BCS National Championship Game - Criticisms and Controversy

Criticisms and Controversy

Critics of the current BCS championship argue against the internal validity of the current BCS National Championship, which is awarded to the winner of a single postseason game, the BCS National Championship game. Critics lament that the participants in this game are decided based upon polls, computers, popularity and biases, and not by previous on-field competition as is this the case in other major sports and every other level of college football, which employ playoff format championships. Often, the BCS system leads to controversies in which multiple teams finish seasons with equal records, and voters must distinguish the worthiness of their participation in the BCS National Championship game with no set formal criteria or standards. The end of the 2010 season is one of the best examples of this. Without providing any objective criteria for evaluation of these teams, the BCS also forces voters to impose their own standards and tiebreakers, and these voters often exclude superior teams to include teams with longer traditions or teams who are members of conferences perceived to be "better". Critics note that the system inherently fosters selection bias, and therefore, lacks both internal validity and consistency of data and external validity.

Controversies concerning inclusion in the BCS National Championship Game are numerous. In 2001, for example, Oregon, second ranked in the AP poll, was bypassed in favor of Nebraska despite Nebraska's loss in its final regular season game to the University of Colorado in a blowout with a score of 62-36. In 2003, USC was not included in the BCS Championship Game, but beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl and ended up #1 in the Associated Press final poll. The following season, in 2004, undefeated Auburn University, Boise State University and University of Utah teams were left out of the National Championship Game (the FedEx Orange Bowl), although those teams were undefeated as well. In 2008, the University of Utah was excluded from the BCS championship for a second time despite being the only undefeated Division I-A team at the end of the season and finished second behind 13–1 Florida. In 2009, five schools finished the regular season undefeated: Alabama, Texas, Cincinnati, Texas Christian University, and Boise State; however, the BCS selected traditional powers Alabama and Texas to participate in the BCS National Championship Game as they were the top two teams in the BCS rankings.

The 2010 season is perhaps the best single example of the role of bias and the lack of internal and external validity controls in the BCS selection process. The 2010 season found three teams, Oregon, Auburn and TCU all with undefeated records. While TCU statistically led the other two teams in all three major areas, having been ranked 1st in defense, 14th in offense and 13th in special teams the teams from the two automatic qualifying conferences, Oregon (PAC-12) and Auburn (SEC), were selected over the Horned Frogs for the 2011 National Championship game. Many voters cited TCU's membership in the non-automatic qualifying Mountain West Conference, which was perceived as having a somewhat weaker overall schedule, as one significant reason for their exclusion, despite TCU's undefeated record in 2010 and also having won all their 2009 regular season games as well, with their only loss coming in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl. Adding to the controversy were comments made by the president of Ohio State University, Dr. Gordon Gee, whose statement that teams that played "the little sisters of the poor" instead of the "murderer's row" of the automatic qualifier conference teams did not deserve any National Championship game consideration. Dr. Gee issued a statement of retraction and apology after TCU defeated Wisconsin in the 2011 Rose Bowl, Wisconsin having previously defeated Ohio State convincingly during the regular season. The exclusion of TCU from the 2011 National Championship game, and the ongoing controversial treatment of "BCS Buster" teams in general and the growing lack of patience with these inequities, was the real beginning of a serious playoff debate and the ultimate formation of the four team playoff that was agreed to a year and a half later.

Many critics of the Bowl Championship Series favor a larger championship tournament with eight to sixteen teams, similar to that administered by the NCAA for its Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, and Division III football championships. Others favor adopting the incremental step of adding a single post-bowl championship game between the winners of two BCS games among the top four ranked teams in the BCS standings, the so-called "plus one" option. The SEC and ACC conferences have recently pushed for some form of playoff system. On June 24, 2009, the BCS presidential oversight committee rejected the Mountain West Conference's proposed eight-team playoff plan.

In 2009, the NCAA ruled that former USC running back Reggie Bush was retroactively ineligible for the 2004 BCS National Championship Game, the 2005 Orange Bowl vs. Oklahoma, for receiving various illegal benefits. In May 2011, the NCAA rejected all appeals of USC's penalties, which included Bush's ineligibility and a two-year bowl ban. On June 6, 2011, the University of Southern California became the first school to lose a Bowl Championship Series National Championship due to NCAA sanctions, as the BCS President's Oversight Committee stripped USC of the 2004 title. As a result, there is no 2004 champion.

In addition, the BCS also nullified USC's participation in the 2006 Rose Bowl. (See attributions 1 and 2.)