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Introduction Paragraph
USC and LSU, two respected and powerful athletic programs in NCAA spots, joined an
exclusive club after the BCS National Championship Game in 2004. This was a club for football teams
who split and shared stakes in the title of National Champion of NCAA football. From 1954 to 2004,
there have been numerous teams who had to handle this dilemma. However, the case of USC and LSU
sharing the title was of different origins than the cases in the past . The cases in the past were all based
off of records, and the champion was crowned based off of the records of the teams. USC and LSU had
to deal with the BCS standings and calculations as the deciding factor of who is the national champion .
The BCS (Bowl Championship Series), was implemented into practice at the beginning of the 1999
season, and was seen as a way of finally solving the vexing issue of how to crown a national champion
in college football. Up until the end of the 2003 season, the BCS system was running smoothly and the
arguments against it were silenced. But, after the National Championship Game in 2004, public opinion
on the BCS standings changed. A split national title is not at all favored by the football teams governed
by the NCAA. Understanding how the BCS system came to be in place requires knowledge of what
systems were used previously.
However, understanding how to improve the BCS standings, making for a more enjoyable
college football season, requires not only knowledge of the past systems used, but also the very
traditions of college football as a whole. There's much more to college football then just the games they
play. Underneath the flashy marching bands, highly spirited hooligans named students, and the
countless determined athletes and coaches, are the traditions of each team, conference, and college
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football as a whole. The currently used BCS system draws fans, alumni, and the athletes themselves
away from the inter-workings of college football, that makes Division 1 NCAA football legendary and
epic. From the creation of the first bowl agreements in Pasadena, to the creation of the other 3
traditional major bowl games, college football as a whole has gone through many significant changes .
The BCS rankings have already managed to tie up and place constraints on the diminishing traditions
formed in college football. Before there were ranking systems and methods used to determine which
team was ranked where, the bowl games were used as ways to attract audiences and spectators to the
game of college football.
History of the Major Bowl Games
Football has been apart of collegiate athletics for over 130 years. From humble beginnings to
the present day battles between two opposing forces, college football has been improved and worked
on to make it a customary, and traditional game between bitter rivals . However, because of the minimal
participation of teams outside of the Ivy League schools, college football faced a very slow start .
NCAA football is singing a whole different tune today. Every Saturday fans watch their team battle it
out against their opponent, fighting for pride and glory. In college football, anything can happen in the
quest for bowl games. Beginning in 1902 with the Rose Bowl, the NCAA football bowl games are the
most important games played for in college sports. The games are responsible for not only pitting two
at large teams against one another, but more importantly for keeping the traditions alive that college
football rivalries and competition are based off of.
Prior to the inaugural bowl game in 1902 , the Pasadena Tournament of Roses was used to
showcase life in paradise while in New York, people are buried in snow (Pasadena Tournament of
Roses). However, the Tournament was failing to attract a substantial amount of interest and attendance
at it's festivities. That was until 1901 when it was decided that the first post-season college football
game would take place at Pasadena's Tournament Park. Michigan University, which had an undefeated
record at the end of the 1901 season, challenged University of California Berkeley to a football game at
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the Tournament of Roses. Berkeley turned down the offer, and Stanford took it's place against the
Michigan team. The game drew in 8,000 spectators, but due to the victory of 49-0 by Michigan over
Stanford, the Tournament of Roses Association made the decision to hold Roman-style horse-drawn
chariot races instead of a football game (HickokSports.com). The tournament of roses did not see it's
next game of college football until New Year's Day in 1916 when the University of Washington beat
Brown 14-0.
Finally , in 1923 the game had moved into a new stadium to accommodate for the large of
amount of fans and spectators who wished to attend the game. The game was titled the Rose Bowl
and has been held every New Year's Day since. The game has since been nicknamed The Granddaddy
of Them All and saw the first creation of a traditional bowl game in NCAA history. In 1998 the Rose
Bowl celebrated its 52nd anniversary of an agreement established between the Big-10 and the Pac-10
conferences (Pasadena Tournament of Roses). Currently, the Rose Bowl is 1 of 4 major bowl games in
the BCS, which entails that every 4 years the Rose Bowl serves as the venue for not only the the
traditional Rose Bowl game, but also the BCS National Championship game .
In 1933 the Palm Festival , which was also held on New Years Day, was started by the
University of Miami. The first game of the festival was staged between University of Miami and
Manhattan College. After seeing the successful nature of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, the Palm Festival
was moved to it's own stadium in 1938 and was renamed the Orange Bowl Festival
(HickokSports.com). In 1965, the Orange Bowl became the first bowl game played at night and has
been since then. Earlier in it's life, the Orange Bowl had it's own traditional agreement between teams
and conferences. From the year 1963 to to 1994, the Orange Bowl held the Big-8 champion against
another at-large opponent, however that tradition has since changed and is currently no longer in use
(HickokSports.com).
Prior to any agreement made , the Sugar Bowl (first hosted in Louisiana on New Years Day
1935) was responsible for pitting the champion of the SEC (South Eastern Conference) against another
at-large opponent in college football. During the 1946 season, an agreement was made formalizing the
already traditional SEC champion vs. an at-large opponent, and has been kept to this day (that is unless
the SEC champion is to play in the national championship game). For the 1975 Sugar Bowl game, the
game was moved to the Louisiana Superdome, making it the first and only major bowl game in
existence to be played indoors (HickokSports.com). The Sugar Bowl is the second oldest major bowl
game to be founded, behind the Rose Bowl game of 1902.
The creation of the Sugar Bowl also caused the introduction of payouts to the teams and
conferences for participating in the bowl game . Presently the 4 major bowl games all have payouts of
$14-$18 million to participating teams, $14 million to the losing team and $18 million to the winning
team (Origin and Purpose). The major bowl games now not only had their significantly important
traditions to safeguard, but now with a large amount of money on the line for the participating teams,
the major bowl games became even more important.
The Fiesta Bowl , the youngest of the 4 major bowl games, was first played in 1971 in Sun
Devil Stadium. The original purpose for the creation of the bowl game was to pit Arizona State against
an at-large opponent (HickokSports.com). The Fiesta Bowl had a very slow start in terms of attendance
and participation by spectators and teams alike. It wasn't until a game in 1981 of Penn State vs. USC
that the Fiesta Bowl finally got it's big break. However it wasn't until 1992, under the terms and
guidelines of the Bowl Alliance, that the Fiesta Bowl was firmly decided as a major bowl game
(HickokSports.com).
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In 2007, under the terms of the BCS, the Fiesta Bowl was moved from Sun Devil Stadium to
the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ. After the creation and demise of both the Bowl
Alliance and then the Bowl Coalition, the BCS system was implemented and changed the traditional
agreement of the Fiesta Bowl. Once the game was moved to Glendale, the tradition of ASU being
included in the game was changed to now host the Big-12 champion vs. an at-large opponent (Fiesta
Bowl).
The Ranking Systems
College football has faced many trials in the debate over the traditional bowl games vs. a play
off post-season. Prior to the 1970's, the debate was limited, with tradition reigning supreme over
equality. However, during the 70's, controversies arose regarding the fact that at the end of both regular
and post-season play, there was no way to declare a full-blown national champion. The people who
claimed tradition as the more important of the two, were constantly barraged by continuously pressing
organizations to implement a playoff system in order to produce a clear-cut champion (gridiron
football).
The debate continued until finally the Bowl Coalition was established in 1992. The Coalition
would be the system in place that was responsible for attempting to match the top two teams in the
nation against one another in a post-season bowl game to decide on who is the national champion
(Pasadena Tournament of Roses). The Bowl Coalition decided on 4 major bowl games, the Cotton
Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. The Coalition was created and used by 5 major
conferences including the independent school of Notre Dame. The Big-10 and the Pac-10 were left out
of the Coalition, along with the Rose Bowl being left out of the major bowl games in rotation . This was
because of the agreement between the Big-10 and Pac-10 involving the two champions from both of
those conferences to play one another in the Rose Bowl every year (gridiron football) .
The Bowl Coalition paired the top two teams against one another two out of the three years that
it was in place. However, there were limitations and issues around the Coalition. Because of the
traditions of bowl games, the Coalition could not pair up the top teams from, for example, the SEC and
Big-8 conferences, even if those teams were the top two (Pasadena Tournament of Roses) . These
issues made it clear that the Coalition could not guarantee a clear-cut champion. The Coalition was
used up until the end of the bowl games in January 1995. With the ending of the Coalition, came a
mass ending in agreements of conference and bowl affiliations with many athletic programs (Pasadena
Tournament of Roses). This gave way to the creation of a new system for college football.
The Bowl Alliance agreements were instated for the bowl games of 1996, 1997 and 1998. The
Alliance had the involvement of 6 different conferences including Notre Dame, along with only 3
major bowls (Fiesta, Orange and Sugar Bowls). The Bowl Alliance tested the strength of the traditional
bowl games that were played every year by not mandating that a participating conference must commit
to playing in a certain bowl game, let alone any bowl games if they chose (Pasadena Tournament of
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Roses). This was seen both as a positive and negative change by the fans of college football .
The Bowl Alliance allowed for teams to be matched up, that before could not be matched
against one another due to conference with agreements bowl committees (Pasadena Tournament of
Roses). This allowed the Alliance to finally be allowed to match-up the top two teams in the nation.
For example, if the number one team were to be apart of the SEC, the team would not be required to
play in the Sugar Bowl. It was left completely up to the discretion of the athletic program.
Because of this, the Bowl Alliance was seen as way to diminish tradition through out NCAA
football. Much like the Bowl Coalition, the Alliance did not include the Big-10 or the Pac-10, leaving
the Rose Bowl out of the Alliance as well. This left the Alliance in a flawed state by not having the
involvement of potentially nationally ranked teams in the Big-10 and Pac-10. As the Bowl Alliance
neared the end of its life in NCAA football, it was obvious to the leaders of the organization that to
closer guarantee a match-up between the top two teams in the nation, the Big-10 and the Pac-10 must
be included in the bowl series (Pasadena Tournament of Roses).
The Bowl Championship Series
The season following the demise of the Bowl Alliance, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS)
was put into action. With the involvement of the Rose Bowl, Big-10 and Pac-10, the BCS is currently
the ranking system used and implemented in college football. With the inclusion of the three new
additions, the BCS would be able to promise fans, coaches, athletes, and alumni an annual match-up
between the #1 and #2 team in the nation (Pasadena Tournament of Roses) . The BCS did many things
to help improve the post-season issues of college football. The BCS provided better opportunities to
smaller conferences, and bigger conferences alike, to gain entry into a major bowl game. With entry
into a major bowl game, it gave smaller conferences more TV exposure than before, along with
providing the smaller conferences with the same monetary incentives that the larger conferences agreed
upon for participating in a major bowl game.
The BCS shed light on the foundation of the importance, beyond tradition, of the major bowl
games. This is the economic benefits of the bowl games for teams, and conferences. For gaining entry
into a major bowl game the conference itself earns $18 million. For an additional team being sent to a
major bowl game (i.e. if one conference sent 2 teams to 2 different major bowl games), the conference
would then receive an additional $4.5 million. This monetary incentive system applies only to
automatic qualifying conferences, while Notre Dame receives $1.3 million, Army and Navy receive
$100,000 each and the rest of the conferences split up the $2 million remaining if the conference sends
a team to a major BCS bowl game (Bowl Championship Series). Even more so, the five BCS bowl
games played each year rack up nearly $1.2 billion in revenue for the cities in which the bowl games
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are hosted by (Bowl Championship Series).
Since its initiation, the BCS agreement has been instrumental in preserving the traditions and
importance of the regular college football season. It allows for teams to be paired up in a championship
game that would have never been possible due to previous traditional affiliation agreements. It has
contributed to growth in both the bowl series and the progression of bigger and smaller conferences
alike (Pasadena Tournament of Roses).The preservation of the importance of the regular season of
college football has successfully been sustained by the BCS system. Executive Director of the BCS,
Bill Hancock states: "Football weekends are an important ingredient in the overall college experience
-- going well beyond simply what occurs in the athletics department. A significant amount of the
revenue that supports all athletic programs is generated by regular-season football . And so it is
important that the regular season remains strong and vibrant." (Bowl Championship Series).
In past years since it's beginning, the BCS has faced some controversies regarding it's
capabilities. There have been two cases which truly fueled the flames of a much heated debate
involving BCS vs. a playoff post-season in college football. As discussed above, the BCS was
responsible for a split title between USC and LSU after the bowl games of 2004. LSU was matched up
in the national championship game, while USC played in the Rose Bowl. After the two games, USC
was ranked at #1 by one of three polls counted by the BCS ranking system, while LSU was ranked at
#1 by the other two. Since there was no clear-cut winner of the national championship title, both teams
had to split and share the title (The Free Library). Before the 2004 bowl games, the BCS was tested and
argued against after a controversial participation by the University of Nebraska. Nebraska had failed to
win the championship of it's own conference (the Big-12 conference), and yet was pitted against the
University of Miami at the Rose Bowl for the national championship title game . The inclusion of a
non-conference championship team in the BCS national title game proved that the BCS system was
flawed in its own nature, and insured that an ensuing argument and debate over the implementation of a
playoff post-season would continue over the years to come (gridiron football).
Proposed Changes
With the obvious short comings provided by the current BCS system, what can be done to more
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accurately crown a national champion and, more importantly, preserve the traditions that run deep in
the veins of college football? An addition of playoff series into the structure of college football will be
able to help step toward a solution in the tradition vs. competition debate of college football.
Although faulty in its final selection process, it is agreed among college football fans that the
towards the end of the season, the BCS standings will correctly place the top 8 teams in their order . It is
also observed, that the top 8 teams in the NCAA football league all have as equal of a chance to defeat
one another. This is an important concept to understand when discussing changing the playoff process
of college football.
To make the proposed playoffs possible, the regular college football season would need to be
cut by 1 games, keeping the total number of games played to 12 per team. The games given up will be
compensated for by the total playoff games played. The playoffs will not be structured the same way as
most other playoff series are. Instead of cycling the top 8 teams against one another, the match ups will
be based off the traditional bowl affiliation agreements from the past. If the Big-10 and Pac-10
champions are both in the top 8 of the BCS standings, they will face off in the Rose Bowl. The same
will apply to the SEC champion playing in the Sugar Bowl, and would be applied to the Big-12 and the
Fiesta Bowl as well. However, if any of these conditions are not met, the bowl games will place
tradition on the back-burner and proceed with following the BCS standings while deciding who plays
who.
After the first round of playoffs, the structure will be transformed back into a standard playoff
procedure. The winners of the first round will advance to the semi-finals, with the losers being
eliminated after their first loss. Finally after the semi-finals a game will be played between the final
two teams remaining for the national championship. This game will not only decide on the rankings for
the season following it, but it will finally produce a clear champion for college football without
sacrificing any of the highly cherished traditions. Another tradition that will be carried out still would
be the payouts conferences receive for participating in bowl games. The payouts will still be issued, but
the amount will have to be reformed taking into account more than five bowl games (Sugar, Orange,
Rose, Fiesta, and the BCS Championship game) being played.
With an addition of playoff rounds, more bowl games will need to be added. Not counting the
four major bowl games played, there are 30 other bowl games played amongst division 1 NCAA
football teams. If the proposed changes were to take place, prior to the season's beginning, two of those
30 bowls will need to be selected to step in as a venue for the second round of playoffs. Among the
now total six venues for bowl games, one must be used for the championship game . The same rotation
process (each bowl will host the national championship game once every four years, currently) will be
used, except instead of a four year rotation between bowls it would be a six year rotation between the
bowls.
Conclusion
Since the first bowl game played in January 1902, college football bowl games have taken their
place as one of the most traditional, controversial, and revered spectator events. From the first
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formalized affiliation agreements to the two previous ranking systems, the BCS has solved, but created,
many issues present in selecting the college football national champion. With tradition being threatened
by an out cry to select a clear-cut champion, something should be done to preserve these highly
guarded and customary traditions. The proposed playoff series, if initiated, will be instrumental in
attempting to preserve tradition and common American competitive spirits. As for the near future,
division 1 NCAA football programs appear to be settling in for a long haul with the current BCS
system in place. However, with more attention and aggravation being brought up from the current
BCS, the NCAA can't let it fall by the wayside for too long. The BCS official website made a claim
regarding playoffs and it reads; The NCAA membership has not voted for the creation of a playoff.
Given that context, the conferences created the BCS in order to match the top two teams in a bowl
game while maintaining the importance of the regular season and preserving the bowl system . (Bowl
Championship Series). But, how long will it be until the BCS organization notices the degradation, not
the preservation, of the traditions of the bowl games? For now, college football will remain as
traditional as it can be while fighting off the constant vexation of controversies surrounding it .
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"The BCS is...." Bowl Championship Series. N.p., 2010. Web. 3 Dec 2010.
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<http://www.hickoksports.com/history/collbowl.shtm1>
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"Tournament of Roses History." Pasadena Tournament of Roses.
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<http://www.tournamentofroses.com/history/>.
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