October 17, 2005
Primer to the 2005-2006 BCS Championship
There are several changes in the BCS this year and it's worth revisiting the entire story of the Bowl Champioship Seriers (BCS Championship).
Formation of the BCS:
Prior to the 1998 football regular season, the FedEx Orange, Nokia Sugar, Rose and Tostitos Fiesta Bowls joined with the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pacific-10 and Southeastern Conferences and the University of Notre Dame to form the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). The BCS was established to
determine the national champion for college football while maintaining and enhancing the bowl system which has provided significant support to college football for nearly a century. The BCS is a showcase for the sport, matching the premier teams in top bowl games.
2005 BCS Selection Process: This season the national championship game will be played in the Rose Bowl on January 4. After the Rose Bowl matches the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams, the other BCS games make their selections. The Big 12 championship will host the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (January 2), the Southeastern Conference champion shall host the Nokia Sugar Bowl (January 2), and the Atlantic Coast Conference champion will host the FedEx Orange Bowl (Jan. 3) should those teams not be ranked No. 1 or No. 2. All BCS games will be telecast by ABC Sports. If a BCS bowl loses a host team to the national championship game, then that BCS bowl shall be the first to select a replacement team from the pool of eligible teams. If two BCS bowls lose their host teams to the national championship game, the BCS bowl losing the top-ranked team would have the first selection, followed by the BCS bowl that lost the secondranked team. Bowls cannot select a host team from another BCS bowl. Furthermore, if two BCS bowls lose host teams to the national championship game, the bowl losing thee top-ranked team may not select a team from the same conference as the second-ranked team unless the bowl losing the second-ranked team consents.
In certain situations, a host team for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, FedEx Orange Bowl, or Nokia Sugar Bowl may, but need not, be placed in another BCS game. Factors that are considered in making that determination include:
(1) The same team hosting the same BCS Bowl for two straight years;
(2) Two teams that played against one another in the most recently completed regular season;
(3) The same two teams would play against each other in a bowl game for two consecutive years;
(4) An alternative pairing would have greater appeal to college football fans.
Any BCS bowl game(s) still remaining unfilled will submit a listing of its top three team selections to fill its at-large slot. Any conference champion not already placed in a bowl game must be listed among such bowl game’s first two selections. Each BCS bowl will then be given its highest preference of teams.
In a situation where two or more bowls select the same team(s) with their choices, the priority of selection goes initially to the bowl making the larger per team payment and then rotates
to the other bowls not given first priority in a previous year. For the bowls not hosting the national championship game this season, the following selection priority will apply if necessary:
- FedEx Orange Bowl
- Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
- Nokia Sugar Bowl
The pairings established by this selection process may be adjusted by the conference and institutions participating in the BCS, in consultation with the BCS bowls and ABC, in the interest of creating the most exciting and competitive post season matchups possible. The factors considered in adjusting the pairings are the same as those considered in determining whether to move a host team into a different bowl.
Which Teams are Eligible?
The pool of eligible teams includes:
1. The teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the final BCS Standings. These two teams will play in the BCS bowl hosting the national championship game.
2. To the extent that such teams do not qualify to play in the national championship game, the onference champions of the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-10 and Southeastern Conferences. These teams are guaranteed berths.
3. To the extent that any such team does not qualify to play in the national championship game, any Division I-A independent or team from Conference USA, the Mid-American, Mountain West , Sun Belt or Western Athletic Conference, will earn a guaranteed slot in one of the BCS bowl games should that team be ranked sixth or higher in the final BCS Standings. Should the number of teams meeting this criterion exceed the number of available slots in the BCS bowls after placement of teams in the national championship game and the six conference champions that are annually guaranteed berths, then the BCS bowls will fill any available slots by choosing from among all such teams that have met this criterion.
4. All other Division I-A teams that have won at least nine regular season games (not including wins in exempt games) and are ranked among the top 12 in the final BCS Standings are eligible for selection as an at-large team.
The conferences whose champions have a guaranteed annual berth in one of the BCS bowls are subject to review and possible loss of that guaranteed annual berth should the conference champion not have an average ranking of 12 or higher over a four-year period.
Qualifications for At-Large Bids
There are two at-large spots available in the BCS games. If one or both of the participants in the national championship game are not champions from those conferences whose champions have an annual automatic berth in a BCS game, they are considered at-large teams. Only one team from a conference whose champion has an annual automatic berth in a BCS bowl may be selected as an at-large participant, unless two non-champions from the same conference are ranked one and two. No more than two teams from any conference may play in the BCS bowl games in any given year..
Automatic Qualification for At-Large Selection
1. If both the number one and number two teams in the BCS standings are from independent institutions, Conference USA, the Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt, or Western Athletic Conferences, those two teams shall play in the national championship game regardless of conference affiliation, and will fill both at-large slots. If one of the top two ranked teams is from an independent institution, Conference USA, the Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt, or Western Athletic Conference, that team shall play in the national championship game and fill one of the at-large slots and one at-large slot will remain available.
2. Any team from an independent institution Conference, USA, the Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt, or Western Athletic Conference that is ranked three through six shall qualify for automatic selection.
If one or more teams other than Notre Dame qualify for automatic selection under this provision, Notre Dame shall also qualify provided it is ranked in the top ten or has won at least nine games.
If more than one at-large team qualifies for automatic selection under this provision and there are insufficient at-large slots available to accommodate all of them, the BCS bowls will select from those that qualify.
3. After application of the previous provisions, if any at-large slots remain unfilled and the team ranked either three or four is from the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-10, or Southeastern Conference but is not its representative, that team shall automatically fill one at-large slot and shall be selected to play in one of the BCS bowls. If both the third and fourth ranked teams meet these criteria, then only the third ranked team shall qualify automatically. The third and fourth ranked
teams cannot both qualify automatically under this provision.
4. If any at-large slots remain unfilled after application of all previous provisions, then the BCS bowls shall fill such slot(s) by selecting from among the pool of all eligible at-large teams.
The BCS Rankings:
The BCS Standings determine which teams play in the National Championship game, and which are included in the pool of eligible teams available for at-large selection. This year, the BCS Standings will
include three components: the rankings of the Harris Poll, the USA Today Coaches poll and a computer poll average. Each component will count one-third of a team’s overall BCS score in the BCS Standings.
In the Harris Poll and USA Today polls, the formula will no longer average the weekly rank of each team. Instead a team will be evaluated on the number of voting points it receives in each poll. A team’s Harrisscore will be its points in the poll divided by its total possible voting points. The same formula will apply to the USA Todaypoll and its total voting points. The number of actual voters, which can vary and has varied in the past, is figured into the computation on a weekly basis in stating each team’s percentage of a possible perfect score.
Six computer rankings will be used for 2005: Jeff Sagarin, whose rankings are published in USA Today, Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey and Dr. Peter Wolfe. A team’s highest and lowest computer ranking will be discarded from figuring a team’s computer poll average. Points will be assigned in inverse order of ranking from 1-25. The four remaining computer scores will be averaged and the total will be calculated as a percentage of 100. All three components shall be added together and averaged for a team’s ranking in the BCS Standings. The team with the highest average shall rank first in the BCS Standings. The first BCS Standings of the 2004 season will be released on Monday, October 17th @ 2pm EDT.
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