So, in light of the BCS being considered right now, I want to note that altho I do hate the BCS, it's more because it's based on the polls rather than because it only does #1 v. #2 (altho, that part sucks too). My own perspective is that we should have at least a 4 team playoff that pits the conference champions of 4 16 team conferences against one another. Anyone outside the conference, well build up FCS ranks.

The primary reason I say this is because saying "what about #2 if 1 & 2 are in the same conference?" is ridiculous. #2 (like Alabama this year) is STILL #2, they LOST to #1. If we don't have enough games to have everyone play each other, then we don't have enough for rematches. But regarding the title of this post, I have the following stats. The BCS has existed since the 1998 season (championship played in 1999). Across the same span (the last 14 years), here's how that plays out:

• BCS: 14 Teams in final game, 11 different champions, 0 (0%) first time champions, 78.6% of teams that played in at least 1 BCS game won a BCS championship
• Super Bowl: 18 Teams, 10 different champions, 5 (50%) first time champions (Counted Baltimore & Indianapolis as 0.5 champs, since Baltimore(city) had won previously as Colts), 55.6% of teams that played in at least 1 Super Bowl won a championship (over that span)
• NCAA BB Finals: 17 Teams, 9 different champions, 4 (44.4%) first time champions, 52.9% of teams that played in at least 1 Final won a championship (over that span)
• NBA Finals: 14 Teams, 7 different champions, 3 (42.9%) first time champions, 50% of teams that played in at least 1 Finals series won a championship (over that span)
• College World Series: 16 Teams, 9 different champions, 4 (44.4%) first time champions, 56.3% of teams that played in at least 1 Final series won a championship (over that span)
• World Series: 17 Teams, 9 different champions, 2 (22.2%) first time champions, 52.9% of teams that played in at least 1 World Series won a championship (over that span)
• Stanley Cup (in 1 less year due to a strike): 17 Teams, 10 different champions, 4 (40%) first time champions, 58.8% of teams that played in at least 1 Stanley Cup Finals won the Cup (in that span)

I find the following points interesting:

1. ALL other championships have about a 50-60% championship win rate of teams that played for championship, BCS win rate is almost 80% (about 20 percentage points higher than next closest)
2. ALL other sports (including baseball which goes back to the 19th century and the NBA which has NINE of it's last 14 championships tied up in the Lakers and spurs) have MULTIPLE first time champs in the last 15 years, BCS has NONE
3. BCS also has the LOWEST number of teams that have only played in the championship game once, vs ALL other championships (NBA next closest with 2 more teams that got a chance than the BCS in the last 14 years)

Basically (as we already know) if you're not one of a small select group of teams, you may as well go down to the FCS level (or be in a non-BCS conference) anyway, because you're not gonna play for (or win) the BCS championship, because the pollsters don't respect you unless you've won it before.