BCS Rankings 2010: Everything You Need To Know About the BCS Poll
Ah yes, the BCS. I didn't really mean that to rhyme, it just kind of came out that way.
The BCS, for several thousand college football fans, is arguably the most hated system in sports today. It's a system that allows computers to decide who the best teams in college football are, and it also eventually decides who will play for the most coveted prize in the sport.
Needless to say, I've never been a fan of it because there hasn't been one year in recent memory that people haven't complained that the wrong two teams are in the National Championship Game. And rightly so.
Without going into a long diatribe of why I don't like it, I'll instead go through the basics of the system and let you decide for yourself. Fair?
OK, let's go.
No. 10: What the BCS Is
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The BCS was created to bring about a "true" National Championship Game.
To quote it from the BCS website:
"The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is a five-game showcase of college football. It is designed to ensure that the two top-rated teams in the country meet in the national championship game, and to create exciting and competitive matchups among eight other highly regarded teams in four other bowl games."
No. 9: The Conferences in the BCS
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The ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and the Pac-10 are all part of the BCS conferences.
No. 8: What Are the BCS Bowl Games?
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Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Discover Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game.
The BCS title game is played at a different BCS location each year. One year it could be at the Rose Bowl and the following year at the Sugar Bowl, for example.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
No. 7: What Polls Decide the BCS Standings?
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There are three different polls that decide how the BCS standings are going to look from one week to the next.
USA Today Coaches Poll, Harris Interactive College Football Poll and an average of six computer rankings.
Yes, you heard right, six computers, which don't watch a single game, decide the best teams in the country. Smart, right?
No. 6: How Is the BCS Affiliated With the NCAA?
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The BCS was formed when the commissioners from the six aforementioned conferences, not to mention the athletic director from the University of Notre Dame, came together and formed a "Bowl Alliance."
No. 5: How Is the National Championship Game Decided?
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The simplest way I can explain this is to do it this way:
If you're undefeated, and you're a part of the "BCS Conferences," then most likely you'll get an automatic birth in the National Championship Game.
No, you don't have to be unbeaten to get to the title game, but it helps.
No. 4: Revenue Each BCS Conference Receives
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Quoting straight from the BCS website:
"Each conference whose team qualifies automatically for the BCS receives approximately $18 million in net revenue. A second team qualifying brings an additional $4.5 million to its conference. Notre Dame receives approximately $1.3 million. Army and Navy also receive $100,000 each, and the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision conferences share approximately $2 million."
No. 3: Why the BCS Was Created
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The BCS was created to put the true top two teams in the National Championship Game.
No. 2: When Is the BCS Poll Released?
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The poll is usually released after the completion of the sixth week of the season.
No. 1: Does the BCS Work?
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That depends on whom you ask. Some will tell you it's the worst system that's ever been designed and that college football needs a playoff system.
Then there are others who will tell you the system is perfect, but those people are usually in the conferences that have the best chance at playing in said BCS bowls.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
