One would think that the SEC may actually be the BCS if you look at the current rankings and the last five years of BCS Championships, as the SEC has won the last 5 BCS Championships, with an apparent monopoly this year, as LSU, Alabama and Arkansas are 1, 2 and 3 respectively. But the ownership goes deeper to the perception of the strength of the SEC and the origin of the BCS.
At a closer look, the BCS System was engineered in 1998 by Roy Kramer, the former Commissioner of the SEC. After the original development of the Bowl Coalition, was converted to the Bowl Alliance which had basically rotated the NCAA Title game between the Fiesta, Sugar and Orange Bowls. This basically eliminated the PAC-10, Big Ten Champions along with other programs not associated with the Bowl Alliance. Likewise, the prestigious Rose Bowl was also left out of the championship rotation. Essentially, the Rose Bowl was forced to release the Big Ten and Pac 10 from their long contracted affiliation. Until the change in 2006 the Rose Bowl was included in the championship rotation, at which time the BCS Championship.
The SEC is considered to have the strongest football programs compared to all other conferences around the country, a fact that current is difficult to dispute based on the results of the last five years and the current rankings that have additionally #12 South Carolina, #13 Georgia and #24 Auburn in addition to the top three. You can't talk BCS without the SEC having a team in the consideration or the conference being the measuring stick for competitive strength.
Now for the other 108 Division 1 FBS member schools vying for a college championship, is this a fair system when the algorithms of the computer formulas have yet to been clarified to the average fan or sports professional. The system must be reviewed as there could be a scenario where a team that does not win its conference championship plays for the National Title while all other conference champions are left out looking in at a National Championship appearance and a chance to prove their ability to compete on the highest stage. This one team would have a single loss, just like many others with higher conference results. This one inequity alone raises the biggest flag, but many other subjective issues also support the criticism of the current selective system. For now, we'll play the games and see what happens, but one day this will have to change. And for now the SEC will enjoy its ownership of the BCS Championship Series.
