Power Ranking the 14 BCS National Champions

Since the institution of the BCS in 1998, there have been 14 BCS National Champions with each of the six BCS Conferences having at least one champion.

While the SEC has dominated over the past six years, there were teams from other conferences who won the majority of the first five championships.

Some teams have been better than others, and while nine of the 14 champions have gone undefeated, that does not necessarily make them better teams when comparing them to one-loss squads.

Here is a ranking of the 14 BCS National Champions. Let the debate begin.

14. 2008 LSU Tigers (12-2)

Starting off the list are the 2008 LSU Tigers. This is the second Tigers team to win the BCS National Championship and the only two-loss team ever the win the BCS title.

LSU began the season ranked No. 2 in the country, and that likely benefited them at the end of the season when they made the national championship with two losses.

After moving up to No. 1 midway through the season, the Tigers suffered their first triple-OT defeat of the season at Kentucky.

Another triple-OT loss against Arkansas after regaining the No. 1 ranking did not drop them enough, as they finished the year ranked No. 2.

During their 2007 championship campaign, the Tigers were led by quarterback Matt Flynn and wide receiver Early Doucet. On the defensive side of the ball, Glenn Dorsey led LSU up front and was one of the best defensive players in the nation.

LSU defeated Ohio State 38-24 in the BCS National Championship.

13. 2003 Ohio State Buckeyes (14-0)

Even though Ohio State went 14-0 during the 2002 season and won the BCS National Championship, many people still do not believe they were the most talented team in the country.

The Buckeyes began the year ranked No. 13 in the nation and won multiple close games throughout the season, including a 23-19 victory over Cincinnati and a 19-14 triumph at Wisconsin.

Ohio State also beat Penn State by six, Purdue by four, Illinois in OT and Michigan by five during the final game of the season.

Leading the way for that Ohio State team was true freshman running back Maurice Clarett. Quarterback Craig Krenzel also was a key to the offense along with receiver Michael Jenkins.

The Buckeyes were really led by a defense that featured names like A.J. Hawk, Mike Doss, Will Allen, Dustin Fox, Cie Grant, Donnie Nickey, and Will Smith.

Perhaps the biggest upset of any BCS National Championship came when OSU defeated defending champion Miami in double overtime 31-24.

12. 2007 Florida Gators (13-1)

Head coach Urban Meyer led Florida to their first of two BCS National Championships under his reign during the 2006 season.

The Gators began the year ranked No. 7 in the country and climbed up the rankings steadily, led by senior quarterback Chris Leak and a bevy of talent all around him.

Florida stumbled against Auburn midway through the season after reaching No. 2 in the polls. After dropping to nine, they moved up to No. 4 and climbed up to No. 2 during the final week of the season, jumping No. 2 Michigan, who lost a close game to Ohio State.

Florida had a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, including two talented freshmen named Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin. On defense, they were led by Reggie Nelson, Brandon Siler and Jarvis Moss.

Florida won the SEC title over Arkansas and then dismantled No. 1 Ohio State 41-14 in the National Championship game.

11. 2001 Oklahoma Sooners (13-0)

The 2000 Oklahoma Sooners started off the season ranked No. 19, and therefore had a lot of work to do to play for the BCS National Championship.

They breezed through the early part of the schedule before winning a road game at No. 2 Kansas State 41-31. A 17-point win over No. 1 Nebraska the following week paved the way to the top.

Three of their final four regular season games were decided by five points or less, but the Sooners prevailed in all of them led by quarterback Josh Heupel on offense and safety J.T. Thatcher on defense.

In the lowest-scoring BCS National Championship game of all time, the Sooners defeated Florida State 13-2.

While they were champions, there was not as much talent on this team as some of the others on the list.

10. 2012 Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1)

The most recent of the BCS National Champions is next on the list. Alabama is probably the most fortunate team to win the BCS title after being granted a chance to play in the championship without even winning their conference.

The Crimson Tide began the season ranked No. 2 and lost to LSU 9-6 in the regular season. But after only dropping to No. 4 in the polls, they rebounded and won their remaining games to finish No. 2.

This allowed them to play LSU in the BCS National Championship game.

The Crimson Tide had talent on offense, led by Trent Richardson and Barrett Jones. On defense, there were many talented players like Dre Kirkpatrick, Courtney Upshaw and Dont'a Hightower.

In the rematch for the BCS National Championship, the Crimson Tide trounced LSU 21-0.

9. 2004 LSU Tigers (13-1)

This was the first of the two BCS National Championship teams at LSU, and probably the better of the two, finishing the year 13-1.

Like a few other teams on the list, LSU started the season ranked rather low, at No. 15. They moved all the way up to No. 6 before losing at home to Florida midway through the season.

After dropping to No. 10, the Tigers went on to trounce their remaining seven opponents with only one game closer than the 21-point victory in the SEC championship over Georgia.

LSU was led by receivers Devery Henderson and Michael Clayton along with quarterback Matt Mauck.

They finished the year ranked No. 2 and took on Oklahoma in the National Championship. The Tigers won a hard-fought championship 21-14 to claim the BCS title.

8. 2000 Florida State Seminoles

The 2000 Florida State Seminoles were the No. 1 team in the country from start to finish, ending the year 12-0 as the BCS National Champions.

They defeated five top-20 teams along the way, and only three of those games were single-digit victories.

There was a lot of talent, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, for Florida State. Quarterback Chris Weinke led the way along with receivers Peter Warrick, Anquan Boldin, Laveraneus Coles, Marvin Minnis and Ron Dugans.

Running back Travis Minor also was a factor along with kicker Sebastian Janikowski.

After defeating Virginia Tech 46-29 in the BCS National Championship, they became the first team in the history of college football to go wire-to-wire in all three major polls.

7. 1999 Tennessee Volunteers (13-0)

Tennessee was the first BCS National Champion, winning the inaugural game in 1999 to cap off a stellar 13-0 season.

The Volunteers began the year ranked No. 10 in the country and defeated No. 2 Florida 20-17 in OT during the second week of the season.

While steadily moving up the polls, Tennessee dominated the competition the rest of the way with only one game against Arkansas closer than a touchdown.

Tee Martin led the way for Tennessee, but there were a lot of playmakers around him, including running backs Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and wide receiver Peerless Price.

A 23-16 victory over No. 2 Florida State in the inaugural BCS National Championship game gave Tennessee the title.

6. 2009 Florida Gators (13-1)

The second of Urban Meyer's BCS National Championship teams at Florida was slightly better than the first, also going 13-1.

They began the season ranked No. 5 and dropped all the way to No. 14 after a 31-30 home loss to Ole Miss during the fourth week of the season.

Florida rebounded and defeated four top-eight teams the rest of the way, and six top-25 teams in their final nine games en route to the title.

Leading the way on offense were two juniors who contributed as freshmen on the first championship team in Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin.

On defense, Brandon Spikes was once again a force along with Carlos Dunlap and Joe Haden.

Florida defeated No. 1 Oklahoma 24-14 in the national championship game.

5. 2011 Auburn Tigers

The 2011 Auburn team was one of the best the BCS has seen, and finished the year 14-0 led by quarterback Cam Newton. 

Auburn began the season ranked No. 22 in the country, the lowest of any team who won a BCS title.

They had a few close games at the beginning of the season, but once Newton got his feet wet, the offense was hard to stop.

The Tigers took down six ranked teams along the way, and won a big game at No. 9 Alabama 28-27 in dramatic comeback fashion.

Cam Newton did everything on offense, but running back Michael Dyer and receiver Emory Blake also chipped in. On defense, Nick Fairley was one of the best linemen in the country. 

Auburn defeated Oregon 22-19 in a hard-fought national championship game.

4. 2005 USC Trojans (13-0)

During this time, USC had as much talent as anybody in college football, but only has one title to show for it, and that was vacated years later.

The loaded Trojans were No. 1 from start to finish. They had a few close games along the way, but were never really challenged during the season.

USC had names like Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, LenDale White, Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith at the skill positions. On defense, they were led by Frostee Rucker and Lofa Tatupu.

They took on Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship game and trounced the Sooners 55-19. Nobody was even close in 2005 to the Trojans.

3. 2010 Alabama Crimson Tide (14-0)

Of all the great SEC BCS National Champions, the 2010 Alabama Crimson Tide are the best of them all. They finished the season 14-0, dominating the competition.

The Crimson Tide began the season ranked No. 5 in the country, and had a close 12-10 victory over Tennessee along the way.

They defeated No. 1 Florida 32-13 in the SEC championship game.

Alabama had enough talent on both sides of the ball to dominate anybody. On defense were names like Terrence Cody, Marcell Dareus, Rolando McClain and Javier Arenas. The offense had names like Julio Jones, Mark Ingram and Greg McElroy.

The Crimson Tide took down Texas 37-21 in the BCS National Championship game.

2. 2006 Texas Longhorns (13-0)

Texas finished the season 13-0, and with the exception of a 25-22 victory at Ohio State, they beat everybody else on the schedule by double digits until the national championship game.

The Longhorns finished the season 13-0 and No. 2 in the country. They were ranked No. 2 from start to finish, staying behind USC the whole season.

Leading the way for the Longhorns was quarterback Vince Young. Young was by far the best player in the country in 2005 and won the national championship nearly by himself.

Helping out Young on offense was true freshman running back Jamaal Charles and Selvin Young.

In one of the most exciting of all the BCS National Championship games, Texas defeated USC 41-38 to claim the title.

1. 2002 Miami Hurricanes (12-0)

After beginning the season and spending one week at No. 2, the Hurricanes moved up to No. 1 where they stayed for the rest of the year, finishing 12-0.

Only one game all season was closer than 11 points, and Miami had more talent than any college football team in recent memory.

The offense featured starters with names like Ken Dorsey, Clinton Portis, Jeremy Shockey, Najeh Davenport, Andre Johnson and Bryan McKennie.

On defense, Miami had players like Jonathan Vilma, D.J. Williams, Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Jerome McDougle and many others.

The Hurricanes took down Nebraska 37-14 in the BCS National Championship game.