College teams generally play about 11 games during the
fall. The best college teams are awarded trips to
so-called bowl games, matching outstanding teams in
games that conclude the season's competition.
The
tradition was begun in 1902 at Pasadena, California,
when Stanford University invited the University of
Michigan to come to California for a New Year's Day
contest. This event soon became the celebrated Rose Bowl
game. Bowl games now represent the climax of the college
season.
Other notable bowl games include the Cotton Bowl
in Dallas, Texas; the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida; and
the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana. In recognition
of the great public interest in these games, major
corporations now sponsor many of the bowls.
Today, the
champion college team is selected by national polls of
coaches and sportswriters. In the accompanying table,
the teams from 1889 to 1923 were Helms Athletic
Foundation selections; from 1924 to 1930, Rissman Trophy
winners; from 1931 to 1935, Rockne Memorial Trophy
winners; from 1936 to today, Associated Press (AP) poll
selections; and from 1950 to today, United Press
International (UPI) poll selections.
In cases where two
teams won the honor in separate AP and UPI polls, a note
has been made. Many members of the football community
debate whether a poll of writers and coaches should
determine a champion or whether the colleges should
institute a more formal playoff system. Detractors of a
playoff system argue that with such a system, the
popular bowl games would lose their identity. In
addition, players' seasons would extend by one or two
months, cutting into academic time. However, advocates
for a playoff point to the controversial 1993 season in
which the Florida State Seminoles won the number-one
ranking over Notre Dame, a team that beat the Seminoles
convincingly earlier in the season. |
