Actual BCS Bowls (w/ Final BCS rankings)
Rose Bowl: #3 USC 28, #4 Michigan 14
Orange Bowl: #9 Miami (FL) 16, #7 Florida State 14
Fiesta Bowl: #5 Ohio State 35, #10 Kansas State 28
Sugar Bowl (National Championship: #2 LSU 21, #1 Oklahoma 14
Okay, so 2003 posed a very daunting challenge for the BCS computers and their rankings. It was the first time since 1996 (2 years before the inception of the BCS) that no team finished the season undefeated. In fact, three teams (Oklahoma, LSU, and USC) finished the season with just one loss. To complicate matters, Oklahoma's one loss came in the Big 12 championship game (against Kansas State), but they retained their #1 overall ranking in the BCS despite the late season loss. However, USC ended their regular season ranked #1 in the Associated Press poll, and felt that they had a legitimate claim to being the national champion. In the end, the BCS sent LSU and Oklahoma to the championship game, which LSU won. USC beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, and was named the AP National Champion, while LSU was dubbed the BCS National Champion.
This bracket is intriguing to me because it allows those three 1 loss teams equal chance to fight their way to the National Championship game. Also, the bracket features a huge rivalry game (which would probably be a rematch from a couple of weeks prior) in Ohio State and Michigan in the top half of the bracket.
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