The Bowl Championship Series: A Mathematical Review

On February 29, 2004, the college football Bowl Championship Series (BCS) announced a proposal to add a fifth game to the “BCS bowls” to improve access for mid-major teams ordinarily denied invitations to these lucrative postseason games. Although still subject to final approval, this agreement is expected to be instituted with the new BCS contract just prior to the 2006 season. There aren’t too many ways things could have gone worse this past college football season with the BCS Standings that govern which teams play in the coveted BCS bowls. The controversy over USC’s absence from the BCS National Championship game, despite being #1 in both polls, garnered most of the media attention [11], but it is the yearly treatment received by the “non-BCS” mid-major schools that appears to have finally generated changes in the BCS system [14]. Created from an abstruse combination of polls, computer rankings, schedule strength, and quality wins, the BCS Standings befuddle most fans and sportswriters, as we repeatedly get “national championship” games between purported “#1” and “#2” teams in disagreement with the polls’ consensus. Meanwhile, the top non-BCS squads have never been invited to a BCS bowl.