So I haven't really been into College Football so far, probably because I haven't gone to college yet so I don't really have a team to passionately follow, but I'm starting to get into it this season. I just have some simple questions about the whole set up of the BCS, and other stuff in general. 1) Okay, so are conferences basically like divisions in the NFL? Like the ACC is the AFC East, and if you win the conference you go to a bowl game? 2) I understand that depending on how good your conference is, it affects your chances of being rated highly and going to the BCS Championship Game (Which is the superbowl, I guess?), So how are the conferences rated right now, from best to worst? 3) Why is TCU only #12 if they are undefeated? 4) Who are the leading candidates for the heisman right now? 5) If you lose your conference champion ship game can you still go to the BCS Championship Game? 6) What conferences are not "BCS" Conferences? 7) Can teams move from conference to conference if they play well enough? (Meaning, if Boise State keeps winning for a few seasons can they go into the Pac-10 or something?) 8)And of course, who are some players to look out for in tonight's Cincinnati vs South Florida game? EDIT: Added 2 questions
1) the Kind of the games that tend to have a lot of hype suggest that those are from major conferences which are: Big 10, Big 12, ACC, SEC, Pac 10. The conferences are by region. Some conferences like the WAC, Mountain West, CUSA and others are DI confrences but they are not considered to be BCS schools meaning there is no guarantee that one of them will make a BCS game 2) The rankings are SEC by a large margin, than Big 12, probably Big 10 (one of the more overrated conferences) than ACC, PAC 10, and Big East. You might even make some of the non BCS conferences are better than the Big East. The most debate is probably between the middle three Big 10, ACC, and Pac 10 you could probably jumble those a couple of different ways 3) The ranking system is not designed to reward the best record but the best team. They are ranked 12 because the writers/coaches feel they havent played a tough enough schedule to rank higher 4) The leading Candidate is probably Colt McCoy, but so far its hard to say one person has really distinguished themselves. Others include Tony Pike, Tim Tebow, and maybe Eric Berry 5) Probably not, whoever wins the SEC championship game is going to the national championship, even if they are a 1 loss team going into the final. But if you make your confrence championship game and lose your probably going to go to a good Bowl game 6) on Cincinnati: Tony Pike, Mardy Gilyard. South Florida: George Selvie, Nate Allen
"Do teams decide their own schedule? I mean, do they pick who they play non conference, or is that chosen by the NCAA?" Yes the schools make the schedules a few years in advance for the non conference schedule. Usually they have arrangements with different schools like a 1 home/1 road game arrangement. However most power teams in the high conferences choose to schedule cupcakes for their non conf schedule to reduce the chance for a loss since their conference schedule makes up for the difficulty. How do bowl games work? Do the coaches/press decide what games they'd like to see played and place them in certain bowl games? Bowl games have tie-ins to conferences for example the Rose Bowl is Big Ten Champ vs. Pac 10 Champ, however if for example the Pac 10 Champ is going to the BCS Championship game, the Bowl game decides based on who is eligible to replace the Pac 10 champ "5) If you lose your conference championship game can you still go to the BCS Championship Game?" It has happened before where Oklahoma was so far out as the #1 team one year that they still went to the title game even after losing to Kansas St in the conf championship game
7) Can teams move from conference to conference if they play well enough? (Meaning, if Boise State keeps winning for a few seasons can they go into the Pac-10 or something?) No. It is not very often colleges change conferences. The last time there was a major realinment was a couple of years ago. Which entailed some big east schools going into the acc and some conference usa teams going into the big east. 1) Okay, so are conferences basically like divisions in the NFL? Like the ACC is the AFC East, and if you win the conference you go to a bowl game? Six conferences have automatic bids into the BCS Bowl games: ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10, SEC, and Big 12. So if u win one of those conference championships than you are guaranteed a BCS Bowl game. Also if a team that is not in one of those conferences, but finishes in the Top 12 in the BCS standings then they are guaranteed a spot in a BCS game. For non-BCS bowl games you have to win at least 6 games to be eligible.
Yes. If invited. It's not so much a "win" and you'll upgrade. If a conference thinks you can make it better, it will invite you to join. Like Notre Dame....which SHOULD be in the Big East.
Well its not like I like Miami just because I live here, I'm basically waiting till I go to college until I get invested fulltime into a team. I don't wanna be a UM fan and end up going to Florida State, lol. If there's too many, don't worry about it, but what are the BCS Bowl games? What conference is Notre Dame in? (Probably a dumb question)
Notre Dame is an independent. They have no affiliation with any conference although there have been pleas for them to join the Big Ten (which actually has 11 teams since Penn State joined after being an "independent")
If they're independent, how do they qualify for BCS Bowls? I don't understand, how many other teams are independent? Do they play a conference championship game?
Fair enough. No conference championship since they're independent of a conference.... The Irish get an autobid if they're ranking is in the top 8 i think. All D1 independents are eligible for BCS bowl games if they meet the requirements. An independent can go to the BCS bowl games if they're in the top 14. BCS Bowl games: Orange Bowl (ACC Champ vs. At Large) Fiesta Bowl (Big XII Champ vs. At Large) Sugar Bowl((SEC Champ vs. At Large) Rose Bowl (Pac Ten Champ vs. Big Ten Champ) BCS National Championship.(#1 vs #2) Thats the general guideline, this can obviously change a little bit based on who is in the National Championship
Okay so At Large means a non bcs conference team that is in the top 12 in the rankings? What teams are independent? That seems like a better deal than being in a conference since you choose your own fate.
Notre Dame, Army, Navy. That's it. At Large applies to any teams that finished in the top 14(pretty sure it's 14). No matter the conference. Now you have a bunch of other bowl games to fill out. It gets a little hairy here because all of the bowl games around now have contracts with certain conferences. If you want to see a better list/explanation. Go here. The "Match-Up" column breaks down which conference goes where, basically.
Wow, okay that's pretty complicated lol. Thanks for all the help, everyone. I'm watching the rerun of Rutgers and Pittsburgh. Just saw that Dave Wandstadt(sp?) is coaching Pitt, I didn't know that.
Yea. Stupid complicated. Wannstedt has been there since he left the Fish. Over the last two years he's starting to see success.
Also with some of the lesser bowl games, even though they dont have the implications that a final BCS bowl might, they still have some great games. The Holiday bowl has always been pretty sweet the past couple of years
