A Decade of the BCS: College Football's Winners and Losers of the BCS Era

The 2009 BCS National Championship Game marked the end of the tenth season of the BCS in college football.

Though it has been very controversial, the system has at least been capable of naming a national champion prior to the previous system where champions were only decided by the polls.

Every season seemed to be mired in some controversy, whether it was a case of three undefeated teams in 2004 to the Big XII South voting controversy just this past fall.

Regardless, the advent of the BCS has brought some very exciting games and has attracted the attention of the entire sporting landscape, regardless of the means.

Heading into the 11th season of the BCS, it's time to look back and assess who has benefited the most from the BCS era and who hasn't been quite so fortunate.

Winners:

USC

Although the Trojans have only one BCS championship under their belt, they have been no doubt the best program of the past decade, making seven straight trips to a BCS bowl.

Pete Carroll has only lost one BCS game in his coaching career, and has owned everyone they came across in the big games.

USC has their stamp on the Pac-10 and are consistently the overwhelming favorites to win the conference.

Three Heisman trophy winners in one decade is more than enough evidence that USC is the model for what a college football team should be.

Urban Meyer

Since the BCS began, only one coach has won a BCS bowl with two different teams.

Meyer's Utah Utes thoroughly defeated Pitt in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl 35-7, then two years later took the Florida Gators to a stunning blowout of Ohio State in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game.

2009 saw Meyer bring another National Championship to Gainesville beating Oklahoma in Miami 24-14.

Clearly, no coach has done more in less time than Meyer has done, and with him being only 45-years old, he can win alot more championships.

The SEC

This latest decade has been a breakout period for probably the most deep conference in college football.

The SEC holds the previous three national championships and has the highest winning percentage of any major conference in BCS games.

Alabama is the only SEC team that has played in a BCS game yet to win one, including a stunning loss to Utah in the 2009 Sugar Bowl.

With two of the big bowl games in SEC territory (the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl), the southern teams enjoy a more convenient travel and a better homefield advantage. Still, no one can argue how talented these teams have been.

Their dominance is very likely to continue on into this BCS season.

Vince Young

Texas's biggest star of the decade authored two of the greatest bowl performances in BCS history.

Both his comebacks against Michigan and USC in consecutive Rose Bowl Games sealed his legacy as one of the all-time clutch performers in the modern era of college football.

He was probably the most electrifying quarterback during his time in Texas and the ultimate playmaker.

His performance against a USC team labeled before the 2006 Rose Bowl Game as ESPN's "greatest team of all-time" is the stuff legends are made of. And in one of the greatest games ever, Young left a mark that no one will ever look down upon.

Losers:

The ACC

In all the years of the BCS, the ACC has been unable to send two squads and has only two wins to show for it, the most recent in the 2009 Orange Bowl by Virginia Tech.

Florida State's championship in 2000 would be one of only two times an ACC squad played for the championship (not including Miami who played in the Big East at the time).

Despite absorbing Miami and Virginia Tech, the ACC never quite became the superconference many expected it would be.

It may still be one day, but for now, the ACC has struggled to win big games.

Bob Stoops/Oklahoma Sooners

Known formerly as "Big Game Bob," the coach has dealt with hard times when it comes to BCS games.

Since beating Washington State in the 2003 Rose Bowl, the Sooners have lost five straight BCS games, including three national championships.

They were victimized by a clever, surprising underdog in Boise State that had more bite than Oklahoma could handle in 2007.

Their high-scoring offense sputtered in Miami against the Gators, managing only 14 points in their fifth straight loss.

Stoops is one of the elite coaches, but he has failed to figure out how to beat teams of equal talent of late.

Heisman Trophy Winners

College football's most prestigious award has, at least lately, been more of a curse than a blessing.

Of the 10 winners in the BCS era, only three times has the recipient been on the winning side of a BCS game (Tebow's Gators played in the Capital One Bowl in 2008).

The most notable collapse in recent memory is Ohio State's Troy Smith against Florida in 2007. In a performance that still gives everyone in Ohio nightmares, he has more sacks than completions and it led to the blowout loss in the desert.

If this trend continues, whoever plays in the national championship game in 2010 should hope they do not have the Heisman winner on their roster.

The Rose Bowl Game

The "Granddaddy of them All" has recently become a game that has drawn alot of controversy from fans for bowl ties on both sides that prevent alot of great matchups.

The past three Rose Bowls have been USC blowout victories over overmatched Big Ten teams. In fact, the last time the Big Ten won in the Rose Bowl was Wisconsin in 2000 over Stanford.

Some people point out that the Rose Bowl stands for tradition, but it has been called into question due to aforementioned lack of competitiveness.

Recent changes have allowed the Rose Bowl to take a midmajor to replace a Pac-10 or Big Ten team in the game should championship circumstances arise.

It remains to be seen how this new change affects the shattered significance of one of the most prestigious matchups in the bowl season.

The BCS has been an interesting experiment, but it hasn't failed to produce stories and conspiracy theories.

And it remains to be seen if a full playoff system will take its place. But for now, the system is better than its predecessor.