As the 2010 college football season gets ready to kick off it’s time to start back with the yearly traditions. Traditions like tailgating, singing your school fight song and complaining about the BCS. But has the BCS ever gotten it wrong?

Before the debate begins let’s all agree that a playoff would be better. Actually, let’s all say it together, “A playoff would be better.” Ok, let’s move on.

We don’t have a playoff, we have the BCS. So instead of lamenting on what would be better let’s discuss what we have. People always like to complain that the wrong school got into the championship game or a school backed its way in. So let’s go year by year and then you can kill me in the comments section.*

1998-99 Tennessee 23, Florida State 16

The inaugural year of the BCS saw the undefeated Volunteers somewhat surprisingly beat the 11-1 Seminoles. The Vols were one year removed from the Peyton Manning era and FSU was a perennial power. No one else had much of an argument to be in the game except maybe Tulane who was undefeated. Tennessee stays undefeated so no real argument here.

1999-00 Florida State 46, Virginia Tech 29

Clearly the best two teams as both were undefeated. The Hokies were lead by a freshman quarterback named Michael Vick. Vick, to me, is still the best freshman ever in college football, closely followed by Adrian Peterson. Vick is also the best freshman to eventually go to jail for dogfighting. 

2000-01 Oklahoma 13, Florida State 2

Florida State makes its third straight championship game appearance. This is the first year of controversy as Miami had beaten FSU in the regular season. Miami had lost to Washington in the regular season. With all three teams with one loss, two were going to be left out. The ‘Noles got the nod as Miami beat Florida and Washington beat Purdue. The Sooners ended the season as the only undefeated team and the clear champion.

2001-02 Miami 37, Nebraska 14

The controversy gets thicker as Nebraska backs into the championship game. The Huskers lost in the last regular season game to Colorado which put them out of the Big XII Championship Game. The next week many of the teams ranked ahead of Nebraska lost putting at number 2 and in title came against the Hurricanes without even winning its conference. It didn’t really matter who Miami played because they were clearly the best team that year. Some argue this Miami team is the best of the BCS era.

2002-03 Ohio State 31, Miami 24 (2 OT)

No controversy over the participants in this one. Both were the only undefeated teams that year. The game ended in controversy over a pass interference call that went OSU’s way.

2003-04 LSU 21, Oklahoma 14

Here we go! Three teams with one loss that deserved to go to the title game. Oklahoma had dominated all season but lost in the last week to Kansas State in the Big XII Championship Game. USC had lost earlier in the season to Cal in OT. LSU had lost to Florida. Although USC was ranked number one in the AP and Coach’s polls, it was Oklahoma who was ranked number one in the BCS. OU and LSU got into the game with LSU winning its first BCS title.

2004-05 USC 55, Oklahoma 19

Here we go again! This time three undefeated teams that all deserved to play for the title.  Auburn went undefeated in the SEC but had a weaker schedule than SC or OU. Auburn went on to beat Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl as USC throttled the Sooners. Forget the Reggie Bush stuff and whether this game counts or not, the Trojans were really good.

2005-06 Texas 41, USC 38

No controversy as the best two teams played each other. This might be the greatest game ever.

2006-07 Florida 41, Ohio State 14

The Buckeyes were the best team all year with the regular season ending with a classic against Michigan. Crowning OSU champion was all but a formality. The question was who would be the sacrificial lamb. The question after the game was how many championships is Florida going to win as the Gators proved us all wrong and throttled OSU.

2007-08 LSU 38, Ohio State 24

Probably the weakest year overall in the BCS era. Nobody beat LSU all season in regulation. (Their two losses came in OT.) Ohio State crept up the polls landing at number one by season’s end. Other teams had a chance to state their case to be in the game but lost late in the season. LSU became the first two loss team to win the BCS.

2008-09 Florida 24, Oklahoma 14

A lot of controversy for this game as Oklahoma competed in its record fourth BCS Championship Game. Texas had beaten OU in the regular season but lost to Texas Tech who got killed by the Sooners. The three way tie put OU in the Big XII Championship Game and into the title game. Tim Tebow gets his second championship.  The Longhorns beat number 10 Ohio State 24-21 in the Fiesta Bowl.

2009-10 Alabama 37, Texas 21

With five teams undefeated, few outside of Idaho argued that these were the two best teams. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy gets knocked out of the game early as ‘Bama rolls.

Many could argue about who participated in these games. Some years are more clear than others. However, I don’t see any teams that won the championship that didn’t really deserve it. 

*I graduated from Oklahoma. You don’t have to read my bio, there it is.

Jason Black is a regular sports contributor on America's Morning News and coincidentaly, or not, does movie reviews for KJ103 and102.1 Kissin' Country.

You can also follow Jason on Twitter @jasonblack23.

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