BCS Championship History: The Final Year

Welcome to the final year of the BCS Championship.  Today we will take a look back at the history of the BCS in its final season.  Some claimed the system worked but many others felt the procedure was flawed and unfair.

The BCS will live to see the 16th season and that is where this controversial system will come to end.  This will be last time the BCS will upset a school and its fan base who felt they should have been there.

Its hard to say that BCS system worked and moving to a playoff format is best for college football in the future.  There is still work to be done and hopefully the playoff format will evolve but I don't want to concentrate too much on the new system.  The purpose of this blog is to reflect on the history of the BCS and who sustained the most success during this era.

BCS Championship History

Winners by Year:

Most Wins (Team): Alabama (3)
Most Wins (Conference): SEC (9)
Most Losses: Oklahoma (3)
Most Appearances: Oklahoma (4)
Most Conference Appearances: SEC (10)
Best Winning Percentage (Team): Alabama (1.000)
Best Winning Percentage (Conference): *SEC (9-1)

*Only loss came to another SEC team (2011: Alabama def LSU)

Its doesn't take much to see what conference has dominated BCS Championship Game history.  The SEC has been to the BCS Championship 9 times out of 15 and in 2011 both teams represented the SEC.  The SEC only won 2 of the first 8 BCS titles but have won every one since 2006.  It is scary how good the SEC has become.  This could just be a trend but it seems as though the SEC is competing on a different level year in and year out.

In 2011 the SEC was so good that despite mounds of criticism they had 2 teams in the championship.  Even though there was criticism, I think everyone knew that the 2 best teams were playing that year.  At the end of the day there was nothing to complain about.  So think about this.  Next season we could very well see an all SEC College Football Playoff.

Whats the Future?

In 2015 the NCAA will introduce the College Football Playoff.  This will be a 4 team format where we finally get to see some version of a playoff like we see in basically every other college sport.  It has been a long time coming but it is hard to shake the tradition and revenue created by the bowl games.  Bowl games will still be played but is their time running out?  Probably not any time soon but it would be great to see a massive playoff like the NCAA Tournament and make bowl games obsolete.

The format will rotate semifinal locations between the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, & Peach Bowl.  This will of course change the tradition of the bowl games and which conferences will earn the right to play in them.  Used to seeing the Big 10 & Pac 12 every year in the Rose Bowl?  Well that's over.  It will still happen occasionally I'm sure but it used to practically be a guarantee.  This format will change the landscape of college football and the value of the bowl games may diminish.  We hope this is a change for the better because something had to be done about the BCS.

2015 College Football Championship

The 2015 College Football Championship will be hosted by newly labeled AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, TX.  I don't think this comes as a surprise to most.  The Championship Game will now be bid on like the Final Four and Super Bowl.  Expect to see AT&T Stadium as a regular in the Championship Game rotation.

So Long BCS

A toast to the last BCS Championship season!  You came in the late 90's and you depart 16 years later.  There was much controversy during your existence but at least you gave the sports universe something to talk about every year.  Now we don't get to have the playoff argument every December.  The argument has been won.  The SEC will certainly remember your time spent here and Oklahoma would love to forget.  Thanks for the water cooler talk we all enjoyed and let this last season be as controversial as any!