How is the college football championship determined?

Question

I see that the BCS has Texas and USC still numbers 1 and 2(the two teams in the championship last year), but they both lost some very important players. I also see that the AP and coaches rankings are a bit different than the BCS. The AP and coaches polls have USC and Texas ranked lower than 1st and 2nd. How is the championship determined?

Hey, this is great! Its been about 20 minutes and I have 4 answers already. They range from good answers and good discussion. Keep them coming. Thanks!

Hey Flip,

But wait, I am going to UT(Texas) next semester and I have seen all kinds of 2005 Champs hats, gear, etc. This, of course when they won the title game last year. Are you sure there isnt a "champ" crowned each year?

Answer 1

A computer-generated formula that consists of the Harris Poll ranking, coaches ranking & the computer average of 6 rating systems. The averages of these three polls are divided by 100 to get the BCS number.

Answer 2

Ok, my brother is a huge college football fanatic, and I will admit I watch almost all the games on a saturday, but this is based off of what I've put together from bits of peices of information I've gained from my brother or the announcers for the game..

Basically, there's this computer that has a program in it that creates these algorythyms (sp?...formulas/calculations) for various aspects of the game (ie. if they're playing a ranked team, how big of a win/loss, how many touchdowns, how many yards allowed, etc. an exampler can be found here at source 1) and based off of the final numbers this is how they decide the BCS and the actual rankings.

I think if you look up anything on the 2003 BCS you will find articles to explain this (example would be source 2). USC played better than Oklahoma but was ranked number 3, instead of number 2.

Hopefully that helps.

Answer 3

The BCS rating was what was left over after the lasst game last season it will most likely change as soon as they have the first voting of the year in a few weeks. But overall the system is flawed. A computer is not the way to decide things it needs to be a play off of some sort.

Answer 4

In all actuality, there is no Division 1A football champion officially because there is no playoff. Sure, a poll (like the BSC, AP, or ESPN/USA Today coach's poll) calls someone champion after the season, but there is no 'official NCAA Div 1A' Champ. I didn't believe it until I looked it up on the NCAA website a few years ago.

All the other divisions use a playoff system.

Answer 5

The BCS determines the top 2 teams.

Answer 6

VERY GOOD question. The BCS doesn't really do it. We need some sort of top 10 or top 20 playoff system.

Answer 7

A top 10 playoff system is better, But still we don't really have a good system to determine the champion.

Answer 8

Its determined by who wants to pay the BCS more money.. If you have alot of money, then you can bribe the BCS executives.. If you dont have money, you can bribe them with drugs.. Money is better than drugs so teams with more money usually get into the BCS championship game

Answer 9

there are a few ways that it is determined but at the end of the season it is usually who has not lost a game..those 2 teams play and the winner is crowned #1..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowl_Championship_Series
http://www.bcsfootball.org/bcsfootball/

Answer 10

how hard their Schedule is , unbeaten teams, how they handle their Schedule ,and the loss of players ..........theres more to it than that but thats the gest.of it.