Post by Coach Campbell on Sept 27, 2005 18:02:23 GMT
College teams generally play 11 or 12 games during the fall. The best college teams are awarded trips to so-called bowl games, which match outstanding teams in specially arranged contests. The tradition began in 1902 at Pasadena, California, when Stanford University invited the University of Michigan to come to California for a New Year’s Day contest. This event soon became the celebrated Rose Bowl game. Wow, the BCS what a disaster this year. With some many different rankings depending on which poll you look at, this site may help sort out some of the details. College Football Rankings Today, hundreds of thousands of fans travel to bowl games to watch their favorite teams play. In addition to the Rose Bowl, notable bowl games include the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas; the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona; the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida; and the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana. Major corporations now sponsor many of the bowls.
The top division of college football remains the only level of NCAA sport that does not have a national championship tournament. The lucrative bowl system has been the biggest impediment to adopting a championship tournament like those held for lower-division NCAA football. Before the 1998 college season, the champion college team was selected by national polls of coaches and sportswriters. During some years, several teams posted similar win-loss records, causing debates over which team should be crowned the national champion. In 1998 the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was instituted to determine the Division I national champion.
During the season the BCS ranks each team using a complex system. The system takes into account four factors: the team’s win-loss record; the strength of its scheduled opponents; polls of coaches and sportswriters; and a ranking derived by combining and comparing several different computerized rankings. Based on the BCS regular-season ranking, teams are invited to play in various bowl games. The top two teams play in the BCS championship game, which rotates each year among the Fiesta, Sugar, Orange, and Rose Bowls. The winner of this game is crowned the national champion.
The top division of college football remains the only level of NCAA sport that does not have a national championship tournament. The lucrative bowl system has been the biggest impediment to adopting a championship tournament like those held for lower-division NCAA football. Before the 1998 college season, the champion college team was selected by national polls of coaches and sportswriters. During some years, several teams posted similar win-loss records, causing debates over which team should be crowned the national champion. In 1998 the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was instituted to determine the Division I national champion.
During the season the BCS ranks each team using a complex system. The system takes into account four factors: the team’s win-loss record; the strength of its scheduled opponents; polls of coaches and sportswriters; and a ranking derived by combining and comparing several different computerized rankings. Based on the BCS regular-season ranking, teams are invited to play in various bowl games. The top two teams play in the BCS championship game, which rotates each year among the Fiesta, Sugar, Orange, and Rose Bowls. The winner of this game is crowned the national champion.