<P> Unlike other college football divisions and most other sports--collegiate or professional--the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A college football, has historically not employed a playoff system to determine a champion . Instead, it has a series of postseason "bowl games". The annual National Champion in the Football Bowl Subdivision is then instead traditionally determined by a vote of sports writers and other non-players . </P> <P> This system has been challenged often, beginning with an NCAA committee proposal in 1979 to have a four - team playoff following the bowl games . However, little headway was made in instituting a playoff tournament until 2014, given the entrenched vested economic interests in the various bowls . Although the NCAA publishes lists of claimed FBS - level national champions in its official publications, it has never recognized an official FBS national championship; this policy continues even after the establishment of the College Football Playoff (which is not directly run by the NCAA) in 2014 . As a result, the official Division I National Champion is the winner of the Football Championship Subdivision, as it is the highest level of football with an NCAA - administered championship tournament . </P> <P> The first bowl game was the 1902 Rose Bowl, played between Michigan and Stanford; Michigan won 49 - 0 . It ended when Stanford requested and Michigan agreed to end it with 8 minutes on the clock . That game was so lopsided that the game was not played annually until 1916, when the Tournament of Roses decided to reattempt the postseason game . The term "bowl" originates from the shape of the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California, which was built in 1923 and resembled the Yale Bowl, built in 1915 . This is where the name came into use, as it became known as the Rose Bowl Game . Other games came along and used the term "bowl", whether the stadium was shaped like a bowl or not . </P> <P> At the Division I FBS level, teams must earn the right to be bowl eligible by winning at least 6 games during the season (teams that play 13 games in a season, which is allowed for Hawaii and any of its home opponents, must win 7 games). They are then invited to a bowl game based on their conference ranking and the tie - ins that the conference has to each bowl game . For the 2009 season, there were 34 bowl games, so 68 of the 120 Division I FBS teams were invited to play at a bowl . These games are played from mid-December to early January and most of the later bowl games are typically considered more prestigious . </P>

When did college football go to 4 quarters