Picking college football's No. 1 ever-controversial

By Steve Hummer

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Its place on the depth chart of human inventions is open to vigorous debate.

The Bowl Championship Series falls anywhere in the vastness between the polio vaccine and the Popeil’s Pocket Fisherman.

Roy Kramer is commonly referred to as the father of the 12-year-old system designed to bring some objective order to the beauty pageant of the bowl system. And he welcomes any and all argument about his progeny’s relative worth.

“For those upset about the BCS, it gives ’em something to talk about,” Kramer said. “At least they’re talking about college football.”

The former SEC commissioner was the point man in the long, sometimes difficult negotiations that led to the formation of the BCS in 1998. The primary sticking point, he said, was to convince the existing bowl games to break with their long-standing conference alliances, thus allowing for a championship game between the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked teams. Most difficult to win over was the Rose Bowl, with its strong traditional ties to the Pac-10 and Big Ten conferences.

Once everyone was on board — and following a series of mid-course adjustments — the result was a system that held off the idea of a playoff while assuring something of a recognizable championship game at season’s end.

Since polls and computers remain in play, controversy remains a large part of the process. Just ask the folks at Auburn, where the Tigers finished unbeaten in 2004 and yet had no opportunity to compete for a national title. That wound was just reopened as that season’s champion, USC, recently was drop-kicked by the NCAA.

A December 2009 Quinnipiac University survey revealed that 63 percent of the fans questioned want a football playoff. Only 26 percent voted to keep the current system. You can go online and discover all kinds of anti-BCS sentiment.

No matter. College presidents have not taken up the playoff crusade. And another poll of college coaches in January revealed that 73 percent of them sided with the BCS as is.

“It’s a fact that fans love a bracket,” said Bill Hancock, executive director of the BCS. “But another fact is that, in football, you can’t look at the postseason all by itself [as a distinct second season]. As a result, college football has the most meaningful regular season by far.”

Supporters will tell you that the BCS has met its main objectives: Stoking national interest in big-time college football; preserving the bowl system; and, getting the two top-ranked teams together at the end.

Before the BCS, The Associated Press’ top two ranked teams met in a bowl only eight times in 56 years. Since its inception, they have met at the close of nine out of 12 seasons, including the past six.

Even some notable neutral observers have come to believe that the BCS serves a legitimate purpose.

“I had to be convinced,” said ESPN college football analyst Mark May. “But the bottom line is that it has created revenue and interest in the game — and done a magnificent job of it.”

Among those who have championed the system, there is a sense that it has done great good for the game. They even hail the invention of the BCS as a major contributor to its current robust health (huge TV contracts, attendance records set in 2006, ’07 and ’08).

Critics argue the BCS erodes the credibility of the championship process. The believers say it adds an element of intrigue that nourishes the game.

Because of the potential for major reordering in the polls every week, “people in the South are showing a lot of interest in what happens in the Big Ten or Pac-10 now,” Kramer said. “That wasn’t always the case.”

“The game is thriving now,” asserted Hancock. “As they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

It is as if off-field debate is a vital part of college football, as much so as bands, cheerleaders and running backs. Absolute clarity is the enemy.

There is nothing happening at the administrative level to suggest that aspect will change anytime soon.

A future of polls and bowls, computer algorithms and human suppositions appears secure.

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Bowl Championship Series: 1997-present

Polls

As the BCS system took place, the release of the weekly BCS rankings become as anticipated as the writers and coaches polls. Part of the BCS formula, “Colley Matrix” and “Massey Ratings” become part of the diehard fan’s vocabulary. In 2005, the AP poll pulls out of the BCS formula, and the Harris Interactive College Football poll, whose voters are former players, coaches, administrators and media members, is instituted in its place.

Controversy, rule breakers and scandal

Among the more bizarre incidents in sports history came courtesy of a trumped-up resume. In 2001, five days after leaving Georgia Tech to coach Notre Dame, George O’Leary resigned from the job after it was revealed he had provided the school with erroneous information on his resume, including a master’s degree.

A scandal in summer 2010 shined a light again on the game’s seedy side. The NCAA docked USC 30 scholarships and gave the school a two-year bowl ban after it found that star running back Reggie Bush received housing, cash and a car from agents. It brought attention to the issue of agents enticing players with gifts while they are still competing.

Fandom

The Internet gives fans a new way to share — and vent — their passion for the game. Message boards, recruiting sites and access to more news media give fans more access to information and each other.

Traditions

In 1998, a scoreless Wisconsin-Purdue game got a jolt when House of Pain’s “Jump Around” was played over the loudspeakers between the third and fourth quarters. Fans and band members did indeed jump around, Wisconsin won and a Camp Randall Stadium staple had been created. Even players get to jumping as the stadium literally shakes.

Penn State students followed the lead of NHL and Oklahoma State fans in creating a “whiteout” in 2003 and staging a full-stadium whiteout in 2007. Georgia held a blackout in 2007 and Georgia Tech a whiteout in 2008, following one of the newer trends among fans.

Conferences

The pursuit of 12-team conferences and the almighty conference championship game caused seismic shifts. In 2003, the ACC seemed set to invite Boston College, Miami and Syracuse from the Big East before going after Miami and Virginia Tech instead as four Big East schools filed a lawsuit against the ACC. Boston College was added to the ACC later in the year to give the conference 12 teams.

In summer 2010, several weeks of surreptitious meetings between power brokers and rampant speculation of super conferences end rather mildly when Nebraska joins the Big Ten and Colorado and Utah switch to the Pac-10.


-- Ken Sugiura