Preseason #1 Reality Check

As the table above shows, there has not been a great "championship rate" for teams ranked at the top of the preseason Coaches Poll, as the Oklahoma Sooners are this season. Only one team in the last 9 years ended the season as the BCS National Champion, and that team had their championship vacated.

Between 2002 and 2006, however, every team that was the "Preseason #1" qualified for the BCS National Championship Game, certainly a notable accomplishment. From 2007 through now, that trend has reversed, despite two teams coming