Division I-A American football is the only NCAA-
sponsored sport without an organized tournament to
determine its champion. Therefore, for any given year,
there is often no undisputed champion in Division I-A
collegiate football. Ironically, NCAA football is the
most popular NCAA sport and the one in which public
interest in the "championship" is highest. The Bowl
Championship Series (BCS) is the latest mechanism
in series of controversial attempts to provide a
"championship" game for NCAA Division I-A football.
The BCS is a computer ranking format and bowl
setup that has decided the unofficial but de facto
NCAA Division I-A national football championship
since 1998. Among the criticisms of the BCS (and the
bowl system in general), include the fact that the final
ranking of Division I-A NCAA football teams is
decided by arbitrary and subjective standards, much
like beauty pageants. Observers point-out that the
“champion” of the largest and most popular collegiate
sport should not be decided by fiat. The BCS was
especially criticized and deemed controversial in both
the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 seasons. In 2003, five
teams (three from BCS conferences) finished the
regular season with one loss, with no unbeaten
team, while in the following season, the same # of
teams finished the regular season unbeaten. In both
seasons, three of the five teams had legitimate cases
for playing in the BCS title game. Most recently,
additional controversy has come from the decison by
the Associated Press to prohibit the BCS from using
their rankings in the BCS formula, and by ESPN to
remove itself from the USA Today coaches poll.
