I appreciate your taking the time to research it and present it to the list.

Trouble is the Yahoos won’t read it as it is more than five lines long and way too early in the morning.

For the ten BCS slots, six automatically go to the champions of the AQ conferences (SEC, Big Ten, Big XII, ACC, Big East, PAC-12), one goes to Notre Dame if it meets contracturally-defined criteria (it did this year), one goes to the top-finishing non-AQ conference if it finishes in the top 16 and ahead of the champ of at least one AQ conference (hello, NIU), and one automatically goes to the highest-ranked non-conference winner if it finishes in the top three (Florida). So, nine of the ten slots were taken because the BCS rules said they were, leaving Oregon as the only true “at-large” team.

As for the non-BCS games, let’s take the Capital One Bowl between Georgia and Nebraska as an example. By contract, the Capital One Bowl gets the first selection from the SEC and Big Ten once the BCS teams are set, and except under certain circumstances, that must be the top-ranked teams remaining from each conference. Hence, the Dawgs and the ‘Huskers are playing not because some committee determined it is the best match available, but because the rules say that is the match they must have. Or look at the Chik-Fil-A Bowl, which has the #6 SEC team (if you can call a #8-ranked LSU team that) against the #2 ACC team (Clemson). You think the Chik-Fil-A folks really wanted that matchup as opposed to, say, LSU vs. Oklahoma?

And yet, before the BCS, the Chik-Fil-A (or Peach Bowl as it was then known) would have been free to negotiate the best matchup it could get. That’s because before 1998, the only bowl tie-ins were the Rose Bowl (PAC-10 vs. Big Ten champs), Sugar (SEC champs), and Fiesta (Big XII champs); prior to the Big 8-SWC merger, the Big 8 champ went to the Orange and the SWC champ to the Cotton. (Also, the WAC champ went to the Holiday, a fact no one cared about except for 1984 when BYU won the national title.) And that was it. The opponents in those games, and the slots in every other bowl in existence, were determined by the bowls themselves making the best matches they could. Alabama and USC played in the 1985 Aloha Bowl in Hawai’i; now, the only way that matchup could happen would be in a BCS game, because there are no bowls featuring an SEC-PAC-12 matchup. Same is true for Notre Dame and Alabama, unless it is in the BBVA-Compass bowl as it is the only SEC-Big East matchup available (ND can be selected in place of a Big East team even though it does not play football in that conference; this will change to the ACC starting next year).

So, yes, the bowl lineup is a mess, but it’s not because of an incompetent committee. It’s instead from the efforts by conference commissioners to ensure they get as many of their teams into bowl games as possible. The result is often not really pretty.

Let me turn that question around: Why would Oregon and K-State be favored over Alabama for the other slot in the BCS? Oregon only played two teams that finished the season ranked (Stanford and Oregon State) and was 1-1 against them. ‘Bama, on the other hand, played three teams that finished in the top 10, and won two of those games. While ‘Bama and K-State both won their conferences and only had one loss, the Tide’s was to #10 Texas A&M by five points; the ‘Cats’ was to a 7-5 Baylor team by four touchdowns. And also Alabama won the conference that finished with six of the top 10 teams in the BCS poll. So, like it or not, the Tide has the stronger argument against both the Ducks and the Wildcats.

Roll Damn Tide is a Joke!!!

The Rose bowl shouldn’t always be a PAC 12 or Big 10 team. The Fiesta shouldn’t always be the landing spot for the big 12, and the ACC champ shouldn’t always get to go to South Beach.

An SEC school in the Rose bowl would be cool. I’m sure Oregon rather be going to South beach in stead of Tempe, and so on. They need to spice it up. It’s getting stale

Besides, the only bowl that matters is the National Championship game. The rest of the bowls are just cash grabs and glorified exhibition games. If you don’t like the match ups, then just locate the off switch on your TV and press.

#4 Florida is playing #22 Louisville
#6 Georgia is playing #23 Nebraska

Nothing against Louisville or Nebraska, but if they played each other it would make for a better game. I really wanted to see Florida and Georgia play Oregon and K-State… but somehow they got matched up against each other…

Bummer… I wanted to watch the offense vs defense battles…

We pretty much learned the ACC doesn’t match up against the SEC this year on the last week of the season, but I still have to wonder how the PAC -12 and Big 12 would fair… but since the BCS has them playing each other, we will never know…

Why can’t the BCS bowls swap out teams?

~Jim

There is no difference between the BCS bowls and the rest of the bowls, other than a group of greedy men got together and tried to keep all the money for themselves… the teams aren’t better and the games generally aren’t the best.

Everyone is screaming about Oklahoma not going to a BCS bowl… but honestly, the Cotton bowl looks like a great matchup. Nothing wrong with the cotton bowl… except the perception that if you don’t get in a BCS bowl you missed out.

Another example of money ruining the game…

Personally, I can’t wait for the LSU-Clemson game… or the Carolina-Michigan game…

Just my .02
~Jim

I have only two.

Having to finish in the top 16 doesn’t mean it’s only acceptable if you finish a lot higher than 16th, or only if you’re undefeated…it just means finishing in the top 16.

This is what the same people whined about wanting to happen and now you want Oklahoma instead.

Can’t have it both ways

Strongly AGREE!!

Nah, ND deserves a #4 AT BEST. But Vandy at #16 is James Franklin getting together wiht “Mary Jane” and believing the dream…….

Well… this is the result we get.

This alone should be enough to dispose of the Coaches Poll. The AP isn’t even this biased.

Is there going to be a change with the playoff system coming? Will any of the same influences or decision-makers assemble the teams for those? This season’s bowls apart from the BCS NCG is truly a disappointment. (and I was thinking I would have to arrange to DVR many bowls since I will be working hard during that time in Appalachia).