BCS Review Series: 2009, Separate and Decidedly Unequal

Part 12 of a series: Over the next few weeks, I will be reviewing each of the 16 seasons since the Bowl Championship Series came into existence in 1998. Here is a look back at who got lucky, who got robbed, what could've been, what should've been and other controversies of the day. The series will appear throughout December and January.

Part 1: 1998, A New Beginning for College Football

Part 2: 1999, FSU Ends Michael Vick's Quest for Perfection

Part 3: 2000, FSU-Miami Sows Seeds of Controversy

Part 4: 2001, Nebraska Fiasco Rocks College Football

Part 5: 2002, Controversy On-Field Mars Perfect Ending

Part 6: 2003, Nightmare of Split National Championship

Part 7: 2004, Unbeaten Auburn Left Out in the Cold

Part 8: 2005, Perfect Season Ends With Epic at Rose Bowl

Part 9: 2006, Dawn of SEC's Reign in College Football

Part 10: 2007, LSU Goes "Undefeated in Regulation"

Part 11: 2008, SEC Wins in Polls, Then on the Field

---

Every second counted in the 2009 season, especially for Texas.

While Colt McCoy vainly ran around as the clock ticked down in the Big 12 championship game, it looked as if the Longhorns were about to throw away their shot at a second BCS title. McCoy did finally throw the ball away, but not before the Cowboys Stadium scoreboard timer read 0:00.

Or did it?

Instead of running off the field, the officiating crew immediately conferred and decided to put one second back on the clock. That was just enough time for Texas' Hunter Lawrence to kick a 46-yard field goal on the game's final play, much to the relief of the Big 12 and BCS brass. Now they could have the dream matchup of unbeaten Alabama and Texas playing for the title at the Rose Bowl.



Among those crying foul weren't just the Cornhuskers, whose defense, led by the indomitable Ndumakong Suh, sacked McCoy nine times and intercepted him three times. Cincinnati, TCU and Boise State were all also undefeated, but none of them would get a chance to play for the national championship. The Broncos, in fact, were staring at the prospect of going undefeated for a second consecutive regular season and still missing out on a BCS bowl berth.

Fearful of a public outcry and renewed interest by the Justice Department to investigate its setup, the BCS swallowed hard and decided to take both TCU and Boise State—and this was tremendously helped by the fact that, outside of the Big Ten and SEC, none of the major conferences had an at-large candidate with fewer than three losses. (For the first time since 1983, every conference produced an outright champion.)

The 2009 season marked the end of one dynasty and the beginning of another. After going to a record seven straight BCS bowl games, including consecutive title games in 2004-05, USC slumped to 9-4 and failed to win the Pac-10 for the first time since 2001. The Trojans held off Boston College in the Emerald Bowl, which, as it turned out, was the final game for coach Pete Carroll, who returned to the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks two weeks later.

Alabama, now in its third season under Nick Saban, first avenged its SEC title game loss by walloping Florida in a rematch, denying Tim Tebow and his team's quest to win back-to-back BCS championships. The Tide went on to claim the first of three BCS titles in four years, knocking out McCoy early in the game and then forcing a pair of turnovers late after Texas had closed to within three to seal the victory.

Final BCS Standings: 1. Alabama, 2. Texas, 3. Cincinnati, 4. TCU, 5. Florida, 6. Boise State.

Likely four-team playoff: Alabama vs. TCU; Texas vs. Cincinnati.
Unfortunately, Boise State would've been left out in a four-team scenario, even though the Broncos defeated the Horned Frogs in the Fiesta Bowl post hoc. TCU had a slightly better resume during the season.

Controversies

Who's the real No. 2?: Texas' one-second reprieve cost Cincinnati a chance for its first shot at a national championship. The Bearcats actually had better computer rankings and had beaten three ranked teams (to Texas' two) during the season.

But because Texas was ranked no worse than third all season in the polls, Cincinnati was never able to close the gap in the component that made up two-thirds of the BCS standings. Even TCU might've had a case, having beaten a pair of teams in the top 16 with the country's top-ranked defense and fourth-ranked offense.

Separate-But-Equal Bowl: Instead of allowing Boise State and TCU to each face off against major conference champions, it was decided that the Fiesta Bowl would "take one for the team" and match up those two upstarts—or so the allegation went, though it was denied by then-Fiesta Bowl boss John Junker as "a load of crap."

The game was a rematch of the previous season's Poinsettia Bowl in which TCU won 17-16. This time, Boise State prevailed, 17-10, in a hard-hitting contest between two bona fide quality teams. Denying these teams a chance to face a BCS conference team was widely viewed as a conspiracy and brought anew calls to alter BCS's arrangement of granting automatic berths to underperforming major conferences, or at the very least, review the automatic qualifying protocol.

2009 BCS Bowl Matchups

Bowl	Score	Attendance	TV Rating
BCS Champ*	#1 Alabama 37, #2 Texas 21	94,906	17.2
Rose Bowl	#8 Ohio St. 26, #7 Oregon 17	93,963	13.2
Sugar Bowl	#5 Florida 51, #3 Cincinnati 24	65,207	8.5
Fiesta Bowl	#6 Boise St. 17, #4 TCU 10	73,227	8.2
Orange Bowl	#10 Iowa 24, #9 Ga. Tech 14	66,131	6.8

Final analysis: The Fiesta Bowl, also derisively called the "Quarantine Bowl", the "Fiasco Bowl" and the "BCS Kids' Table," was a real PR disaster for the BCS. It was the first time two undefeated teams faced off in a non-championship game in the BCS era, yet neither team had any chance of winning the title.

Beyond that, the gulf in payouts between major conferences and the so-called non-AQ conference remained enormous. Even by placing teams in BCS bowls, the Mountain West Conference and Western Athletic Conference combined to earn less than any of the "Big Six" conferences banked. Both of the competitive and monetary inequities would remain unaddressed, and the criticism reached a crescendo with the publication of the bestseller "Death to the BCS" a few months later.

BCS Review Series: 2006, the Dawn of SEC's Reign

Part 9 of a series: Over the next few weeks, I will be reviewing each of the 16 seasons since the Bowl Championship Series came into existence in 1998. Here is a look back at who got lucky, who got robbed, what could've been, what should've been and other controversies of the day. The series will appear throughout December and January.

Part 1: 1998, A New Beginning for College Football

Part 2: 1999, FSU Ends Michael Vick's Quest for Perfection

Part 3: 2000, FSU-Miami Sows Seeds of Controversy

Part 4: 2001, Nebraska Fiasco Rocks College Football

Part 5: 2002, Controversy On-Field Mars Perfect Ending

Part 6: 2003, Nightmare of Split National Championship

Part 7: 2004, Unbeaten Auburn Left Out in the Cold

Part 8: 2005: Perfect Season Ends With Epic at Rose Bowl

---

BCS had its dream season in 2005. Too bad it had to wake up for 2006.

Throughout most of the year, it looked as if the BCS would have its first intra-conference rematch, pitting Ohio State against Michigan. The Big Ten's bitter rivals matched each other game-for-game on a collision course of unbeatens while other contenders fell away.

Then on the eve of the 1-vs.-2 showdown at the Horseshoe, Bo Schembechler, Michigan's legendary coach (and former Ohio State assistant), passed away.

The two teams joined battle with raw emotions, if very little defense. The surprisingly high-scoring game was more or less decided by Michigan linebacker Shawn Crable's late hit on Ohio State QB Troy Smith late in the game. The Buckeyes won, 42-39.

But Michigan stayed at No. 2 in the BCS standings even after the game, making a rematch in Arizona a real possibility. Then the Wolverines began to fall, for two straight weeks, without playing a single down.

First, they were passed by USC, after a thrashing of overrated Notre Dame at the L.A. Coliseum. And then, just as when it appeared that the Trojans would play in their third consecutive BCS title game, they suffered a monumental choke job against UCLA at the Rose Bowl. Michigan's rematch with Ohio State was on again.

Only for a few hours, as it turned out. After Florida dispatched Arkansas, with some difficulty, in the SEC Championship Game, the Gators leapfrogged the Wolverines (is that physiologically possible?) and got the coveted date with the Buckeyes.

Ruining the rematch turned out to be a good thing in this sense: Both Ohio State and Michigan proved to be ... frauds. The Buckeyes were mauled by Florida in a game that was never close after Ohio State scored on the opening kickoff. Michigan was likewise annihilated by USC in the Rose Bowl.

Florida got its first national championship under Urban Meyer, thanks to a lucky break—USC losing against a 20-point underdog UCLA—and a massive voter defection (more on that later). But at the end, very little argument may be made about the Gators' legitimacy as the BCS national champion. It was the first undisputed national champion from the SEC since 1998—the inaugural season of the BCS—and the first of seven straight from that conference.

This was also the first year of the double-host format, where the bowl hosting the BCS national championship game also would have its regular bowl game. With this arrangement, teams qualifying for BCS bowls would increase from eight to 10.

The main beneficiary of this change was supposed to be non-BCS conference teams, now with better access to BCS bowls. And undefeated Boise State took full advantage.

In the same University of Phoenix Stadium that was to host the BCS title game, Boise State shocked and enthralled college football fans with its delightful 43-42 overtime win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. The Broncos tied the game in regulation on a hook-and-ladder, won the game on a Statue of Liberty, and capped it off with a marriage proposal as running back Ian Johnson got down to one knee in front of girlfriend Chrissy Popadics on national TV.

She said "yes!"



Final BCS Standings: 1. Ohio State, 2. Florida, 3. Michigan.

Likely four-team playoff: Ohio State vs. USC; Florida vs. Michigan.
With its high-ranking and season-long hold on the No. 2 spot, the Wolverines likely would've earned an at-large entry, along with the three top conference champions.


Controversies

Michigan fans won't soon forget how fickle voters defected from their team. After losing to Ohio State, the Wolverines were still comfortably ahead of both USC and Florida in both the Coaches and Harris polls. But that soon changed.

Entering the final week of the regular season, Michigan was ahead of Florida by 86 points in the Harris Poll and 40 points in the Coaches Poll. But after Florida's win over Arkansas, the Gators went ahead of Michigan by 38 points in the Harris Poll (a swing of 114 points) and 26 in the Coaches Poll (a swing of 66 points). In both cases, the voters were determined to avoid a Michigan-Ohio State rematch. With Florida and Michigan dead even in the computer rankings, the voters' wish carried the day.

This would be the first of two occasions when there was a possibility of an intra-conference rematch in the BCS title game, as the nearly exact same scenario took place five years later. But in 2011, the voters decisively opted for a rematch (more on that in a future installment).

2006 BCS Bowl Matchups

Bowl	Score	Attendance	TV Rating
BCS Champ*	#2 Florida 41, #1 Ohio St. 14	74,628	17.4
Rose Bowl	#5 USC 32, #3 Michigan 18	93,852	13.9
Sugar Bowl	#4 LSU 41, #11 Notre Dame 14	77,781	9.0
Fiesta Bowl	#8 Boise St. 43, #10 Oklahoma 42 (OT)	73,719	8.4
Orange Bowl	#6 Louisville 24, #14 Wake Forest 13	74,470	7.0

BCS Formula Review: With the formula now set, the only revelation in 2006 was that the Harris Poll proved to be no better (or worse) than any other human polls. The Harris voters, like the coaches (and the writers in the AP poll) defected from Michigan to push, first USC, then Florida, into the BCS title game. As the human polls now accounted for two-thirds of the BCS formula, essentially the computer rankings were rendered meaningless in a tight race.

Final analysis: Did the right team win the BCS championship? Perhaps. But had USC not inexplicably gagged against a team that it beat, 66-19, the year before and had won seven straight against, Florida would never have made it to the title game. There would've been protests from both Michigan and Florida after USC presumably walloped Ohio State.

The two best teams of the season, as indicated by bowl results, never got to play each other. USC blew its chance at a third national title in four years, but the Trojans and Gators would never have gotten a chance to play each other anyway. Not with Ohio State being insulated in the Big Ten and going undefeated.

History would repeat itself in 2007 ... and 2008.

Fiesta and Rose Fighting Over Irish?

Notre Dame's brand name might not be enough to get it into the national championship game (you heard that right, Lou Holtz), but it still has plenty pull when it come time for BCS bowls to make their picks.

Despite appearances - that No. 3 Notre Dame is closer to No. 2 Oregon than Oregon is to No. 1 Kansas State in the latest BCS standings - there is no chance for the Irish to catch either team without needing a loss from them. The Irish have maxed out their computer scores at .990 and are unlikely to get any more support in the polls unless they can rout USC at the Coliseum in two weeks.

But there will be a big consolation prize for Notre Dame, and that'll depend on who finishes first and second in the final BCS standings. The Fiesta Bowl and Rose Bowl are both interested in the Irish. For the Fiesta, Notre Dame was instrumental in helping to build the bowl's reputation when it beat West Virginia to win the the school's last national championship in 1988. For the Irish, they'd get a chance to erase some awful memories as they have dropped their last three bowl games in the desert.

The Rose Bowl ideally would like to keep its traditional Big Ten-Pac 12 matchup, but it might not have the option. In fact, if the Fiesta gets to pick first and selects Notre Dame, the Rose might have to opt for Oklahoma because of a lack of BCS eligible Pac-12 teams. After Oregon, currently only Stanford is in the BCS top 14. But the Cardinal still have to play the Ducks, as does No. 16 Oregon State and the winner of the No. 17 UCLA-No. 18 USC game. If Oregon does run the table and go to the title game, none of those teams will be in the top 14.

After having had TCU, Texas and Oklahoma in Pasadena in the past decade as per the auspices of the BCS, the Rose Bowl is intrigued by having Notre Dame back for the first time since the days of Knute Rockne. The Irish defeated Stanford 27-10 in the 1925 game. It was Notre Dame's first bowl appearance and its only one until 1970 as the school self-imposed a bowl ban for nearly half a century.

BCS Bowl Projections

BCS national championship - Kansas State vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl - Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M
Rose Bowl - Oklahoma vs. Nebraska
Sugar Bowl - Alabama vs. Clemson
Orange Bowl - Florida State vs. Louisville

(FULL ARTICLE @ SB NATION)

The Guru's BlogPoll Ballot (Week 13)

This week's BlogPoll ballot, with comments below:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	TCU
2	Alabama	2
3	Florida	3
4	Texas	1
5	Boise State	2
6	Cincinnati	4
7	Oregon	2
8	Ohio State	2
9	Iowa	2
10	Penn State	2
11	Brigham Young	2
12	Georgia Tech	5
13	Pittsburgh	5
14	Houston	1
15	LSU	2
16	USC	2
17	Oregon State	2
18	Virginia Tech	4
19	Miami (Florida)	4
20	Utah	6
21	California
22	Nebraska
23	West Virginia
24	Oklahoma State	8
25	Central Michigan
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Clemson (#20), North Carolina (#21), Temple (#24), Navy (#25).

* Yeah, this is exactly why playing out a championship on ballots is a farce. The top of my ballot is shuffled again once more. Why? Because I have no freaking idea just who is really better than who else. And anyone who claims to definitively and objectively rate one team as better than another is either a liar or a fool.

After next week's SEC championship game, we'll probably have five unbeaten teams that share maybe just a couple of common opponents amongst all of them. You can compare these teams statistically, but with such disparate schedules, that's bordering on meaningless as well.

* So I still have TCU No. 1, even though the Horned Frogs probably will have no shot at the BCS title game. We'll know about Florida and Alabama, and that's all we're going to know. Boise State will be lucky enough to get a BCS bowl berth, but even if the Broncos manage to wallop, say, two-loss Iowa, in the Fiesta Bowl, what exactly does that prove?

* The rest of the ballot is pretty standard fare. It's a freak occurrence that we have six undefeated teams and no one-loss teams. Each of the two-loss teams are on the ballot and all three-loss teams from BCS conferences, save Wisconsin and Rutgers, are on it as well.

* And one additional note to my previous bowl projections: The Orange Bowl will not want a rematch between TCU and Clemson. So if the Tigers win the ACC, look for the Orange Bowl to take the Big East champion, even though it will try everything it can to avoid an ACC-Big East matchup for the third time in four years. This isn't basketball, and that matchup does nothing in terms of TV ratings, attendance or prestige for the bowl.

The real question is, will the Fiesta have the guts to match up two undefeated teams? The answer is no. Because these bowls work together within the framework of the BCS, they'll avoid in any way diminishing or distracting from the BCS championship game.

First Bowl Cast, 2008

Yes, the Guru knows the economy is bad. People are not traveling. Heck, I run a bed and breakfast and we haven't sold out the Georgia-Florida weekend - which was usually a given in my six years in Jacksonville (Good rooms are still available! Pardon the shameless advertising!)

But chances are, you still might harbor dreams of spending New Years somewhere nice, like in California, Arizona, or South Florida. Maybe the stock market will rebound. Maybe oil will hit 20 bucks a barrel. Maybe the Chinese will buy out all of our bad debts and write them off.

We can only dream.

But if you really do want to hit one of those BCS bowls and would like to plan early, the Guru is here to help. With one hand on the crystal ball and the other working a dart board, I now present you with this season's first fearless Bowl Cast:

BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: January 8, Dolphin Stadium, Miami

Matchup: Texas vs. Penn State (Odds: Texas 70%, Penn State 80%)

Outlook: The No. 1-ranked Longhorns will have their toughest remaining game this week at Texas Tech. A victory should send Texas smooth sailing into Key Biscayne. Penn State has an even easier slate, but it still needs Alabama to lose one game.

Other potential suitors: Alabama (20%), Florida (10%), Georgia (10%), Texas Tech (5%), USC (3%), Oklahoma (2%).

ROSE BOWL: January 1, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.

Matchup: USC vs. Ohio State (Odds: USC 90%, Ohio State 50%)

Outlook: The Tournament of Roses red coats don't want this rematch - it would be the third time these two teams meet in 12 months - but it will have to really think outside of the box to avoid it. If Penn State somehow doesn't make it to the BCS title game, fine. If USC somehow doesn't win the Pac-10 outright, fine. But would the Rose Bowl dare to invite an SEC team to finally matchup with the Trojans in a bowl game? That would be nice, but that would also risk ticking off the Big Ten. Just remember, these guys invited Illinois last year. The track record isn't good.

Other potential suitors: Oregon State (20%),California (15%), Penn State (10%), Michigan State (5%), Minnesota (3%), Oregon (2%), Alabama (2%), Florida (2%), Georgia (1%).

FIESTA BOWL: January 5, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.

Matchup: Alabama vs. Utah (Odds: Alabama 20%, Utah 60%)

Outlook: Say what? You ask. Well, this is going on the assumption that Oklahoma would be the obvious second choice from the Big 12 and the Fiesta Bowl doesn't want a third consecutive appearance by the Sooners. The quandary here is that although the Fiesta would get the first pick if it loses Texas to the BCS title game, it pretty much has no way of avoid taking a non-BCS automatic qualifier, be it Utah, TCU, Boise State or even Tulsa.

Other potential suitors: Boise State (50%), Texas Christian (20%), Texas (10%), Ball State (5%), Tulsa (5%), Brigham Young (5%), Oklahoma (5%), Oklahoma State (5%), Texas Tech (5%), Florida (5%), Georgia (3%), Missouri (2%).

SUGAR BOWL: January, 2, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans

Matchup: Florida vs. Oklahoma (Odds: Florida 40%, Oklahoma 50%)

Outlook: If the Fiesta does pass on Oklahoma, then the Sooners land here to play the SEC champion. If Oklahoma is gone, then the Sugar will be forced to take the Big East champion, leaving the second SEC team for the Orange Bowl. If the SEC champion somehow ends up in the BCS title game, then the Sugar will take the Big 12's second team.

Other potential suitors: Alabama (30%), Georgia (25%), Big East champion (25%), Oklahoma State (15%), Texas Tech (10%), Texas (4%), Missouri (1%).

ORANGE BOWL: January 1, Dolphin Stadium, Miami

Matchup: ACC Champion vs. Big East Champion (Odds: ACC 100%, Big East 80%)

Outlook: The price you pay for hosting the BCS title game is that your bowl game would suffer. And there's just about no way the Orange Bowl can avoid this stinker involving two teams maybe ranked in the 20s. The only hope to avoid this is for the Sugar to take the Big 12's second team, leaving a second team from the SEC available.

Other potential suitors: Alabama (10%), Florida (5%), Georgia (3%), Ohio State (2%).

Ten Years of BCS: 2000

The Guru's Note: Beginning in June, the Guru will publish a review of each of the 10 seasons since the Bowl Championship Series came into existence in 1998. In this series -- Ten Years of BCS -- the Guru will examine the results from these seasons -- who got lucky and who got robbed, what could've been, what should've been and other controversies of the day. The series will appear weekly leading up to the 2008 season.

========================

After two years of relative calm, controversy exploded on the BCS in Year 3. For the first time, a team's presence in the BCS title game was called into question. And the criticism went unabated even after an undefeated champion was crowned.

But if anything, this was a self-inflicted wound.

Bowing more to an ignorant media than any real pressure from public opinion, the BCS drastically changed its formula to retroactively make amends for an outcome it was powerless to change. Instead of defending its method and holding its ground, the BCS capitulated. This knee-jerk reaction would bring far more serious consequences in the years to come and compromise its claim to legitimacy in the system's formative years.

Oklahoma finished the 2000 regular season as the only undefeated team and its No.1 ranking was undisputed. But Florida State, despite ranking No. 3 in both the AP and coaches polls, leapfrogged No. 2 Miami in the final BCS standings to earn a date with the Sooners in the Orange Bowl.

The media went berserk, more so than even Miami coach Butch Davis. The credibility of BCS computers was called into question because it was the computers' preference for the Seminoles that carried the day. The main argument was this: Since both Miami and Florida State each had one loss, and the Hurricanes beat the Seminoles on the field, how could Florida State be ranked ahead of Miami?

The BCS panicked big time. Changes were promised and then carried out in the offseason. The computer lineup was reshuffled to de-emphasize margin of victory. And a dubious "quality win" criteria was added to the formula -- as if the existing arrangement wasn't convoluted enough.

But the BCS should've responded ith: "What's the problem?" and vigorously defended the system.

Florida State was a worthy No. 2 team. If you lined up FSU and Miami side-by-side, plenty could've been made in the Seminoles' favor:

1. Strength of Schedule: Florida State and Miami ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, in the strength of schedule compartment of the BCS standings. But upon further examination, that was laughable. (the SoS, parroted from the RPI that the NCAA uses for its basketball selections, would prove to be the most destructive part of the formula -- but more on that later in the series.) Florida State played in a tougher conference (ACC)- than Miami (Big East). Its non-conference games consisted of Louisville, Brigham Young, Florida and Miami. The 'Canes played I-AA McNeese State, Louisiana Tech, Washington and FSU, plus Big East cupcakes such as Rutgers and Temple.

2. Losses: Florida State's lone loss was to Miami, 27-24, at the Orange Bowl on Oct. 7. The Seminoles rallied from a 17-0 halftime deficit to take a 24-20 lead late in the game, only to lose on a Ken Dorsey-to-Jeremy Shockey pass with 46 seconds left. The 'Canes' only defeat was a 34-29 loss at Washington on Sept. 9.

3. The Washington Factor: If head-to-head results were so paramount, then maybe Washington should've been ranked ahead of Miami. After all, the Huskies beat Miami and also only lost once -- a 23-16 defeat at two-loss Oregon.

4. Margin of Victory: If Washington was discounted because it won lots of close games -- eight of its 11 games were decided by seven or fewer points -- then the fact that Florida State won its games, against a considerably tougher schedule, by a wider margin than Miami (38.9 vs. 30.4) should not have been overlooked. And the computers didn't.

5. Historic Precedent: Even before the birth of BCS, there had been several instances that a team was ranked ahead of another despite losing head-to-head and possessing the same record. In 1993, Florida State finished ahead of Notre Dame in both polls even though the Irish won, 31-24, at South Bend. In 1978, USC finished second to Alabama (11-1) in the AP poll even though the Trojans (12-1) beat the Tide, 24-14, in Birmingham, Ala.

See, the body of evidence is pretty strong in the Seminoles' favor. Their presence in the BCS championship game was easily defensible. That they laid an near-egg in an ugly 13-2 loss to Oklahoma is immaterial. And that Miami defeated a Florida team in the Sugar Bowl -- a team that the 'Noles walloped -- is irrelevant.

And one more thing: Even if today's BCS formula, which gives two-thirds of its weight to the human polls, were applied to the 2000 season, you'd still end up with the same result. Florida State would've finished second, ahead of Miami (1.1093 vs. 1.1025).

Final BCS Standings: 1. Oklahoma, 2. Florida State, 3. Miami (Fla.), 4. Washington.

Alternative Methods:

* Using present day BCS formula: 1. Oklahoma, 2. Florida State.

* Using human polls only: 1. Oklahoma, 2. Miami (Fla.)

* Plus-One: Oklahoma vs. Washington; Florida State vs. Miami (Fla.).

Controversy:

* Notre Dame windfall: The Fiesta Bowl passed on four teams ahead of Notre Dame in the BCS standings to take the two-loss No. 10 Irish. Virginia Tech, ranked No. 5 with its only loss to Miami, fell just outside of the Kansas State-mandate and was ignored. Three other two-loss teams were also swept aside -- Oregon (out because two other Pac-10 teams were already taken), Kansas State (they're pretty used to this by now) and Nebraska. The Huskers also had a beef because they had defeated Notre Dame in South Bend, 27-24, earlier in the season. This occurred at a time when the Irish received a windfall of $13 million for a BCS bowl appearance -- as opposed to today's more balanced payouts. Notre Dame was promptly exposed as a fraud as it was annihilated by Dennis Erickson's Oregon State Beavers, 41-9.

BCS formula review: No change to the formula was made between the 1999 and 2000 seasons. And that's about to change, as the formula would be tweaked or overhauled in four of the next five years.

Analysis: The changes to the BCS formula prior to the 2001 season would prove to be simply reactionary and solved nothing. And while an argument may be stated on Miami's behalf, the results of the bowl games really made a case for Washington. The Huskies went 7-1 in easily the toughest conference in 2000. They beat Purdue in the Rose Bowl; and bowl wins by Oregon State and Oregon gave the Pac-10 three teams in the top seven in the final AP poll. The BCS was rocked by its first real crisis and another one would erupt the following season.

Ten Years of BCS: 1998

The Guru's Note: Beginning in June, the Guru will publish a review of each of the 10 seasons since the Bowl Championship Series came into existence in 1998. In this series -- Ten Years of BCS -- the Guru will examine the results from these seasons -- who got lucky and who got robbed, what could've been, what should've been and other controversies of the day. The series will appear weekly leading up to the 2008 season.

=========================

On the precipice of a disaster in its infancy, the BCS was magically rescued by the hurricanes -- one named Georges, the other named Edgerrin James.

Three teams headed into the final Saturday of the season with undefeated records: Tennessee, Kansas State and UCLA. The Vols and Wildcats were scheduled to play in their respective conference title games; while the Bruins, riding a nation-best 20-game winning streak, were to play Miami at the Orange Bowl in a makeup game.

Originally, the game was to be played on Sept. 26. But because of the imminent threat of Hurricane Georges, it was temporarily postponed. UCLA had the option of canceling the game outright and standing on its performance in 10 games, but it took the risky move of rescheduling the game for the final day of the season.

The Miami team that beat UCLA, 49-45, that day was a vast improvement over the one the Bruins would've faced on Sept. 26. Behind James' 299 rushing yards (on 39 carries), the 'Canes shredded a shaky UCLA defense and benefited from an erroneous fumble call. Besides ending UCLA's quest to appear in the first BCS title game, Miami's upset victory sent the Bruins on a long descent into national irrelevance.

After UCLA's loss, it was up to Tennessee and Kansas State to hold up their end of the bargain. The Volunteers did but the Wildcats didn't -- losing to double-digit underdog Texas A&M in double overtime, 36-33. As a parting gift, K-State was handed an Alamo Bowl berth after being shut out of the BCS bowls.

While the Tennessee-Florida State title game -- played in the Fiesta Bowl -- was generally acknowledged as a fair outcome, there were a few minor controversies in the year of BCS's birth. Besides the snubbing of K-State, an 11-0 Tulane team was also shut out of the BCS. But thanks to the hurricanes, a catastrophe was averted.

Final BCS Standings: 1. Tennessee, 2. Florida State, 3. Kansas State, 4. Ohio State.

Alternative methods:

• Using present day BCS formula: 1. Tennessee, 2. Florida State. 

• Using human polls only: 1. Tennessee (1-AP, 1-Coaches), 2. Florida State (2-AP, 2-Coaches).

• Plus-One: Tennessee vs. Ohio State; Florida State vs. Kansas State.

Controversies:

• Kansas State snub: Despite finishing third in the final BCS standings, the Wildcats found themselves in the non-BCS Alamo Bowl. The Sugar Bowl opted for Big Ten co-champion Ohio State, who was the top-ranked team for most of the season until a 28-24 upset loss to Michigan State. The Orange Bowl took Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators, who finished eighth in the BCS standings. A dispirited and disinterested K-State team lost to Purdue, 37-34.

• Tulane snub: An 11-0 record and Conference USA title weren't enough to get the Green Wave to a BCS bowl game, let alone a spot in the title game. Tulane, ranked No. 10, today would've received an automatic berth by being in the top 12. Nevertheless, playing without a head coach after Tommy Bowden took the Clemson job, the Green Wave romped to a 41-27 Liberty Bowl victory over BYU under some guy named Rich Rodriguez.

BCS Formula Review: The initial BCS standings, the brainchild of then-SEC commissioner Roy Kramer, was an unwieldy clunker divided in three -- human polls, computer rankings and strength of schedule. And each loss is tacked on as additional penalty. Only three computers were used -- Anderson & Hester, Jeff Sagarin and New York Times. Margin of victory was accounted for by all three computers and a 50% adjusted maximum deviation factor was applied.

Analysis: UCLA's loss, which occurred earlier in the day on Dec. 5, gave the BCS poobahs a huge sigh of relief. Tennessee's 23-16 victory over Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl, though underwhelming, was controversy-free. The BCS seemingly passed its first test ... only if they knew.