Undefeated teams In the
2003 season, no team finished the regular season unbeaten, and five teams finished the season with one loss. In 2004, the situation became even more complicated, as five teams went without losing, a record in the BCS era (later tied in
2009).
USC of the
Pac-10,
Oklahoma of the
Big 12,
Auburn of the
SEC,
Utah of the
MWC, and
Boise State of the
WAC all finished the regular season undefeated. USC and Oklahoma were ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the preseason by both the
AP and
Coaches Polls, but the other three undefeated teams were handicapped by starting the season out of the top 15. Thus USC and OU played for the
BCS National Championship in the Orange Bowl, while Auburn, Utah, and Boise State had to settle for other bowl games. Auburn played in the and beat
Virginia Tech, the
ACC champion and ranked No. 8 by the BCS. Utah became the first
BCS Buster and beat
Pittsburgh, the champion of the
Big East and ranked No. 21, in the
Fiesta Bowl.
Boise State lost a close, high scoring game in the
Liberty Bowl to
Louisville, the No. 10 ranked
Conference USA champion. As with previous seasons, fans of successful teams left out of BCS bowls were disappointed. Auburn, Utah, and Boise State all went unbeaten but were not offered a chance to compete for the BCS championship. Auburn was especially the focus of national media attention on this topic, since Auburn managed to go undefeated in the traditionally tough SEC. Adding to the frustration with the BCS system was that Auburn and Utah, though both picked to play in BCS bowl games, would not be able to play each other as a match-up of highly ranked unbeatens. This confluence of events made 2004 a seminal year for serious momentum building behind a multi-team playoff system in college football, which would later be realized with the advent of the
College Football Playoff in
2014. USC was forced to vacate its BCS title win, along with its regular-season victory over rival UCLA, due to NCAA sanctions that stemmed from the
USC athletics scandal. The AP title was not vacated, as the AP does not punish teams for violations. The severity of these sanctions has since been criticized by some pundits across college football.
Rose Bowl Controversy also arose in selecting the second at-large team of the BCS after Utah.
California expected to get the invitation, having been ranked fourth by the BCS entering the last week of the regular season.
Texas, which had been left out of the BCS the previous season, was ranked fifth. Both teams finished with 10–1 records, but the Longhorns received a boost of support from poll voters in the final regular season rankings to overtake Cal and move into the fourth position, which ensured they would also receive the final at-large bid. Texas coach
Mack Brown was criticized for publicly politicking voters to put Texas ahead of California, and Cal coach
Jeff Tedford called for coaches' votes to be made public. Texas went on to defeat
Michigan in the
Rose Bowl, while California lost to
Texas Tech in the
Holiday Bowl. Much of the pre-bowl criticisms of Texas being given the spot vs. Michigan evaporated when the Longhorns and Wolverines produced an instant classic game that was marked by a breakthrough performance by
Vince Young and a Texas FG as time expired to give them a 38–37 victory.
AP Poll The
Associated Press, as a result of two consecutive seasons of BCS controversy, prohibited the BCS from using their poll as part of its ranking formula following the 2004 season. The AP poll was replaced by the
Harris Interactive poll starting in 2005, and the AP continues to award its own national championship trophy. In another first, the
LSU Tigers lost to the
Iowa Hawkeyes on a last second
Hail Mary pass in the
Capital One Bowl, becoming the first school to lose a non-BCS bowl a year after winning the
BCS National Championship Game. ==Conference standings==