Starting in 1998, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) has
determined the Division I-A National Champion in football.
In the BCS' first season in 1998, Tennessee defeated Florida
State, 23-16, in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl to claim the
national title. Two years ago, Oklahoma captured the 2000
national title defeating Florida State 13-2 in the FedEx
Orange Bowl.
The BCS, which runs through the 2008 regular season
and 2006 bowl season, consists of the FedEx
Orange Bowl, Nokia
Sugar Bowl, Rose
Bowl and the Tostitos
Fiesta Bowl. Conferences with automatic
berths include the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten,
Big 12, Pac-10 and the Southeastern Conferences.
The BCS also notes the importance of regional consideration
regarding team selection. Specifically, as participating
members of the BCS, the four BCS Bowls will host the
following conference champions in the years the national
championship game is not played at their site. Regional
consideration tie-ins include the ACC or Big East champion
in the FedEx Orange Bowl, the SEC champion in the Nokia
Sugar Bowl, the Big Ten and the Pac-10 champion in the
Rose Bowl and the Big 12 champion in the Tostitos Fiesta
Bowl.
Should a BCS Bowl's regional tie-in champion be ranked
number one or two in the final BCS standings, when such
bowl is not hosting the national championship game,
the number one or two-ranked team shall move to the
national championship game and the Bowl shall select
a replacement team from the BCS pool of eligible teams.
The pool will consist of any Division I-A team that
is ranked among the Top 12 in the final BCS standings
or has achieved nine wins during the regular season
excluding NCAA-exempted contests.
Through a conference revenue sharing plan, the BCS
group will distribute over $40 million to non-participating
BCS institutions during its 8-year history. Those monies
go to Division I-A and I-AA conferences in support of
the game of college football. Additionally, the BCS
distributes $100,000 per year to the National Football
Foundation and College Hall of Fame for calculating
and administering the BCS Standings.
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