Playoff What-If

Florida State led the nation in scoring at 53 points a game and nearly matched it on defense — redshirt freshman Jameis Winston won the Heisman. Auburn ran its way to the SEC title behind Tre Mason and the Kick Six, while Michigan State's defense smothered everyone it saw.

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Notre Dame's defense — Manti Te'o front and center — allowed fewer than 11 points a game, but Alabama's championship line hit harder: Eddie Lacy ran through everyone in the title game. Johnny Manziel, the first freshman Heisman winner, powered Texas A&M to ninth.

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The Game of the Century season: LSU's defense was the nation's best and Tyrann Mathieu was everywhere, but Alabama's defense — the Dungeon — was its equal, and the Tide got their rematch. Robert Griffin III won the Heisman at 12-seed Baylor.

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Cam Newton was the whole argument: Heisman winner, national champion, and nearly unbeatable. Oregon's blur offense under Chip Kelly with LaMichael James ran a play every 20 seconds. TCU and Boise State went undefeated but were never seriously considered.

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Alabama's defense — Rolando McClain, Terrence Cody — blanked the SEC, and Mark Ingram won the Heisman by a hair. Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley carried Texas until McCoy's arm gave out on the first drive of the title game.

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The season of the 45-point Big 12 shootout: Sam Bradford's Oklahoma set the modern scoring record at 707 points. Utah went undefeated and beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl behind Brian Johnson. Tebow, Harvin and Florida's defense took the actual title.

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Chaos: the No. 1 and No. 2 teams lost in the same week more than once. Missouri and Kansas were both ranked in the top five late; Colt Brennan's Hawaii stayed undefeated until New Year's Eve. Two-loss LSU became the first two-loss champion.

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Heisman winner Troy Smith torched everyone — until Florida's defense torched him. Boise State went 13-0 and won the greatest Fiesta Bowl ever: the Statue of Liberty, Ian Johnson's proposal, the whole script. The Michigan–Florida debate gave us a title game nobody wanted.

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USC's offense — Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, LenDale White — was ranked among the best ever, until Vince Young's 467 total yards on fourth-and-5 won Texas the title. Bush's Heisman was later vacated.

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The strongest case for a playoff ever: Auburn went 13-0 with Cadillac Williams, Ronnie Brown and Jason Campbell and was shut out of the title game. USC's Leinart-and-Bush machine rolled to the AP title (later vacated); Utah's Alex Smith led the first BCS-busting season.

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The year the polls split: USC was No. 1 in both human polls yet left out of the title game, where LSU's defense stopped Oklahoma's Jason White. A 12-team bracket would have ended the argument on the field.

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Miami brought a 34-game win streak and a stacked roster — Ken Dorsey, Willis McGahee, Kellen Winslow — into double overtime, where Ohio State's defense ended it. An 11-seed Penn State and a Big Ten-heavy field would have made the road harder for the Buckeyes.

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Arguably the most talented roster in the BCS era: Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee, Andre Johnson, Jeremy Shockey. Nebraska reached the title game without even winning its division — a 12-team bracket would have fixed that in one weekend.

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Bob Stoops' second Oklahoma team — Josh Heupel's arm, a punishing defense — took the title. Miami (FL) and Washington both had claims after beating Miami; an 11-seed Washington got its title-game rematch in this format.

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Chris Weinke to Peter Warrick for the crown — but the whole season was really about Michael Vick, whose Virginia Tech had a legitimate national title inside it. Marshall, with Randy Moss already gone, came in as a 12-seed Cinderella.

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The first BCS season: Tee Martin filled Peyton Manning's shoes and brought Tennessee the first BCS title. Kansas State lost its first game all year in the Big 12 title game and fell from a sure No. 1 seed; undefeated Tulane, coached by Tommy Bowden, sat at 10.

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