Bowl Championship Series - BCS Buster

BCS Buster

The term "BCS Buster" refers to any team other than Notre Dame not from an AQ conference that manages to earn a spot in a BCS bowl game. These teams are often referred to as non-BCS when discussed outside of the post-season structure.

With the exception of Notre Dame, it is generally extremely difficult for a non-AQ conference team to reach a BCS bowl, while it is much easier for an AQ conference team (see rules above) to do so due to the inherent bias built into the rules of the BCS system. This makes becoming a BCS Buster very noteworthy. Despite the fact that there have been a number of eligible non-AQ conference teams, only seven teams (from only four schools – Utah, TCU, Boise State and Hawaiʻi) have succeeded in becoming BCS Busters. No team outside the six AQ conferences have ever been in the BCS Championship, while a team from the SEC has been in the Championship game every year since 2006. This consistent selection of one conference's teams, and other questionable selections, have been one area of intense criticism of the BCS system and its exclusionary tendencies.

The University of Utah football program became the first BCS Buster in 2004 after an undefeated season, despite harder limits in place before the addition of a 5th bowl in 2006 made BCS Busters more commonplace. They also became the first team to repeat in 2008. The Utes played in the 2005 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, and beat their opponent, the Pittsburgh Panthers, 35–7. During the 2008 season, the Utes finished their regular season schedule undefeated (8–0 in the Mountain West Conference and 12–0 overall) and earned a berth in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama, winning 31–17. Both the number of Top 25 teams (4) and Top 10 teams (2) Utah defeated that year, equalled the number of such ranked teams defeated by eventual one-loss champion Florida. That season, no other team besides the Gators or Utes defeated four ranked teams. Ironically, the strength of schedule argument was often cited by those arguing that Utah did not deserve to be crowned National Champions. The Utes finished 2nd in the AP Poll and received 16 first place votes, the highest ever for a "BCS Buster." In the 2011 season, the Utes began competing as members of the Pacific-12 Conference, one of the six conferences with an automatic BCS tie in.

In 2006, Boise State became the second BCS Buster after a 12–0 regular season and subsequent Fiesta Bowl berth against the Oklahoma Sooners. The Broncos won 43–42 in overtime in what many fans, pundits and others consider to be one of the best Bowl games in history.

In 2007, Hawaiʻi also finished the regular season at 12–0, but were defeated by the Georgia Bulldogs 41–10 in the Sugar Bowl. This remains the only loss to date by a BCS Buster to an opponent from an AQ conference.

The 2009 season was the first in which two teams from non–AQ conferences earned BCS bowl berths. TCU, which finished the regular season 12–0 as champions of the Mountain West, earned the automatic BCS berth with a No. 4 finish in the final BCS rankings. Two slots behind the Horned Frogs were WAC champions Boise State, which finished at 13–0 for its second consecutive unbeaten regular season and fourth in six years. The Broncos defeated the Frogs 17–10 in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, which marked the first BCS matchup between non-AQ schools, and the first time in BCS history that two unbeaten teams met in a BCS game other than the title match. This pairing created considerable controversy as the AQ conferences and the selection committees were accused of cowardice, pairing the two BCS Busters against each other so that the risk of AQ conference teams losing was eliminated. This game remains a controversial saga in the history of the BCS.

In 2010, TCU was the only non–AQ conference team to get a BCS bowl berth. Boise State was ranked in the top five for most of the season, but a late-season overtime loss to Nevada knocked the Broncos out of serious contention for a BCS bowl bid, despite having still been technically eligible for one. TCU would defeat Wisconsin 21–19 in the 2011 Rose Bowl, once again calling into question the claim of AQ conference superiority, and doing so with an entirely new level of quality of play. There was a strong movement to lobby those voting in the AP poll, which is not bound to vote for the BCS Championship winner as the Coaches Poll is, to vote TCU first and split the National Championship. While TCU got a few first place votes, this effort did not change the outcome of the AP poll, with TCU ending up the season in the No. 2 spot in all of the major polls and the BCS rankings. As Utah did, TCU will soon join a conference with an automatic BCS tie in when they join the Big 12 Conference beginning with the 2012 season. Boise State will also join an automatic AQ conference in 2013 when they join the Big East Conference, leaving Hawaiʻi as the only non-AQ to have made a BCS bowl and not join an AQ conference.

BCS Busters are currently 5–2 in BCS bowls, and 4–1 in BCS bowls against opponents from AQ conferences.

The following table shows all 19 teams that were eligible to become BCS Busters, including the seven that succeeded.