COLLEGE FOOTBALL 2011

- The History of BCS Championship Game

- CUSA Edges MAC for Best Bowl Season

- Updated Conference Affiliation Chart

- Final AP Poll | Coaches Poll

THE GURU'S FINAL BLOGPOLL BALLOT

Reluctantly, the Guru voted Alabama No. 1 in the final ballot. See notes after the jump:

BCS Guru Ballot - Week 16

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	1
2	LSU Tigers	-1
3	Boise St. Broncos	1
4	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	1
5	Oregon Ducks	2
6	Stanford Cardinal	-3
7	USC Trojans	-1
8	Arkansas Razorbacks	--
9	South Carolina Gamecocks	--
10	Michigan Wolverines	2
11	TCU Horned Frogs	2
12	Houston Cougars	3
13	Wisconsin Badgers	-2
14	Kansas St. Wildcats	-4
15	Michigan St. Spartans	3
16	Virginia Tech Hokies	-2
17	West Virginia Mountaineers	5
18	Baylor Bears	2
19	Oklahoma Sooners	5
20	Southern Miss. Golden Eagles	1
21	Georgia Bulldogs	-5
22	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-5
23	Clemson Tigers	-4
24	BYU Cougars	--
25	Cincinnati Bearcats	--
Dropouts: Penn St. Nittany Lions, Arkansas St. Red Wolves

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

(FULL POST & READER COMMENTS)

HOW THE BCS KILLED ORANGE BOWL

Talk about a Faustian bargain. No BCS bowl has been as negatively impacted since its formation in 1998 than the Orange Bowl. Once the glowing powerhouse on New Year's night, when no championship could be decided until things were settled in Miami, now the Orange Bowl game itself is almost always irrelevant.

In the 15 seasons between 1983 and 1997, eight national champions were crowned on the Orange Bowl field, more than any other bowl during that span. Its tie-in with the Big Eight Conference, with Oklahoma and Nebraska at the height of their powers, along with the meteoric rise of the Miami Hurricanes, made the Orange Bowl an ideal matchmaker for teams vying for the title.

But all that changed with its participation in the BCS, as well as the demise of the Big Eight. After the conference reconstituted itself as the Big 12, its alliance shifted to the Fiesta Bowl, leaving the Orange Bowl scrambling to hitch its star to the ACC. While the Orange Bowl had hoped that Miami, which joined the ACC in 2004, and Florida State would be frequent flag bearers for the conference, both erstwhile powers have gone into a tailspin they have yet to emerge out of.

(FULL ARTICLE @ SB NATION)

B1G-PAC COLLABORATION: END OF BCS?

The Granddaddy of 'em All has been at best a reluctant participant in the BCS. For nearly a decade, the Rose Bowl, along with the Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences, shunned efforts by the Bowl Coalition and Bowl Alliance to match the top two ranked teams. It wasn't until 1998 that the BCS was finally formed.

That relationship has been short of a boon for the Rose Bowl. In the BCS era, the Rose Bowl has lost some of its luster because its annual matchup between the Big Ten and Pac-10 were frequently disrupted. From the 1946 season to 2001, every Rose Bowl game featured a Big Ten and a Pac-8/10 team. That hasn't been the case for half of the past 10 games.

That's why the recent announcement that the Big Ten and Pac-12 are building a more "collaborative" relationship must be viewed with some suspicion by the other parties in the BCS. This may be the prelude to the two conferences, as well as the Rose Bowl, making a move to sever their ties to the BCS. The possibility exists that the Rose Bowl will return to its old and exclusive Big Ten/Pac-12 matchup in the very near future, perhaps as soon as the the current BCS pact expires.

(FULL ARTICLE @ SB NATION)

CLASSIC BOWL GAMES

The bowl season is upon us. There are 35 bowl games, starting Saturday all the way through the Jan. 9 BCS championship game. A lot of those bowls will be dogs, completely unwatchable games between mismatched opponents.

But maybe, just maybe, you'll catch a gem in a most nondescript whatsitsname.com bowl between two middling teams. Out of all those games, there's bound to be a handful that will prove to be highly entertaining.

To make our case, we've researched each of the 35 bowl games, from the Granddaddy of 'em All, which will be hosting its 98th extravaganza, to the Pampers ... er, Pinstripe Bowl, which was born just last year. We picked out the best game in each bowl's history, in order of when they'll be played this year.

First up, the New Mexico Bowl through the Holiday Bowl:

(PART I: FULL ARTICLE @ SB NATION)

(PART II: FULL ARTICLE @ SB NATION)

(PART III: FULL ARTICLE)

LATEST BCS DEVELOPMENT

* March 29: BCS's Fiesta Bowl fires CEO John Junker after disturbing misconduct was revealed through an internal investigation initiated to investigate the "myriad allegations raised by Playoff PAC in a complaint filed with the Arizona Secretary of State in December 2009 and in a formal complaint filed with the Internal Revenue Service on September 23, 2010."

* April 1: University of Maryland Chancellor and Knight Commission Co-Chair William Kirwan, a former playoff opponent, states: "I've never been in favor of a playoff, but given what I see going on, I think it's time to press that issue."

* April 5: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics files a legal complaint with the Federal Election Commission against the BCS's Fiesta Bowl.

* April 8: An Associated Press report reveals that Orange Bowl CEO Eric Poms received a $150,000 pay raise in FY 2010.

* April 13: Twenty-one distinguished economists and antitrust experts call the BCS a "cartel" and urge the Justice Department to open a formal investigation.

* April 20: Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff renews his pledge to file an antitrust suit against the BCS in the immediate future.

* April 25: PlayoffPAC releases documents showing that 9 of 11 members of the NCAA Bowl Licensing Subcommittee, which is currently investigating the BCS's Fiesta Bowl, attended a three-day "Fiesta Frolic" golf trip sponsored by the Fiesta Bowl.

* April 28: NCAA announces special Task Force to review the Bowl Licensing Subcommittee's conflict-of-interest policies and procedures.

* May 3: Justice Department sends letter to NCAA President Mark Emmert about antitrust-related issues with the BCS.

* May 18: NCAA's Emmert responds to the Justice Department request by referring the case to the BCS.

* June 30: Justice Department meets with BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock.

* August 9-10: NCAA, Emmert to hold retreat to discuss postseason football issues.

* August 12: PlayoffPAC files lawsuit against Fiesta Bowl over "kickback" scheme.

* September 19: PlayoffPAC files a complaint with the IRS on the Sugar Bowl's alleged illegal campaign contribution to Louisiana politicians.