four times in all, with Texas, Ohio State, and Michigan receiving automatic bids in 2004-05, 2005-06, and 2006-07, respectively.

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

Florida State (12-1) was chosen to play undefeated Oklahoma (12-0) in the Orange Bowl for the national championship, despite their one loss coming to another one loss team, the Miami Hurricanes (11-1), that was ranked #2 in both human polls. Adding to the controversy, 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, 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, Nebraska was chosen as a national title game participant despite being ranked #4 in both human polls and not winning their conference. 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. 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 Oregon, the consensus #2 in both human polls (but 4th in the BCS). Nebraska beat Colorado for the #2 spot in the BCS poll by .05 points. Nebraska was routed in the game, 37-14, by Miami. Meanwhile Oregon dismantled Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl.

2003-04 season

The 2003-2004 season came about with 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:

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 beaten 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. 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.^[5]

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--Lou Holtz of South Carolina, Mike Bellotti of Oregon and Ron Turner of Illinois--violating their contractual obligation, did so because they believed that USC was the best team. Meanwhile other coaches followed their contractual obligation under the coaches "poll" and changed their choice of #1 from USC to 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. Utah was the first non-BCS team to play in a BCS game. However, most experts felt that Utah and Boise State's schedules were not strong enough to justify a bid in the title game.

Most of the debate centered around Auburn, who went undefeated in the Southeastern Conference, leading to debates over the strength of schedule, a value that was diminished in the BCS before the season. Oklahoma went on to play USC for the title. USC defeated Oklahoma, 55-19. Utah won their BCS game easily as did Auburn, who dominated Virginia Tech until the closing minutes of the game and only came out with a three point victory, leaving 3 undefeated teams at season's end.

Another controversy occurred this season since 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. California's cause was hurt when it was less than impressive in a 26-16 victory over Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Mississippi the night before bowl bids were extended. Weakening their cause after the fact was the 45-31 defeat in the Holiday Bowl to Texas Tech University. Cal played without two of the highest performing receivers in the NCAA,^[6] however, this loss was attributed in many press reports to the Bears' disappointment over being denied their first Rose Bowl appearance in 45 years.^[7]

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 were the only undefeated teams that season. 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. Both Oregon and Notre Dame ended up losing the Holiday and Fiesta Bowls, respectively, making a clear argument either way difficult. Notre Dame lost to Ohio State 34-20, while Oregon lost 17-14 to a 7-4 Oklahoma team. Oregon played without starting quarterback, Kellen Clemens, who was injured earlier in the season.

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 but behind USC going into the final ballot. Florida defeated Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game, and number 2 ranked USC lost to UCLA, 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. 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, which was automatically guaranteed a BCS at-large berth by virtue of its #3 ranking, 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 Boise State, who won an epic Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma).

At the conclusion of the season, three other one-loss teams were denied the chance to compete in a playoff or to play Florida for the national championship. Wisconsin and Louisville ended the season with only one loss (the same as Florida and Ohio State). Boise State, which received the other first-place vote in the AP poll, was the only undefeated Division I football team.

Because of a BCS rule allowing only two teams from each conference to play in BCS bowl games, highly-ranked Wisconsin and Auburn were not eligible for selection to a BCS game. Wisconsin was excluded because Ohio State and Michigan represented the Big Ten, and Auburn was excluded because LSU and Florida represented the SEC, even though Auburn defeated LSU 7-3 and Florida 27-17 during the season. LSU earned the at-large bid on the strength of its 31-26 victory over SEC West champion Arkansas in Little Rock, while the Razorbacks crushed then second-ranked Auburn 27-10 in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn's 37-15 loss at home to a reeling Georgia team also destroyed its chances at the BCS.

An omission of the rule still would have not have been enough for Auburn to secure a berth, as Wisconsin would have likely been the final at-large bid. The final BCS poll had seven teams from the SEC and the Big Ten ranked in the top twelve but by the rule only two from each conference were eligible to play in BCS bowl games, offering the opportunity to argue that both conferences are over-ranked, that the Big Ten schedule does not produce a true conference champion, or that the limit of 2 teams from any one conference is inappropriate.

2007-08 season

In a wild finish to a wild regular season of upsets, the top two teams in the polls lost on the same weekend for two weeks in a row to close out the regular season, sending the BCS into chaos heading into the selection of the two teams to play for the BCS National Championship Game. On November 23, top-ranked LSU lost in triple overtime to Arkansas. This was the Tigers' second triple-overtime loss of the season, with the other to Kentucky. The following day, #4 Missouri beat #2 Kansas and took the top spot in the BCS for the following week. This created the interesting prospect of #1 Missouri playing its final game of the season as three-point underdogs against Oklahoma. On December 1, Missouri was defeated by Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game. #2 West Virginia was also stunned at home, by unranked Pittsburgh in the annual Backyard Brawl game. Meanwhile, Ohio State, who was idle for the final two weeks, climbed the rankings from #5 to #1. Hawaiʻi capped off an undefeated season (and the only such team going into the bowl post-season), beating Washington and securing a major bowl appearance for the first time in the school's history. However, as with Boise State in the previous season, Hawaiʻi did not play for the BCS Championship due to its weak schedule.^[8] In fact, with Hawaiʻi's loss in the Sugar Bowl, the 2007-08 season was the first since the 2003-04 season (and only the second in the BCS era) with no teams finishing the entire season undefeated.

In another irony, #6 Missouri was shut out of the BCS entirely when #8 Kansas was selected as one of three at-large teams. The Tigers finished higher in the BCS standings and had defeated the Jayhawks a week before the Big 12 title game. However, Kansas received a bid to the Orange Bowl; Orange Bowl officials said that they picked Kansas because the Jayhawks had only one loss,^[9] while Missouri had two losses, both to Big 12 champion Oklahoma. Since BCS rules do not allow more than two teams from one conference to get a bid, Missouri was ineligible for an at-large bid. Missouri defeated Arkansas 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl. Kansas also went on to defeat #3 Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl by a score of 24-21, making no clear argument either way. Ohio State and LSU came in 1st and 2nd in the final BCS rankings, securing the BCS championship game between those two on January 7th.

Before "Championship Saturday," LSU was ranked #7 and Georgia was ranked #4. However, after #1 Missouri and #2 West Virginia lost, LSU was catapulted to #2 based on a 21-14 win over Tennessee in the SEC Championship Game. Many argued that the Bulldogs should not play in the National Championship game because they didn't play for—let alone win—the SEC Championship. The Bulldogs and Vols finished with identical 6-2 records atop the SEC East, but Tennessee represented the division in the championship game by virtue of dismantling Georgia 35-14 in October. Virginia Tech had been ranked #6, above LSU, but had to settle for the #3 slot, despite a convincing win over Boston College in the ACC Championship Game. Voters were likely influenced by LSU's crushing 48-7 defeat of Virginia Tech early in the season. Computer rankings placed Virginia Tech (0.960) and LSU (0.950) #1, and #2, respectively.^[10] The top four teams in the BCS standings were #1 Ohio State, #2 LSU, #3 Virginia Tech, and #4 Oklahoma.

Ultimately, LSU defeated Ohio State 38-24, marking the second straight season that the Buckeyes lost the national championship game to an SEC opponent and the first two-loss BCS champion. LSU received 60 of a possible 65 first-place votes in the final AP poll, the fewest for a BCS champion since 2004, when BCS champion LSU finished second in the poll to USC. Georgia, another SEC team, was second in the poll and received three first-place votes. The final two first place votes went USC and Kansas, ranked #3 and #7 respectively. Missouri, who did not play in a BCS bowl, finished fourth, and Ohio State fell to fifth after losing the championship game.

External links

References

^ In this context, it should be noted that since 1967, the only non-BCS conference teams to win the NCAA men's basketball championship have been Louisville in 1980 and 1986, and UNLV in 1990. However, Louisville's conference at that time, the Metro Conference, was generally accepted as a "major" conference in basketball, and UNLV was generally regarded as a "major" team despite its non-major affiliation (much like Memphis and Gonzaga today). Given the relative low cost of fielding a competitive basketball team, this indicates that the focus on the BCS conferences may be justified from a competitiveness standpoint.
^ http://www.bcsfootball.org/id/7212064_37_1.pdf
^ BCSP X-5: Div. IA without the BCS? Costly
^ Congress chimes in on 'deeply flawed' BCS - College football - MSNBC.com
^ Tim Layden, Embarrassing moments in College Football (#10), SportsIllustrated.com, Aug. 2, 2006 , Accessed Aug. 2, 2006.
^ "Wounded Cal could use a hand at receiver," Union-Tribune, December 29, 2004, http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/college_football/20041229-9999-1s29hbnotes.html;
^ For example, "The perfect ending for Cal," Palo Alto Daily News, December 29, 2006, http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2006-12-29-cal-holiday-bowl;
^ Woods, Matt. Strength of Schedule. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
^ Kansas’ Orange Bowl invite riles Missouri fans - College football - MSNBC.com
^ ESPN - College Football BCS Standings, NCAA College Football BCS Standings, NCAA Football BCS Standings (HTML) (English) (2007-12-03). Retrieved on 2007-12-03.

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