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BCSReform.org
Going undefeated is a very difficult achievement in Division 1 – A / FBS football – less than 1% of all teams have achieved this honor during the 10 – year BCS era! It's surprising to note that, based on the BCS' 10 – year history, it is more difficult for a non – BCS team to go undefeated than a BCS team; twice as many BCS teams (8 undefeated BCS teams of approximately 650 BCS teams during the BCS era or 1.20% – see list below) have achieved a perfect record than non – BCS teams (4 undefeated non - BCS teams of approximately 530 non - BCS teams during the BCS era or 0.75% – see list below)! This fact is counter intuitive given the supposed “weak strength of schedule” argument against non – BCS teams posed by some, yet it is true – why? An important reason is that many high – profile BCS teams play 7 or 8 home games out of a 11 / 12 game regular season schedule schedule [e.g., in 2008 Texas / LSU / Florida State / Nebraska / etc. (8 home games) and Florida / Alabama / Penn State / Texas Tech / Ohio State / Auburn / Tennessee / etc. (7 home games)] versus only 6 home games for the non – BCS teams. Winning football games on the road is very difficult in college football for both BCS and non – BCS teams! Additionally, many high – profile BCS teams play a weak non – conference schedule (e.g., in 2008 BCS Ohio State played non – conference opponents Youngstown State (D – 1AA / FCS), Ohio, and Troy, etc.) while the strongest of the non – BCS teams (e.g., TCU, Utah, BYU, Boise State, Ball State, etc.), the ones with the best chance of going undefeated, play more difficult BCS teams (often, on the road) to gain national respect and increase their schedule strength under the biased BCS system. Based on the 10 – year BCS history, there is an undefeated BCS team almost each year and, yet, an undefeated non – BCS team only each 2 – 3 years! In summary, as in the first 10 years of the BCS era, the relatively weaker non – conference schedules that BCS teams play and their extra 1 or 2 home games each year will continue to result in more BCS teams going undefeated than non – BCS teams! And yet, the non – BCS teams that go undefeated receive little respect even though their accomplishment is as great (or greater) than that of the undefeated BCS teams!
Compare the following number of home games and non – conference opponents for the 4 non – BCS / 8 BCS undefeated teams of the BCS era:
FOUR (4) UNDEFEATED NON – BCS TEAMS IN 10 – YEAR BCS ERA (only 0.75% of all non – BCS teams)
1). Non – BCS Boise State in 2006 (13 - 0) – 6 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents, Utah, Wyoming, Oregon State, Sacramento State (Division 1 – AA / FCS), and BCS Big 12 Champion Oklahoma in 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Boise State was only ranked 5th after the bowls even though it was the only undefeated team in the nation and it beat 11th ranked BCS Big 12 Champion Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Please note that Boise State in 2008 had 6 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents, Oregon, Southern Miss, Bowling Green, and Idaho State (D – 1AA / FCS);
2). Non – BCS Utah in 2004 (12 - 0) – 6 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents, Texas A & M, Arizona, North Carolina, Utah State, and BCS Big East Champion Pittsburgh in 2005 Fiesta Bowl by a score of 35 - 7. Utah beat these 5 teams, 4 of which are from BCS conferences, by an average score of 39 – 11. Utah was ranked 4th after the bowls. This was the best Utah football team in its history, yet it didn't receive an opportunity to play in the National Championship Game or against a highly ranked BCS opponent in a BCS bowl. Please note that Utah in 2008 had 6 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents, Oregon State, Michigan, Utah State, and Weber State (D – 1AA / FCS);
3). Non – BCS Marshall in 1999 (13 - 0) – 6 home games in 12 – game regular season(please note that the conference championship playoff game was played at Marshall). Its non – conference opponents in 1999 were Clemson, Liberty (Division 1 – AA / FCS), Miami (Florida), and BYU in the 1999 Liberty Bowl. Marshall was ranked 10th after the bowls. Please note that Marshall in 2008 had 6 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Cincinnati, and Illinois State (D – 1AA / FCS); and
4). Non – BCS Tulane in 1998 (12 - 0) – 6 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents Navy, Rutgers, Army, Southwestern Louisiana (Division 1 – AA / FCS), and BYU in the 1998 Liberty Bowl. Tulane was ranked 7th after the bowls. Please note that Tulane in 2008 had 6 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents Alabama, LSU, Army, and Louisiana - Monroe.
EIGHT (8) UNDEFEATED BCS TEAMS IN 10 – YEAR BCS ERA (only 1.20 % of all BCS teams)
1). BCS OHIO STATE in 2002 (14 - 0) – 8 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents Kent State, San Jose State, Washington State, Cincinnati, Texas Tech, and Miami (Florida) in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl National Championship Game. Incidentally, Ohio State's 14 wins tied the record for the most wins in a college football season with Non – BCS BYU in 1996 (14 – 1), who beat 14th ranked BCS Kansas State 19 – 15 in the 1997 Cotton Bowl and was only ranked 5 th in the final poll. Of course, Ohio State was the only undefeated team nationwide and ranked 1st after the bowls in 2002. Please note that BCS Ohio State in 2008 had 7 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents, Youngstown State (D – 1AA / FCS), Ohio, Troy, and USC;
2). BCS FLORIDA STATE in 1999 (12 - 0) – 7 home games in 11 – game regular season (including Duke in Jacksonville, Florida) with non – conference opponents Louisiana Tech, Florida, and Virginia Tech in the 2000 Sugar Bowl National Championship Game. Florida State was the only undefeated team nationwide and was number 1 after the bowls. Please note that BCS Florida State in 2008 had 8 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents, Western Carolina (D – 1AA / FCS), Chattanooga (D – 1AA / FCS), Colorado, and Florida;
3). BCS AUBURN in 2004 (13 - 0) – 7 home games in 11 – game regular season with non – conference opponents Citadel (Division 1 – AA / FCS), Louisiana – Monroe, Louisiana Tech, and Virginia Tech in the 2005 Sugar Bowl. Auburn, USC, and Utah were undefeated that year; Auburn was number 2 and USC number 1 in the all the poll after the bowls. Please note that BCS Auburn in 2008 had 7 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents, Louisiana – Monroe, Southern Miss, Tennessee - Martin (D – 1AA / FCS), and West Virginia;
4). BCS TEXAS in 2005 (13 - 0) – 6 home games in 11 – game regular season (includes its traditional game versus Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas) with non – conference opponents Louisiana Lafayette, Rice, and Ohio State, and USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl National Championship Game. Of course, Texas was the only undefeated team nationwide and ranked 1st after the bowls. Please note that BCS Texas in 2008 had 8 home games in 12 – game regular season (includes its traditional game with Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas) with non – conference opponents, Florida Atlantic, UTEP, Rice, and Arkansas;
5). BCS TENNESSEE in 1998 (13 - 0) – 6 home games in 11 – game regular season with non – conference opponents Syracuse, Houston, UAB, and Florida State in the 1999 Fiesta Bowl National Championship Game. Of course, Tennessee was the only undefeated team nationwide (along with Tulane) and ranked 1st after the bowls. Please note that BCS Tennessee in 2008 had 7 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents, UAB, Wyoming, UCLA, and Florida;
6). BCS MIAMI (FLORIDA) in 2001 (12 - 0) – 6 home games in 11 – game regular season with non – conference opponents Troy State, Rutgers, Washington, Penn State, and Nebraska in the 2002 Rose Bowl National Championship Game. Of course, Miami (Florida) was the only undefeated team nationwide and ranked 1st after the bowls. Please note that BCS Miami (Florida) in 2008 had 6 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents, Charleston Southern (D – 1AA / FCS), UCF, Texas A & M, and Florida;
7). BCS OKLAHOMA in 2000 (13 - 0) – 6 home games in 11 – game regular season (and its traditional game versus Texas in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas) with non – conference opponents UTEP, Arkansas State, Rice, and Florida State in the 2001 Orange Bowl National Championship Game. Of course, Oklahoma was the only undefeated team nationwide and ranked 1st in after the bowls. Please note that BCS Oklahoma in 2008 had 6 home games in 12 – game regular season (and its traditional game versus Texas in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas) with non – conference opponents, Chattanooga (D – 1AA / FCS), Cincinnati, Washington, and TCU; and
8). BCS USC in 2004 (13 - 0) – 6 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents Virginia Tech, BYU, Colorado State, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma in the 2005 Orange Bowl National Championship Game. USC, Auburn, and Utah were undefeated that year; USC was number 1 in after the bowls. Please note that BCS USC in 2008 had 6 home games in 12 – game regular season with non – conference opponents, Virginia, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.
SUMMARY
The 4 undefeated non – BCS teams , Boise State, Utah, Marshall, and Tulane, played an average of 6.00 home games in their undefeated seasons or 50% home games. Importantly, please note that these same 4 non – BCS teams once again played an average of 6.00 home games in 2008 or 50% home games!
Contrastingly, the 8 undefeated BCS teams , Ohio State, Florida State, Auburn, Texas, Tennessee, Miami (Florida), Oklahoma, and USC, played an average of 6.50 home games in their undefeated seasons or 58% home games. Importantly, please note that these 8 BCS teams in 2008 played an average of 6.88 home games in 2008 or 58% home games! The BCS teams have historically played more home games than the non – BCS teams and that trend is increasing! In 2008, these BCS undefeated teams basically played an extra home game compared to the non – BCS undefeated teams (i.e., 6.00 average home games for non – BCS teams versus 6.88 average home games for BCS teams). These calculations don't include other high – profile BCS teams that had 7 or 8 home games in 2008 such as Alabama (8 home games), LSU (8 home games), Nebraska (8 home games), Florida (7 home games), Penn State (7 home games), and Texas Tech (7 home games). On average, most high – profile BCS teams in 2008 played 1 or 2 extra home games than non – BCS teams and that is a huge advantage in improving a team's record!
Additionally, high – profile BCS teams are playing weaker and weaker non – conference schedules (i.e., more D – 1AA / FCS, etc.). There are a few notable BCS exceptions such as USC – a team that plays 6 home game per season and always plays a challenging non – conference schedule (e.g., Ohio State, Notre Dame, BYU, Virginia Tech, Virginia, etc.). Contrastingly, the non – BCS teams must play good BCS opponents in their non – conference games to gain respect and increase their schedule strength, teams like Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon State, Washington, UCLA, Oregon, Arizona, California, Tennessee, etc.
Accordingly, as in the first 10 years of the BCS era, the relatively weaker non – conference schedules that BCS teams play and their extra 1 or 2 home games each year will continue to result in more BCS teams going undefeated than non – BCS teams! And yet, the non – BCS teams that go undefeated receive little respect even though their accomplishment is as great or greater than that of the undefeated BCS teams!
If there is not an undefeated non – BCS team in a season (which is more likely than not in any given season since it occurs every 2 to 3 years, on average), all 10 lucrative BCS bowl berths and their combined millions of payouts ($180 million in BCS bowl payouts in 2008) are received by only BCS teams. Adding even more insult to the non – BCS teams is the fact that a non – BCS team has never had or realistically will ever have an opportunity to play in the BCS National Championship Game because of the biased BCS selection process for such game. Many of the BCS – biased human voters will rank BCS teams with losses ahead of any undefeated non – BCS team to ensure that their BCS conferences / teams receive the BCS bowl berths (and huge attendant payouts) and the 2 prestigious berths in the BCS National Championship Game. In addition, the BCS computer rankings will also rank 2 BCS teams in the top 2 final spots of the standings ahead of even an undefeated non – BCS team (Boise State in 2006), thus ensuring that 2 BCS teams play in the BCS National Championship Game.
Meanwhile, a strong BCS team can lose a game or even 2 games and still easily qualify for a BCS bowl berth and / or also qualify for the BCS National Championship Game (LSU in 2007 with 2 losses). Realistically, a non – BCS team will never receive such an opportunity!
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