Bowl Championship Series

The Bowl Championship Series was a selection system that created five bowl game match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision of American college football, including an opportunity for the top two teams to compete in the BCS National Championship Game. The system was in place from 1998–2013, inclusive. The BCS relied on a combination of polls and computer selection methods to determine relative team rankings, and to narrow the field to two teams to play in the BCS National Championship Game held after the other college bowl games. The American Football Coaches Association was contractually bound to vote the winner of this game as the BCS National Champion and the contract signed by each conference required them to recognize the winner of the BCS National Championship game as the official and only champion. The BCS was created to end split championships and for the champion to win the title on the field between the two teams selected by the BCS.