Queen of Sports

Queen Of Sports 101: BCS Championship Game

December 5th, 2011 | Posted by Leah Hollar in Football,Sports 101

The BCS National Championship is almost here. The final bowl game of the Bowl Championship Series, the game will take place on Jan. 9 in New Orleans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The two teams set to play are LSU and Alabama. Undefeated LSU was the only team to beat Alabama this season.

But how are the teams picked to play in the game and what is the importance of the game?

Well, first of all the winner of the BCS Championship Game is considered the U.S. National champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The participants are the two highest-ranked teams in the BCS division at the end of the regular season for college football. Standings are determined by averaging the results from the final USA Today Coaches’ Poll, Harris Interactive Poll, former players and coaches, and the average of six various computer rankings.

There has been a lot of criticisms about how the teams who participate in the final game are chosen. Some criticize the fact polls and computers play a role rather than records of previous games played. The best example of this, and a highly controversial year for the BCS Championship Game, was in 2003 when #3 ranked school according to the Associated Press writers’ poll, University of Oklahoma, was selected to participate over the #1 ranked school in that same poll, USC. LSU defeated Oklahoma in that match-up.

Last year, the Auburn Tigers defeated the Oregon Ducks 22-19. This year’s game will likely be a close one as well. The game will be televised on ESPN.