The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was not a league or a corporation but a collaborative management system that united the major college football conferences, select bowl organizations, and representatives from independent programs like Notre Dame.
Its governance model reflected the cooperative spirit of college athletics — balancing regional interests, academic oversight, and competitive fairness within the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For an overview of the full postseason framework it managed, see the BCS postseason structure explained page.
🏛️ How the BCS Was Managed
The BCS was directed by a group of conference commissioners representing all 11 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision conferences during its operation, along with the athletic director of the University of Notre Dame.
Those conferences were:
- Atlantic Coast (ACC)
- Big East
- Big Ten
- Big 12
- Pac-10 (later Pac-12)
- Southeastern (SEC)
- Conference USA (C-USA)
- Mid-American (MAC)
- Mountain West (MWC)
- Sun Belt
- Western Athletic (WAC)
Together, these commissioners made collective decisions on all matters relating to bowl agreements, scheduling, ranking procedures, and postseason structure.
🧩 Decision-Making Framework
The BCS was governed through a three-tiered structure designed to maintain transparency and academic accountability across the participating conferences:
- Conference Commissioners Group
- Served as the primary decision-making body of the BCS.
- Determined policies, bowl contracts, and ranking systems.
- Chose a rotating BCS Coordinator (usually one of the conference commissioners) to oversee day-to-day management and media coordination.
- Served as the primary decision-making body of the BCS.
- Athletics Directors Advisory Group
- Comprised of athletic directors from a variety of FBS institutions.
- Provided recommendations on competitive balance, revenue distribution, and postseason logistics.
- Served as a liaison between campus-level athletic programs and the conference offices.
- Comprised of athletic directors from a variety of FBS institutions.
- Presidential Oversight Committee
- Represented university presidents and chancellors from across the FBS.
- Functioned as the final authority for major policy changes, ensuring that the BCS remained aligned with higher education principles and NCAA compliance.
- Reviewed long-term agreements, financial distribution, and the overall direction of the system.
- Represented university presidents and chancellors from across the FBS.
👤 The Role of the BCS Executive Director
A BCS Executive Director managed the coordination of operations, communications, and media relations between bowls, conferences, and television partners.
This position acted as the public face of the BCS and helped mediate between competing institutional interests.
The Executive Director worked closely with the rotating BCS Coordinator and the commissioners to ensure the championship structure ran smoothly each season.
📊 Responsibilities of BCS Governance
The leadership structure collectively oversaw several key areas:
- Ranking and Selection Rules – Setting the formula and procedures for determining which teams qualified for BCS bowl games and the national championship. For a full explanation of how the BCS formula ranked teams, see our detailed breakdown.
- Bowl Agreements – Negotiating contracts between conferences and the major bowl committees (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, and Orange).
- Financial Distribution – Managing the allocation of bowl revenue among conferences, ensuring equitable access and support for non-automatic qualifying leagues.
- Media Rights and Partnerships – Coordinating television and sponsorship contracts with national broadcasters.
- Policy Compliance – Maintaining academic and ethical standards consistent with NCAA regulations and institutional missions.
🧠 Why Governance Mattered
Unlike professional sports leagues, college football’s postseason required collaboration between dozens of independent entities — each with different interests and traditions.
The BCS governance model allowed:
- Conferences to retain autonomy while sharing a common championship framework.
- University presidents to maintain oversight of postseason decisions.
- Smaller conferences to gain representation and financial participation in major bowl events.
This structure, while often complex, helped bridge the gap between tradition and modernization in college football.
🔄 From the BCS to the College Football Playoff
When the College Football Playoff (CFP) replaced the BCS in 2014, many of the same governance principles carried over.
Conference commissioners and university presidents still play central roles in managing the playoff system, reflecting the collaborative foundation originally built by the BCS.
The CFP selection committee replaced the computer formula, but the spirit of shared oversight — balancing competition, education, and equity — remains rooted in the BCS model.
🏁 Final thoughts about BCS Governance
The governance of the BCS was one of its defining strengths and enduring complexities.
It demonstrated that college football could be coordinated nationally without a single governing body, relying instead on mutual agreement, transparency, and oversight.
Though the BCS era ended in 2013, its administrative framework continues to influence how college football’s postseason is organized today.
