BCS | BCS Contest | College Football Free Contest | BCS Odds | NCAA Football Contest | Parlay Cards | Parlay Card | Bowl Championship Series | College Football Contest

YOU COULD WIN
$ 2,000 *
IF YOU PICK COLLEGE BOWLS WINNERS

2008 BCS National Championship Game

College Football’s National Championship Game returns to New Orleans for the first time since the 2003 season. For the first time in its history, the Sugar Bowl is poised to host two bowl games in the same season. The Allstate Sugar Bowl will be played Tuesday, January 1, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. (CT). Just six days later, the Allstate BCS National Championship Game will be played on Monday, January 7, 2008 at 7 p.m. (CT). Both games will be played in the Louisiana Superdome and televised live by FOX Sports. The official team selections for both games will take place Sunday, December 2 as this season’s road to college football’s National Championship Game ends in New Orleans!

History

BCS National Championship Game

From the 1992 through 1997 seasons, the Bowl Alliance and its predecessor, the Bowl Coalition, arranged a championship game. However, without the participation of the Big Ten and Pac 10 conferences, scheduling a definitive championship game was somewhat "hit or miss." For instance, 1994 #2 Penn State and 1997 #1 Michigan were obligated to play in the Rose Bowl pursuant to the Big Ten's contractual commitment and were therefore unable to participate in the championship game. As a result, the winners of "championship" games during these seasons were not assured of winning a national title. In reality, however, the winners of the games during these seasons did win or share the championship in every season that these games were arranged. As a result, the unofficial "National Championship Game" had become an annual event, and other bowl games began to be viewed as less significant events, which was certainly true with respect to their potential for determining the National Champion.

Finally, in 1998, the Bowl Alliance participating conferences and bowl games reached an agreement with the Big Ten, the Pac 10, and the Rose Bowl to join a "Super Alliance," which was subsequently christened the "Bowl Championship Series." Today, all Division 1-A schools and conferences contractually agreed to participate in the BCS, making it the first "true" national championship".

During the initial eight seasons of the Bowl Championship Series (1998-2005) the championship game rotated among its four participating bowl games, the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta Bowls. Beginning with the 2006 season, to increase television revenues and to make more BCS bowl slots available, the BCS has added a fifth game. Initially, it was anticipated that a fifth bowl would be added to the Championship Game rotation, potentially the Cotton Bowl or Capital One Bowl. However, the organizers ultimately settled on a format where the existing BCS bowls would host a second annual game on a rotating basis, that would take place one week after New Year's Day.

The teams participating in the BCS National Championship Game have always been the top two teams in the BCS rankings. These rankings are composite rankings including a poll of coaches, a poll of writers, and computer rankings. The computer ranking system has been tweaked over the years to address various concerns, such as the overweighting of strength of schedule. Also, following the 2003 season, the Associated Press prohibited the BCS from using its writers poll in determining BCS rankings, in part to preserve the integrity of its own process and results. As a result, the BCS has now commissioned a new writers poll, the Harris Interactive Poll, for inclusion in the BCS composite ranking process.

Date Played Winning Team Losing Team Bowl Game
January 4, 1999 Tennessee 23 Florida State 16 Fiesta Bowl
January 4, 2000 Florida State 46 Virginia Tech 29 Sugar Bowl
January 3, 2001 Oklahoma 13 Florida State 2 Orange Bowl
January 3, 2002 Miami 37 Nebraska 14 Rose Bowl
January 3, 2003 Ohio State 31 Miami 24 Fiesta Bowl
January 4, 2004 LSU 21 Oklahoma 14 Sugar Bowl
January 4, 2005 Southern California 55 Oklahoma 19 Orange Bowl
January 4, 2006 Texas 41 Southern California 38 Rose Bowl