Since the AP Poll began crowning its national champion after the bowl games in 1968, the two top-ranked teams going into the bowls had only played each other in a bowl six times, most recently after the 1987 season. This raised the possibility that the two top-ranked teams at the end of the regular season would never meet on the field, even when there was a clear-cut #1 and #2. Following two consecutive seasons of split national championships in 1990 and 1991, there was a renewed effort in devising a system that would force a #1 vs. #2 national championship bowl game.