No, the AP was part of the BCS formula untill a couple of years ago. They were part of the BCS formula in 03. The coaches poll is just one part of the BCS formula, it is not the coaches poll BCS championship. The coaches poll is just one part of it. It is the championship agreed upon by all the conferences that are BCS conferences (all the major conferences). How do you not know this? On the trophy thing. Just because the coaches poll had a crystall trophy and the BCS championship has a crystall trophy doesn't make it the same trophy. Before it was just a trophy signifying you were voted (voted as in popularity contest) #1, just like the AP. It wasn't something that you won. Now it is something you have to win on the field. I'm not even sure they look the same, but it dosen't really matter. IMO, and this part is just IMO, I don't think to much emphasis was placed on the computers when the BCS first came out. It's just that now they have been so watered down in what information they are allowed to use that they have become retarded.
I do agree with the portion I quoted above. Yes, because the Coaches Trophy (and not the AP Trophy) is the trophy given at the end of the BCS Championship Game, and because the BCS system seems to be here to stay, it looks like the Coaches Trophy is, and will continue to be, the more prestigious trophy to the average American. But the reality is that the AP Poll national champion is recognized by the NCAA just as much as the Coaches Poll national champion is. Go look at the official NCAA record books, and they have LSU and USC recorded as co-national champions in 2003, same with the other 14 or so times in history when the AP and Coaches picked different national champions.
K Jay, go look at the "crystal" trophy. It says "Coaches Trophy" on it. That's all it is. It's been that was since 1986. Sure, now they have added a "BCS" stamp to it, but thats just because the Coaches Poll has agreed that their national champ will be determined by the BCS system. The AP has never agreed to that (or else you'd see them award the silver football AP trophy at the end of the BCS championship game as well). And yes, the AP was part of the BCS formula, but the AP never agreed to it. The BCS just used the AP rankings, and the AP never told them that they couldn't. Then in 2003, when USC won the AP National Championship, and the Coaches Poll let the BCS system give their national championship to LSU, the AP told the BCS that they could no longer use the AP ranking as part of their formula. That's why the Harris Poll was created, to replace the AP in the BCS formula. And yes, the Coaches Poll is just one part of how the BCS works. But, despite that, the Coaches Poll still lets the BCS system name their national championship. Go look at the crystal trophy given to the winner of the BCS. It says "Coaches Trophy" on it, just like it has since 1986. And you say you have a hard time believing that the current crystal Coaches Trophy is the exact same trophy given since 1986. But it's true, see for yourself: http://www.afca.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9300&KEY=&ATCLID=289347
We won our national championship on the field. USC had to wait to be voted #1 in the polls. The distinction between coaches and AP championship is irrelevant beause ultimately it is the BCS national championship that matters. Who ever wins that game is the national champion. And the Crystal goes to the national champion and its called the BCS National Championship trophy now because the winner gets it.
Again, the AP National Champion is not irrelevant. The AP National Champion is officially recognized by the NCAA, just like the Coaches National Champion. Whoever wins the BCS game is the Coaches National Champion. Whoever finishes first in the AP final poll is the AP National Champion. Both are National Champions. This year, since both the AP and the Coaches had Ohio State and LSU as #1 and #2, the winner of this game will not only automatically win the Coaches National Championship, but most likely the AP National Championship as well. In other words, if LSU wins, we will win both the crystal Coaches Trophy and the silver AP Trophy for our trophy case -- We will be undisputed National Champions (if LSU beats OSU and the AP doesn't vote us #1, I will seriously consider going up to the AP headquarters and burning it down). But yes, to the average American, the Coaches/BCS is the more prestigious National Championship, because the Coaches Poll has allowed their trophy to be given to winner of the BCS championship game, so that's the trophy that everyone sees on TV. Also, the Coaches Trophy is not called the BCS National Championship trophy, it has always been the Coaches Trophy. But in recent years it had been named after whatever corporate sponsor has sponsored the Coaches Trophy. For example, see the picture below of the Crystal given to Texas for beating USC the year before last? It says the "ADT National Championship Trophy," but it also says "Coaches Poll" on it.
It's the BCS Trophy and the winner of the BCS Championship Game receives it- the coaches have an agreement to vote the winner of that game the the National Champion. Logic says since the winner of the game, who receives the crystal, THEN dictates the vote of the coaches' it's not the "Coaches' Trophy" it's given at the game just like every other trophy given out at the conclusion of each bowl game.
Fine, I'll agree that you have an excellent point, logically. But remember, the Coaches Poll itself calls its own trophy the "Coaches Trophy." See http://www.afca.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9300&KEY=&ATCLID=289347
