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14 unusual facts about Bowl Championship Series


1990 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with a split national championship and the ensuing controversy helped lead to the creation of the Bowl Coalition, a precursor to the Bowl Championship Series.

1998 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first of the Bowl Championship Series, which saw Tennessee win the national championship, one year after star quarterback Peyton Manning left for the NFL.

2005 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the least amount of controversy surrounding the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title game in many years.

The BCS saw good fortune as two teams, the USC Trojans and the Texas Longhorns, went wire to wire as #1 and #2, respectively—the second year in a row that had happened—and finished as Division I-A's only undefeated teams after the regular season.

2008 Atlantic Coast Conference football season

As a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) conference, the ACC's constituent members competed within the framework of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

2011 Mountain West Conference football season

They finished the year as the highest ranked non-automatic qualifying school in the BCS rankings to receive an automatic bid to a BCS game.

Adrian Klemm

Following the 2010 season, Klemm was named the top non-BCS AQ Recruiter in the nation by Rivals.com, and was further recognized by the outlet as one of the top 25 recruiters in the country overall.

Chris Gragg

Gragg, along with the Razorbacks, made two appearances in Bowl Championship Series games, and won the 2012 Cotton Bowl against the Kansas State Wildcats.

Dan Wetzel

Dan Wetzel is a passionate opponent of the BCS system for determining the NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship.

Deke Cooper

The play was referred to as the "$11 million-dollar tackle" as it kept Notre Dame's hopes for a berth in a Bowl Championship Series bowl alive.

John Stocco

With hopes of a Rose Bowl invitation, the Badgers collapsed down the stretch, ending the season with two losses to fall out of BCS contention.

John Swofford

During his tenure he has doubled the ACC's annual revenue, served as Chairman of the Bowl Championship Series in college football in 2000 and 2001, and expanded the ACC to include Boston College, Virginia Tech, the University of Miami, the University of Pittsburgh, Syracuse University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Louisville by 2014.

John Vaughn

Twice during the season he completed four field goals in a single game — in wins against Washington State and the eventual BCS Champion Florida Gators.

Teddy Bridgewater

As a sophomore in 2012 he started 11 of 12 regular season games, his only non-starting action coming off the bench while injured against Rutgers to lead his team to a win, a Big East title and a berth to the BCS.


Zach Boren

The 2012 Ohio State squad, for whom Boren was a captain, would have been eligible for a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Bowl, possibly even the national championship, but due to sanctions levied against them by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) were not bowl-eligible.