If misery loves company, then the Bowl Championship Series must love controversy.
After the final whistle blew on the college football season with LSU’s 21-14 victory against Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship game, the world of college football turned upside-down.
When the BCS started in 1998, its main purpose was to eliminate the possibility of a dual-national champion. Until 2003, it worked.
Tennessee defeated Florida State 23-16 in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in 1998 to claim the first BCS national championship. Since then, Florida State (Sugar Bowl, 1999), Oklahoma (Orange Bowl, 2000), Miami (Rose Bowl, 2001) and Ohio State (Fiesta Bowl, 2002) have each been named unanimous national champions.
But the clock struck midnight on the BCS in 2003. What used to be considered unlikely became a reality for college football.
No. 3 USC claimed its share of the 2003 title when the Trojans defeated Michigan 28-14 in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. Three days later, LSU staked its claim as No. 1 with a victory against the Sooners in the Sugar Bowl.
In the final Associated Press poll of the season, USC was declared No. 1 and the national champion by the writers. Because LSU won the game designated as the BCS National Championship, the Tigers were declared No. 1 by the BCS and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll.
However, preceding the bowl schedule, USC claimed No. 1 in both the AP and the coaches poll. But because Oklahoma and LSU were No. 1 and 2 respectively in the BCS rankings, the Sooners and Tigers earned a trip to New Orleans, sending the Trojans to Pasedena.
How, then, did LSU vault USC in the final Coaches poll of the season, even after both teams won their respective bowl games convincingly?
When the BCS was created in 1998, the coaches decided the best way to support the system would be for the BCS champion to coincide with the No. 1 team in the Coaches poll. So, a contract between the American Football Coaches Association and the BCS was set up, stipulating the winner of the BCS national championship game must be voted No. 1 in the final Coaches poll.
Therefore, the team that wins the BCS national championship — LSU — should be voted No. 1 by the 63 coaches who vote in the poll.
However, this was not the case in 2003. In the final poll of the season, LSU received 60 of those first place votes, with USC receiving the other three.
Rumors that South Carolina coach Lou Holtz was one of the three rebellious coaches could not be confirmed. Pete Carroll’s name immediately surfaced as one of the coaches who voted USC No. 1 — but Carroll does not have a vote in the Coaches poll.
ESPN.com BCS analyst Brad Edwards said the USA Today will not release the names of the three coaches; not even to the AFCA.
“We won’t find out from USA Today who the three coaches were,” Edwards said. “So, unless the coaches themselves decide to talk about it and fess up, then even the AFCA won’t know which three [are involved].”
Edwards said the coaches may feel like their integrity was sacrificed by being forced to vote for LSU in the final poll, even after many of them voted for USC in the preceding poll.
Changes to the structure of the BCS are imminent, although no drastic changes will be made within the next two years — until after the current BCS contract expires.
ESPN.com senior writer Ivan Maisel said the problem with the BCS is with the structure of the system. Every time they try to fix one problem, they overlook another.
“It’s a complete train wreck,” Maisel said. “You have to work mighty hard to concoct a system that prevents the No. 1 team in the polls from playing in the national championship. Sports being the unscripted thing that they are, [things like this] are going to happen.”
BCS commissioner Mike Tranghese could not be reached for comment on the future of the system.
Edwards said he believes a playoff system might be the best solution for the future of college football.
“I feel like all this stuff is helping us get closer to having a championship game played after the bowls,” Edwards said. “It could happen as early as the 2006 season. I still don’t think it’s going to make everybody happy, but it’s better than what we have right now.”
Former LSU coach Paul Dietzel, who coached the Tigers to the 1958 National Championship, said he is a big fan of a playoff.
“I’ve always felt that it would eliminate a lot of things,” Dietzel said. “I swear, it would be as big as the Super Bowl. I have always felt that would be a good idea.”
Back when Dietzel helped lead LSU to its first national championship, there were only two polls that picked the champion — the AP poll and the United Press International poll.
“Now, there seems to be quite a few of them,” Dietzel said. “If out in California they want to say USC is the national champions, then that’s fine. We know dog-gone well that we have won the national championship.”