NCAA football bowls?

Question

how does it work? does the winning team of a bowl advance to a "higher bowl" and then have to compete for the top bowl (like the ncaa equivalant of the superbowl) kind of like march madness or a playoff format where the winner of each game along the way wins a trophy? or is each team placed in a certain bowl depending on their ranking within their division? or some other way?

Answer 1

There is only one game played for the National Championship. This year it is Florida vs Ohio State. The other bowl games are based on a formula of (a) having a winning record. (b.) Where you finish in your conference. Some bowl games have long and storied history, thus the match ups are based upon these. Example: The Rose Bowl is usually played between the PAC 10 and the Big Ten. Ohio St. won the big ten this year, but they are playing for a National title, so the runner-up, Michigan played the Pac 10 champion USC. Wisconsin finished third in the big ten and was award the Capitol One Bowl which is usually reserved for the second place finisher in the big ten. The BCS Bowl games are awarded to teams ranked in the top 12 (as I recall) and are associated with BSC conferences, or simply put, the major college football conferences. An exception to this was Boise State from the WAC. The WAC is not considered to be a major conference, but Boise St finished at 12-0 and ranked in the top 12 by the BCS.

Hope that somewhat explains this process.

Answer 2

There is no playoff system in NCAA division 1 football; certain teams are invited to various bowl games. After a team's bowl game is over, their season is over whether they win or lose. Probably the closest thing to the super bowl in NCAA divison 1 football is the national championship game, which this year will be Ohio St. vs. Florida.