Numbers and statistics are unquestionably a huge part of the game. In particular, the most important game of the college football season.

Some fall on the sabermetric side of things, while others like to keep it simple and use the ol' eyeball test. In the football world, that means total offense, total defense and points scored versus points per play and defensive efficiency ratings. Rational and logical arguments can be made for the legitimacy and relevance of both sides of the stats spectrum.

With the BCS era in the rear-view mirror and 16 memorable games locked in history, Athlon Sports brings the most intriguing, important, historic and bizarre stats from the BCS National Championship Games:

18: Largest BCS deficit overcome

The Florida State Seminoles trailed 21-3 late in the second quarter of the 16th and final BCS national title game. The 18-point deficit against Auburn was the largest comeback in a BCS National Championship Game (NCG from here on out). Jameis Winston was 6-of-7 for 80 yards on the final drive in which he led the Noles to a national title by connecting with Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds remaining for the game-winning touchdown. The drive capped the BCS NCG-record 18-point comeback for the Noles and ended the BCS era in tremendously dramatic fashion. That said, the game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds left in the game isn’t the latest game-winning play in BCS history.

0:00: Latest game-winning score in BCS NCG history

Technically, the clock wasn’t running when Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett scored a five-yard rushing touchdown in double overtime against Miami. However, the latest game-winning score in a BCS NCG came from the Auburn Tigers in 2010. Cam Newton led the Tigers on a 7-play, 73-yard drive that sapped the final 2:33 worth of clock and ended with a Wes Byrum 19-yard field goal that broke the 19-19 tie in Auburn’s favor. Time ran out on the Ducks as the kick sailed through the uprights and War Eagle celebrated its first national championship since 1957.

14-1: Record of the team leading at halftime

The Tigers held a 21-10 lead over the Florida State Seminoles on Monday night and now own a very dubious BCS NCG honor. Prior to the BCS’ electric final game, the team leading at halftime of the NCG was 14-0. Only the Florida-Oklahoma title game in the 2008 season was tied at halftime, making the 2013 Auburn Tigers the only team in BCS NCG history to give up a halftime lead. The Noles are the only team to be trailing at halftime and still win the national title after outscoring War Eagle 24-10 in the second half.

34: Tre Mason's NCG-record rushing attempts

Adrian Peterson rushed 25 times for 82 yards in the lopsided USC blowout of the Sooners in the 2004 championship game. All-Day has owned the NCG game rushing attempts record ever since — until Tre Mason came along. The Tigers tailback blew past the previous record to carry a BCS NCG-record 34 times in the loss to Florida State. His 195 rushing yards were a clearcut No. 2, blowing past Beanie Wells’ 146 yards against LSU in 2007. Vince Young owns the NCG record for rushing yards with 200 against USC in the most memorable game ever played during the BCS era. What’s more impressive about VY? His 30-of-40 passing night in that same game is a BCS NCG record for completion percentage (75 percent).

8-8: Record of the No. 1 seed in the title game

The team ranked No. 1 in the final BCS Standings won the first four BCS NCG games from 1998-01. Ohio State in 2002 was the first two-seed to win the game and it began a run for the No. 2 team. The second-ranked team in the final BCS Standings won 6-of-7 BCS title games from 2002-08. Alabama in 2009 and Auburn in '10 both won as the top seed and then both of Alabama’s titles in ’11 and ’12 came as the No. 2-ranked team. Florida State was the No. 1 team in the land, and, by way of its win over Auburn, evened the all-time BCS NCG 1-versus-2 record to a dead even 8-8.

4-6: Heisman Trophy winners in the BCS NCG

Jameis Winston won the Heisman Trophy and the BCS National Championship in the same year, becoming just the fourth player during the 16-year era to accomplish the feat. Cam Newton (2010), Mark Ingram (2009) and Matt Leinart (2004) are the only other Heisman winners to go on to win the championship in the same year. Technically, Tim Tebow, Chris Weinke and Reggie Bush won BCS titles and Heisman Trophies but none of them did it in the same year. In fact, Weinke (2000), Bush (2005), Eric Crouch (2001), Troy Smith (2006) and Sam Bradford (2008) lost in the BCS NCG a month after winning the most prestigious award in sports.

6: Undefeated national champions who also won the Heisman Trophy

This one extends a bit beyond the BCS era, but only six players in history have won a Heisman Trophy, a national championship and finished the year with an unbeaten record. Tony Dorsett was the first to do so for Pitt in 1976 and Charles Woodson was the second in 1997 for Michigan. However, the other four have come during the BCS era and three have come in the last five years. Matt Leinart and USC did it 2004, Mark Ingram and Alabama did it in '09, Cam Newton and Auburn in '10 and, now, Jameis Winston and Florida State accomplished the feat this season. Only six players in history can claim what Winston can claim — a perfect Heisman season that ends with a championship.

365: Matt Leinart's NCG passing record

It was an awful game as USC crushed poor Oklahoma in 2004, but Matt Leinart had the best passing afternoon of anyone in BCS NCG history. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner completed 18-of-35 passes for a NCG-record 365 yards passing and a record five touchdowns. His Trojans scored a BCS NCG-record 55 points and at the time set the record for most total yards with 525 (broken by his own team the next year with 574 against Texas in a loss). Who is No. 2 on the list? No, not one of the nine Heisman-winning QBs to play in the game, but Oregon’s Darron Thomas with 363 yards in his valiant performance against Auburn in 2010.

94,906: Highest Attendance in a BCS NCG

Tickets outside the Rose Bowl on Monday were going for below face value — a problem most venues in most sports are dealing with across the country. But the official attendance for the final BCS national title game was a robust 94,308. However, it was short of the biggest NCG crowd ever. That honor goes to Alabama and Texas at the end of the 2009 season in the Rose Bowl with 94,906. Interestingly enough, both of those numbers fall short of the 95,173 that watched Michigan State's beat Stanford in the most recent Rose Bowl. There is one bowl game that isn't having any issues with ticket sales.

21.7: Highest rating for a BCS title game

The most watched BCS national title game was what many believe was the best NCG of the BCS era. Texas and USC pulled a monster 21.7 TV rating to set the record as the highest-rated college football championship game. The Horns-Trojans bout in Pasadena was head and shoulders above the rest of the BCS games as the next six most-watched games pulled numbers between 17.2 and 17.8. Oklahoma and Florida State in the 2000 title game finished No. 2 with a 17.8 rating. Auburn and Florida State tied Auburn and Oregon (2010) for ninth out of the 16 BCS championship games. It is shocking that the the final BCS bowl — the second-best game of the BCS championship era — barely topped last year's embarrassment by Notre Dame at the hands of Alabama (15.1).

279: Reggie Bush's NCG all-purpose yards record

In a loss to Texas, the Heisman Trophy winner set the title game benchmark for all-purpose production with 279 yards. He carried 13 times for 82 yards rushing, caught six passes for 95 yards and registered 102 yards on kickoff returns while scoring once (and fumbling as well — sorry, USC fans). He tops one of the forgotten heroes of the BCS era in Tennessee's Peerless Price (242 yards). The Vols wide receiver set the BCS NCG record with 199 yards receiving to go with 43 yards on punt returns and made the biggest play of the game when he scored on a back-breaking, 79-yard touchdown pass from Tee Martin. It was the longest pass play in BCS NCG history until Oregon's Darron Thomas hooked up with Jeff Maehl for 81 yards against Auburn 12 years later.

5: Different SEC teams to win a championship

Not to beat a dead horse, but the SEC dominated the BCS era. As college football exploded into big business, the league that is the most dedicated took over the sport. The SEC finished the 16-year BCS era with nine championships from five different schools, including an 8-1 record in the NCG against other conferences. That one loss, of course, was Florida State's dramatic victory on Monday night. Only the Big 12 boasts two different champions — Texas and Oklahoma — while the SEC boasts three (of the four) teams with more than one championship — Alabama, Florida and LSU. Florida State (2-2) was the only team from the ACC to even make an appearance in the game and Ohio State (1-2) was the only Big Ten squad to ever appear in the NCG. The Pac-12 and Big East had two representatives each in USC, Oregon, Miami and Virginia Tech respectively. Nebraska and Notre Dame each appeared once.

10: Ohio State's record for BCS bowl appearances

The Buckeyes led the nation with 10 appearances in the Bowl Championship Series. Three of those came in the National Championship Game, including Jim Tressell's 2002 team winning the national title in surprising fashion. The Bucks went 6-4 overall with a 5-2 mark in other BCS games. The six wins tie USC for the most BCS bowl wins since the format's implementation in 1998 (although, the Trojans were 6-1 overall). Virginia Tech (1-5), Florida State (3-5) and Oklahoma (4-5) tied for the most losses while the Sooners' nine appearances finished second overall. Notre Dame finished 0-4 in BCS games while West Virginia won the most BCS bowls without losing (3-0).

17: Different coaches to earn a bid to the BCS NCG

Of the 32 possible spots in the 16 BCS national title games, only 17 coaches have earned the right to compete for the national title. It speaks to the parity of the game — or the dominance of the "big boys" — that nine different coaches have been to the final game more than once. Nick Saban (4-0) and Urban Meyer (2-0) are the only two names to go to multiple title games without losing and Saban is the only one to take two different schools to the title game much less win it. Bob Stoops (1-3) tied Saban for the most appearances with four while both Jim Tressell and Bobby Bowden finished 1-2 in the big game. Larry Coker, Pete Carroll, Les Miles and Mack Brown all finished 1-1 while only Phil Fulmer, Gene Chizik and Jimbo Fisher finished 1-0. Frank Beamer, Frank Solich, Chip Kelly, Brian Kelly and Gus Malzahn finished 0-1. Strangely enough, however, coaches making their debut in the national title game were 11-6. Only LSU and Florida State have made it to the title game with two separate coaches.