The NCAA Division I-A national football championship is the only Division I NCAA-sponsored sport without an organized tournament to determine its champion; in fact, while various other organizations (as described below) designate a national champion at the Division I level, the NCAA itself does not award a championship for Division I-A football. In fact, the manner in which a “champion” is crowned is probably unique in that it uses neither a fully quantitative season-long scoring system (e.g., auto racing, tennis) nor a sequence-dependent playoff system in which qualification is clear and the top contenders enter in a largely non-controversial manner (e.g., professional football and other team sports).
The poll system
Since the start of college football, there have been many individuals, publications and organizations that have selected their national champions. Some carried more weight than others. Also, some organizations have gone back and researched those early seasons and retroactively constructed rankings and determined recognized champions of major college football. Some examples of these type of polls include the National Championship Foundation, the College Football Researchers Association, and the Helms Athletic Foundation. Other systems, such as the Dickinson System, used statistical analysis to determine a ranking.
One of the first major media poll was the AP Poll released in 1936, which is still in use today. This poll utilizes a vast network of sportswriters to determine its rankings. Although modified slightly, another poll still in use today is the Coaches’ Poll, which polls a random selection of 62 collegiate football head coaches to determine its rankings. However, both polls failed to take into account bowl game results, often between two top-ranked teams, thus calling into question their designation of a “national champion” prior to the actual end of the season. Until 1968 college football season, the final AP poll of the season was released following the end of the regular season, with the exception of the 1965 season. Beginning in the 1968 season, a post bowl game poll was released and the AP championship reflected the bowl game results. The UPI did not follow suit with the Coaches’ Poll until the 1974 season.
The tradition, and the controversy, is carried on today with the Bowl Championship Series (”BCS”), created for the 1998 season, and its predecessors - the Bowl Coalition from seasons 1992 to 1994, and the Bowl Alliance from seasons 1995 to 1997. The AP and Coaches’ polls, computer rankings, strength of schedule, and performance against other top teams were combined into a formula, with the top two teams meeting in the BCS National Championship Game. But, the system has not been without controversy.
Football Bowl Subdivision
On
The presidents believe the new nomenclature, which became effective in December 2006, more accurately distinguishes Division I institutions for purposes of governing football, the only sport for which such a distinction is necessary.
