BCS National Championship Game



The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, is the final bowl game of the annual Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and is intended by the organizers of the BCS to determine the U.S. national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as NCAA Division I-A). The participants are the two highest-ranked teams in the BCS standings at the end of the regular college football season, currently (until the end of the current BCS television contracts in 2013) determined by averaging the results of the final weekly USA Today Coaches' Poll, Harris Interactive Poll of media, former players and coaches, and the average of six participating computer rankings.

Since the formation of the Bowl Championship Series, there have been several controversies regarding the schools selected to participate in the BCS National Championship Game. Most notably, following the 2003 season, the BCS ranking system selected the #3 ranked school in the Associated Press writers' poll, the University of Oklahoma, over the #1 ranked school in that poll, the University of Southern California, to participate in the National Championship Game (the Nokia Sugar Bowl) despite Oklahoma's decisive loss to Kansas State in the 2003 Big 12 Championship Game. 2003 is the only season, to date, since the inception of the BCS in which the national championship has been split, with Louisiana State University winning the BCS national championship and the University of Southern California winning the AP national championship and the FWAA national championship.

The BCS National Championship for the 2011 season at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, LA was held on January 9, 2012, sponsored by Allstate, and televised on the ESPN television network. The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the LSU Tigers 21-0 in the first shutout in BCS National Championship history. The game was also the first time that two teams from the same conference (and also from the same division of the same conference) met for the BCS National Championship. This result is largely credited with the swift move in the 2012 offseason to a BCS 4-team playoff which will replace the single-game championship format after the 2014 season.

History
The first BCS Championship Game was played at the conclusion of the 1998 college football season in accordance with an agreement by the Big Ten Conference, the Pac-10 (now Pac-12) Conference, and the Rose Bowl Game to join the  "Bowl Alliance" system. The expanded format was called the Bowl Championship Series.

The Bowl Alliance and its predecessor, the Bowl Coalition, featured championship games from 1992 through 1997. However, these did not ensure a matchup between the top two ranked teams because of the lack of participation by the Big Ten and Pac-10. Presentation of the crystal football trophy, first awarded at the end of the 1992 season, continues to be awarded to the BCS National Championship Game winner.

The BCS National Championship Game was initially rotated among the four participating bowl games: the (Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Sugar Bowl). However, beginning with the 2006 season, the BCS National Championship Game became a separate bowl game unto itself, following New Year's Day. The BCS National Championship Game rotates its location among the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, and Rose Bowl venues; however, the BCS National Championship Game is not coupled with those Bowls. For example, the 2011 Fiesta Bowl was a separate event from the 2011 BCS National Championship Game.

Game results

 * For Bowl Coalition championship game results from 1992–1994, see: Bowl Coalition
 * For Bowl Alliance championship game results from 1995–1997, see: Bowl Alliance

No 2004 BCS Champion due to NCAA sanctions against USC, nullifying participation and results. A June 6, 2011 decision of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, the 2004 championship will remain permanently vacant. Pursuant to NCAA sanctions, USC running back Reggie Bush was declared retroactively ineligible for the 2005 Orange Bowl.

The same June 6, 2011 decision of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee nullified USC's 2005 season participation in the 2006 Rose Bowl. However, since Texas defeated USC on the field, Texas is still recognized as the BCS National Champion for 2005. Participating conferences and personal awards listed within table here.

Records by team
* Miami and Virginia Tech moved to the ACC in 2004. Nebraska moved to the Big Ten in 2011. No current member of the Big East has played in a BCS championship game.

** The one SEC loss was to another SEC team in the BCS National Championship on January 9, 2012 (for the 2011 season) between Alabama and LSU.

† USC has two vacated BCS appearances, in 2004 and 2005.

Criticisms and controversy
Critics of the current BCS championship argue against the internal validity of the current BCS National Championship, which is awarded to the winner of a single postseason game, the BCS National Championship game. Critics lament that the participants in this game are decided based upon polls and computers; not by previous on-field competition as is this the case in other major sports and other levels of college football which employ playoff format championships. Often, the BCS system leads to controversies in which multiple teams finish seasons with equal records, and voters must distinguish the worthiness of their participation in the BCS National Championship game. Without providing any objective criteria for evaluation of these teams, the BCS also forces voters to impose their own standards and tiebreakers. Critics note that the system inherently fosters selection bias, and therefore, lacks external validity.

Controversies concerning inclusion in the BCS National Championship Game are numerous. In 2001, for example, Oregon, second ranked in the AP poll, was bypassed in favor of Nebraska despite Nebraska's loss in its final regular season game to the University of Colorado in a blowout with a score of 62-36. In 2003, USC was not included in the BCS Championship Game, but beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl and ended up #1 in the Associated Press final poll. The following season, in 2004, undefeated Auburn University, Boise State University and University of Utah teams were left out of the National Championship Game (the FedEx Orange Bowl), although those teams were undefeated as well. In 2008, the University of Utah was excluded from the BCS championship for a second time despite being the only undefeated Division I-A team at the end of the season and finished second behind 13–1 Florida. In 2009, five schools finished the regular season undefeated: Alabama, Texas, Cincinnati, Texas Christian University, and Boise State; however, the BCS selected traditional powers Alabama and Texas to participate in the BCS National Championship Game as they were the top two teams in the BCS rankings.

Many critics of the Bowl Championship Series favor a larger championship tournament with eight to sixteen teams, similar to that administered by the NCAA for its Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, and Division III football championships. Others favor adopting the incremental step of adding a single post-bowl championship game between the winners of two BCS games among the top four ranked teams in the BCS standings, the so-called "plus one" option. The SEC and ACC conferences have recently pushed for some form of playoff system. On June 24, 2009, the BCS presidential oversight committee rejected the Mountain West Conference's proposed eight-team playoff plan.

In 2009, the NCAA ruled that former USC running back Reggie Bush was retroactively ineligible for the 2004 BCS National Championship Game, the 2005 Orange Bowl vs. Oklahoma, for receiving various illegal benefits. In May 2011, the NCAA rejected all appeals of USC's penalties, which included Bush's ineligibility and a two-year bowl ban. On June 6, 2011, the University of Southern California became the first school to lose a Bowl Championship Series National Championship due to NCAA sanctions, as the BCS President's Oversight Committee stripped USC of the 2004 title. There will be no 2004 champion.

In addition, the BCS also nullified USC's participation in the 2006 Rose Bowl. (See attributions 1 and 2.)

Future
The game's location rotates among the sites of the BCS bowls. Future scheduled sites are as follows (note the years shown are for the game, which occurs in the calendar year following the corresponding NCAA football season):


 * Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida in 2013 (Discover BCS National Championship Game)
 * Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California in 2014 (Vizio BCS National Championship Game)

During 2012, the BCS actively considered changes to the format that would begin with the 2014 football season that would extend the season by one game by either establishing a four school semifinal round that would determine the participants in the National Championship Game or by selecting the participants in the National Championship Game after the season's bowl games have been completed. On June 26, 2012, the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee approved a four school playoff format, in which the participants will be determined by a selection committee, the semifinals will be played in existing bowl games on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, and the final will be played six to ten days later at a neutral site selected through a competitive bidding process. The new format will be in effect from the 2014-15 college football season through the 2025-26 season.

Heisman Trophy winners in Bowl games (see main article List of Heisman Trophy winners)

 * Jan. 3, 2001, Orange Bowl - Chris Weinke, Florida State (25 of 51 passing, 274 yards)
 * Jan. 3, 2002, Rose Bowl - Eric Crouch, Nebraska (22 rushes, 114 yards; 5 of 15 passing, 62 yards)
 * Jan. 2, 2003, Orange Bowl -Carson Palmer, Southern California
 * Jan. 4, 2004, Sugar Bowl - Jason White, Oklahoma (13 of 37 passing, 102 yards)
 * Jan. 4, 2005, Orange Bowl - Matt Leinart, Southern California (18 of 35 passing, 332 yards, 5 TDs); Note: Jason White, 2004 Heisman winner, and Reggie Bush, 2005 Heisman winner, both participated in this game
 * Jan. 4, 2006, Rose Bowl - Reggie Bush (vacated), Southern California (13 rushes, 82 yards, 1 TD)(Later vacated); Note: Matt Leinart, 2005 Heisman winner, also participated in this game, as well as Vince Young, the runner-up to Bush's vacated trophy
 * Jan. 8, 2007, Glendale - Troy Smith, Ohio State (4 of 14 passing, 35 yards)
 * Jan. 1, 2008, Capital One Bowl, Tim Tebow, Florida
 * Jan. 8, 2009, Miami - Sam Bradford, Oklahoma (26 of 41 passing, 256 yards, 2 TDs); Note: Tim Tebow, 2008 Heisman winner, also participated in this game
 * Jan. 7, 2010, Pasadena - Mark Ingram, Alabama (22 rushes, 116 yards, 2 TDs)
 * Jan. 10, 2011, Glendale - Cam Newton, Auburn (20 for 34 passing for 265 yards, 2 TDs)

Television
From 1999 through 2006, ABC broadcast eight BCS National Championship Games pursuant to broadcasting rights negotiated with the BCS and the Rose Bowl, whose rights were offered separately. Beginning with the 2006–07 season, FOX obtained the BCS package, consisting of the Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and the BCS National Championship Games hosted by these bowls, with ABC retaining the rights to the Rose Bowl and BCS National Championship Games hosted by the Rose Bowl (such as the 2010 edition)

On November 18, 2008, the BCS announced that ESPN had won the television rights to the BCS National Championship Game (as well as the other four BCS bowls) for 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. The contract with ESPN is notable as it makes the BCS National Championship Game the most prominent annual sporting event not to be shown over broadcast television.


 * Expected announcer, subject to change.

Radio
Since 1999 the BCS National Championship Game has been broadcast on ESPN Radio.

Related national championship selections
Since there is no NCAA Division I FBS playoff, the BCS National Championship game is one of several national championship selection processes in existence.

The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) participate in a weekly Coaches' Poll published by USA Today; for its final poll of the season, the AFCA is contractually bound to select the BCS National Champion as the national champion Thus, the winner of the game is awarded the AFCA National Championship Trophy in a postgame ceremony.

The BCS National Champion is also automatically awarded the National Football Foundation's MacArthur Trophy.

The Associated Press and the Football Writers Association of America are independent and may award their national championship trophies to a school other than the BCS National Championship Game winner.