Study: Competitive Balance Increased in College Football After BCS Creation

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Steve Dittmore

Competitive balance within the college football season in the six founding Bowl Championship Series conferences has improved since the creation of the BCS in 1998, University of Arkansas researcher Steve Dittmore reported in a paper published in April by the Journal of Sport Administration and Supervision.

"The BCS actually helped with competitive balance," said Dittmore, an assistant professor of recreation. "More teams are having good seasons than before it was implemented."

The improvement occurred in within-season balance, which measures how teams in a conference vary in competition standing in a given year.

The study Dittmore conducted with Craig M. Crow of West Liberty (W.Va.) University, also found, however, that only three of the six conferences exhibited improved between-season competitive balance. The lack of between-season competitive balance means the top teams consistently remain strong year to year, resulting in less frequent turnover of championship teams.

The results, which were obtained by using a formula based on points awarded for championship titles, mean that some conferences may be in a position to leverage competitive balance for greater revenues, according to the article. It cited the 15-year, $2.25 billion multimedia contract with ESPN signed by the Southeastern Conference, of which Arkansas is a member. The study showed the SEC has steadily increased its competitive balance.

Dittmore and Crow examined three five-year time periods in the study: the five seasons prior to the formation of the BCS (1993-1997), the five seasons immediately after the creation of the BCS (1998-2002) and the subsequent five seasons (2003-2007).

The researchers noted that realignment of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big East Conference accounts for more competitive conferences overall while in the Big Ten Conference, teams experienced very little outcome uncertainty in their conference games. Outcome uncertainty is thought to be a unique factor in college sport, boosting demand for it.

"Given that all six conferences showed improved within-season competitive balance … arguing that the Bowl Championship Series has hurt competitive balance in college football becomes difficult," the authors wrote.

Between seasons, the ACC was the only conference that became increasingly competitive during the study period, partly because of an increase to 12 member teams, allowing the conference to hold a conference championship. The Pacific 10 Conference was the only conference to decrease its between-season competitive balance during the study, partly because of the re-emergence of the University of Southern California as a dominant program and the conference's policy to allow for the possibility of co-champions.

The Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference showed the greatest competitive balance, according to the article.

"Only three of the 11 Big Ten institutions failed to earn at least a share of a conference title during the first 10 years after the formation of the BCS," Dittmore said. "Similarly, the SEC crowned a different champion each year between 1998 and 2002. Only recently has the SEC experienced repeat winners."

The different criteria used to determine a conference champion create possible inequities among them, and the article recommended that future research examine whether the existence of a conference championship game affects between-season competitive balance.