First, the Orange is not tied to the Big East anymore. The BCS site linked above makes that very clear. The ACC is tied to the Orange, the Sugar to the SEC and the Big 12 to the Fiesta.
Second, the order of bowl selection if Texas and USC win out will be:
1. Rose
2. Rose
3. Fiesta - Out of order pick to compensate for losing Texas
4. Orange
5. Sugar
6. Orange
7. Fiesta
8. Sugar
If Texas or USC were to collapse and fall out of the Rose, then picks 3-6 would be different.
Third, Jay points out that the non-national champ BCS Bowls must select 3 options for participating teams. More importantly, two of those teams must be conference champs who aren't already assigned to the Sugar, Fiesta or Orange.
Basically, Jay outlines a scenario which is very probable assuming Notre Dame and VT win out:
Rose - USC vs. Texas
Fiesta - Notre Dame vs. At-Large of the Fiesta's Choice
Orange - ACC Champ vs. Big 10 Champ
Sugar - SEC Champ vs. Big East Champ
In other words, the SEC Champ is flat out hosed. Also, a Georgia poster on Scout.com message board who works with the Atlanta Convention and Visitor Bureau gave specific and detailed reasons last week why the rumored Sugar/Orange swap would not happen.
What does all of this mean? Pray for Notre Dame to lose. (Pray hard b/c you're trying to out pray the Pope on this one)
Thanks to Jay for a great overview on the BCS!
- pwd -
