The Bowl Coalition is a predecessor of the Bowl Championship Series that was formed through an agreement among college football bowl games and conferences for the purpose of forcing a national championship game between the top two teams and to provide quality bowl game matchups for the champions of its member conferences. The Bowl Championship Series ( BCS) is a selection system designed to give the top two teams in the NCAA FBS Bowl Subdivision System an opportunity to compete in a "national College football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, Colleges and military academies In the United States, a bowl game is traditionally a post-season College football game however the term "bowl" has become synonymous with a major American It was established for the 1992 season after co-national champions in both 1990 and 1991. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) The 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with a split championship and the ensuing controversy led to the creation of the Bowl Coalition The 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with a split champion for the second consecutive season The agreement was in place for the 1992, 1993, and 1994 seasons. The 1992 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first year of the Bowl Coalition, and ended with Alabama 's first national The 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Florida State crowned National Champions but not without controversy The 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season saw yet another controversial finish as both Nebraska and Penn State finished undefeated and yet It was supplanted by the Bowl Alliance. The Bowl Alliance was an agreement among College football bowl games for the purpose of trying to match the top two teams in a national championship bowl game and to provide
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Background
The Bowl Coalition consisted of five conferences--the SEC, Big 8, Southwest Conference, ACC and Big East--independent Notre Dame, and six bowl games--the Orange, Sugar, Cotton, Fiesta, Gator and Hancock. The Southeastern Conference (SEC is a College Athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which operates in the southeastern The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA -affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, was formed in January 1907 as the This page is about the now defunct Southwest Conference (SWC For the unrelated and currently still active conference abbreviated as the SWAC see Southwestern Athletic Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of seventeen Universities in the northeastern southeastern and midwestern United The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the varsity sports teams of the University of Notre Dame. The Orange Bowl is an annual College football game that is usually played the first week in January in the Miami Florida metro area in the United States The Sugar Bowl is an annual American College football Bowl game played in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans Louisiana. The Cotton Bowl Classic is a United States College football Bowl game played annually since 1937 at the self-named stadium in Dallas Texas The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Tostitos tortilla chips is a United States College football Bowl game played annually since 1971 The Gator Bowl is an annual College football Bowl game that is played at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville Florida. The Sun Bowl is an annual College football Bowl game that is played usually at the end of December in El Paso Texas.
Under the agreement, bowl bids would be extended to the five member conference champions plus five at-large teams. The at-large teams would come from a pool of the five member conferences' runner-ups, the SEC's third-place team (since the SEC started playing a championship game in the 1992 season) and Notre Dame. The SEC Championship Game refers to the game determining the Southeastern Conference 's football season champion The Orange, Sugar, Cotton and Fiesta Bowls were "Tier 1 Bowls" under the Coalition agreement, and the Gator and Hancock were "Tier 2 Bowls. " The Orange, Sugar and Cotton bowls retained their long-standing agreements to invite the Big 8, SEC and SWC champs, respectively. However, the SEC, Big 8 and SWC champs would be released to play in another bowl if it was necessary to force a "title game. " For example, if the Big 8 champion was ranked first and the SEC champion was ranked second, the Orange Bowl would release the Big 8 champ to play in the Sugar Bowl, or the Sugar Bowl would release the SEC champ to play in the Orange Bowl.
The top “host” team played the top “at-large” team in the host team’s affiliated bowl. Slots for the games were chosen by the "Bowl Poll," in which the points from the AP and Coaches polls were combined. The USA Today Coaches' Poll is the current name for a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I-A College football and Division I If the top 2 teams were both “at-large”, then the Fiesta would have hosted the "title game. " The #3 team from the SEC hosted the Gator Bowl. The American Football Coaches Association agreed to rank the winner of the Bowl Coalition's "title game" as the top team in the final Coaches' Poll, thus guaranteeing the winner of the game at least a share of the national championship. The American Football Coaches Association is an association of football coaches on all levels and is responsible for the Coaches Poll that determines the national champion each
Criticism
The Coalition was flawed in several respects. Most significantly, it didn't include the Big Ten and Pac-10, both of whom were contractually obligated to play in the Rose Bowl. The Pacific-10 Conference ( Pac-10) is a college athletic conference which operates in the western United States. The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American College football Bowl game, usually played on January 1 ( New Year's Day) at the Rose The Coalition's founders tried to get the Tournament of Roses Association to release the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions to play in a title game if one of them was ranked #1 or #2 in the Bowl Poll, but it refused to do so.
The possibility was also raised that an undefeated and untied team would not get a chance to play for the national championship, since poll rankings often differ. This actually occurred during the 1993 season. The 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Florida State crowned National Champions but not without controversy Nebraska and West Virginia both finished the season undefeated and untied. The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) is the name given to several sports teams of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams of West Virginia University. However, West Virginia was ranked third in the final Coaches' Poll behind #1 Nebraska and #2 Florida State--forcing West Virginia to settle for a berth in the Sugar Bowl. The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) is the name given to several sports teams of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Also, the Coalition did not include the so-called "mid-major" I-A conferences--the WAC, Big West and Mid-American, as well as the other independents. Mid-major is a term mainly used in American College basketball and College football, to describe schools not affiliated with a conference whose football The Western Athletic Conference (commonly referred to as the WAC, pronounced "wack" was formed on July 27 1962 making it the sixth oldest of the 11 College The Big West Conference ( BWC) is an NCAA -affiliated Division I major college athletic conference that formerly sponsored Division I-A (now known as Division I FBS The Mid-American Conference ( MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA Division I college athletic conference with a membership However, it was argued that most of these schools did not have schedules strong enough to be legitimate title contenders.
Demise
The Bowl Coalition's demise came about, in large part, as the result of two events that occurred in the 1994 season. First, the Southwest Conference, which had seen a marked decline in its quality of play over the past decade, announced it would dissolve after the 1995 season. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Also, Notre Dame slipped from 10-1-1 in 1992 and 11-1 in 1993 to 6-4-1 in 1994. Notre Dame was still invited to the Fiesta Bowl in the 1994 season, losing 41-24 to Colorado in a game played on January 2, 1995. The University of Colorado at Boulder sponsors 16 varsity sports teams The sudden fall of Notre Dame led some involved in the Bowl Coalition to be concerned about the possibility of Notre Dame failing to win the minimum six games to be eligible for a bowl invitation.
Eventually the Bowl Coalition became the Bowl Alliance, breaking up the Conference tie-ins and tweaking a system that still did not include the Big Ten and the Pac 10. Ironically, the last year of the Bowl Coalition was the only year that its formula didn't work out at all. Penn State went 12-0 in 1994 and was a consensus runner-up in all major polls to Nebraska. The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University. The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) is the name given to several sports teams of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. However, as the Big Ten champion, it was contractually obligated to play in the Rose Bowl, where it defeated the Pac 10's Oregon. The Oregon Ducks refers to the sports teams of the University of Oregon, located in Eugene Oregon, United States. Meanwhile, Nebraska defeated Miami in the Orange Bowl and was crowned national champion by both major polls. The Miami Hurricanes represent the varsity sports teams of the University of Miami.
The Pac-10 and Big Ten conferences later joined the group in a move that still receives criticism from some fans of each conference from perceived injustices, such as Oregon's exclusion from the championship game in 2001 when it was ranked second in both polls, and USC's exclusion in 2003 despite being ranked first in both polls used.
The current BCS was extracted from the Super Alliance.
Bowl Coalition championship game results
| Season | Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | January 1, 1993 | 2 Alabama (13-0) | 34 | 1 Miami (11-1) | 13 | Sugar Bowl |
| 1993 | January 1, 1994 | 1 Florida St. (11-1) | 18 | 2 Nebraska (11-1) | 16 | Orange Bowl |
| 1994* | January 1, 1995 | 1 Nebraska (12-0) | 24 | 3 Miami (10-1) | 17 | Orange Bowl |
Notes:
- Rankings are from the Associated Press (Writers Poll). New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) The University of Miami (also known as Miami of Florida, UM, or just The U) is a private non-sectarian University founded in 1925 The Sugar Bowl is an annual American College football Bowl game played in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans Louisiana. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) Florida State University (commonly referred to as Florida State or FSU) is a public Research University located in Tallahassee The University of Nebraska is the public University system in the state of Nebraska, USA. The Orange Bowl is an annual College football game that is usually played the first week in January in the Miami Florida metro area in the United States New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 The University of Nebraska is the public University system in the state of Nebraska, USA. The University of Miami (also known as Miami of Florida, UM, or just The U) is a private non-sectarian University founded in 1925 The Orange Bowl is an annual College football game that is usually played the first week in January in the Miami Florida metro area in the United States The Associated Press ( AP) is an American News agency. The AP is a Cooperative owned by its contributing Newspapers radio Records and Rankings are prior to bowl games.
- 1994 Season: No. 2 Penn State (11-0) played in and won the Rose Bowl on January 2, thus No. The Pennsylvania State University (commonly known as Penn State) is a state-related, land-grant, space grant public research University 3 Miami was still in the running to win the National Championship when it played on January 1. The University of Miami (also known as Miami of Florida, UM, or just The U) is a private non-sectarian University founded in 1925
See also
- BCS National Championship Game
References
- College Bowl Games. HickokSports. com. Retrieved on September 20, 2005. Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
External links
| Preceded by (none) | NCAA Football Bowl Series 1992 – 1994 | Succeeded by Bowl Alliance |
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