FedEx BCS National Championship Game

Jan. 8, 2009, 8 p.m.

Miami, Dolphin Stadium

Florida 24, Oklahoma 14

The BCS National Championship Game or BCS title game is the final bowl game of the annual Bowl Championship Series and is intended by Series organizers to determine College Football's Division I National Championship. The participants are the two highest rated teams in the BCS Standings at the end of the regular college football season, currently determined by averaging the results of the final weekly USA Today Coaches Poll, the Harris Interactive Poll of media, former players and coaches, and the average of six participating Computer Rankings.

The game was first played at the conclusion of the 1998 College Football season in accordance with the agreement reached by the Big Ten and Pac 10 conferences and the Rose Bowl Game to join the members of the former "Bowl Alliance" to create the Bowl Championship Series. The Bowl Alliance and its predecessor, the Bowl Coalition, featured championship games from 1992 through 1997. However, these were hindered by the lack of potential participation by the champions of the Big Ten or Pac 10.

The game was initially rotated among the four participating bowl games, the (Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Sugar Bowl). However, beginning with the 2006 season, the BCS National Championship Game became a separate event played at the same site as a host bowl a week following New Year's Day.

The USA Today Coaches Poll has contractually agreed to select the winner of the game as the National Champion in its final poll of the season. Thus, the winner of the game is awarded the AFCA National Championship Trophy in a postgame ceremony. The winner also is automatically awarded the National Football Foundation's MacArthur Trophy.[1] However, the Associated Press does not participate in the BCS, and may award its prestigious national championship trophy to a different school.

Since the formation of the Bowl Championship Series, there have been several controversies regarding the selection of the participating teams. Most notably, following the 2003 season, the BCS ranking system excluded Associated Press No. 1 University of Southern California from the National Championship Game (The Nokia Sugar Bowl). The following season, in 2004, undefeated Auburn University and University of Utah teams were left out of the National Championship Game (The FedEx Orange Bowl), although the participating teams were also both undefeated. In 2001, Oregon, second ranked in the AP Poll, was bypassed in favor of Nebraska despite Nebraska's blowout loss in its final regular season game. Despite these controversies, since the inauguration of the BCS National Championship Game, to date only the 2003-2004 season resulted in a split national championship, when Southern California won the Associated Press national championship.

The National Championship Game for the 2007 season was sponsored Allstate. It was played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 7, 2009 and broadcast by FOX television network. The game featured the #2 LSU Tigers and the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes. LSU won 38-24 to become the first team to win two BCS National Championships. Additionally, LSU became the first team with two losses to play in a BCS National Championship game. The game for 2009 season will be played on January 8, 2009 in Miami Gardens, Florida, will be broadcast on FOX, and will be sponsored by FedEx.