The Bowl Championship Series (BCS), which enters its 14th season in 2011-12, is a five-game arrangement for postseason college football that is designed to match the two top-rated teams in a national championship game and to create exciting and competitive matchups between eight other highly regarded teams in four other BCS games.

The BCS has been undeniably successful in achieving those goals. Thanks to the BCS, the top two teams have played each other 13 times in 13 years by BCS measurements and 10 times in the last 13 years according to the Associated Press poll. Additionally, it has provided more access to the major bowls for all 11 conferences, more television exposure and more postseason revenue than ever before. 

The BCS also allows for preserving the significance of the regular season, which is the most meaningful in sports. It also maintains the bowl season to the benefit of dozens of universities each year. 

The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Discover Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio joined with the BIG EAST, Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conferences and the University of Notre Dame to form the Bowl Championship Series. In the existing BCS agreement, each bowl will host two games once every four years - its traditional game plus the BCS National Championship contest approximately one week later. 

The BCS is managed by the commissioners of the 11 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision conferences, the director of athletics at the University of Notre Dame and representatives of the bowl organizations. The conference commissioners and the Notre Dame athletics director make decisions regarding all BCS issues, in consultation with an athletics directors advisory group and subject to approval of a presidential oversight committee whose members represent all 120 Bowl Subdivision programs.  

The BCS conferences have a contract with ESPN to televise the games through the 2013-14 season.

 

Pool of Eligible Teams

 If berths are available after the automatic qualifiers have been identified, then the bowls shall select at-large participants from the “pool of eligible teams,” which shall include any Bowl Subdivision team that is bowl-eligible and meets the following requirements:

A.  Has won at least nine regular-season games, and 

B. Is among the top 14 teams in the final BCS Standings

 

 

Revenue
Each conference whose team qualifies automatically for the BCS receives approximately $22.3 million in net revenue. A second team brings an additional $6 million to its conference. Notre Dame receives $1.8 million. Army, Navy and Brigham Young also receive $100,000 each, and each of the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision conferences receives $250,000:
 

Access

Each conference had an opportunity to earn annual automatic qualification through a four-year evaluation covering the regular seasons of 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. The Atlantic Coast, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern conferences met the threshold and earned automatic qualification through the 2013-14 season.

A seventh conference could qualify for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 bowl season based on an evaluation of the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 regular seasons.

 

 

 Bowl Championship Series Representative Tiebreaker Procedure

In order to determine the Conference's representative to the Bowl Championship Series, the procedures listed below will be followed.

All references to "rankings" refer to the BCS Poll released after the regular season is completed for all BIG EAST members.
 
TWO-WAY TIE
The winner of the head to head match-up will represent the BIG EAST in the Bowl Championship Series.
 
THREE-WAY TIE
A "MINI-CONFERENCE" IS CREATED AMONGST THE THREE TIED TEAMS
 
Scenario I:
All three teams have either a 6-1 or 5-2 record and have each won one game and lost one game against the other tied teams in the mini-conference.  In this case, the highest ranked team amongst the three earns the bid.  If two of the three teams are tied for the highest ranking, the bid is earned by the team winning the head-to-head match up.
 
Scenario II:
All three teams have 5-2 records, and within the mini-conference, Team A is 2-0, Team B is 1-1, and Team C is 0-2.  Team A earns bid regardless of ranking.
 
FOUR-WAY TIE
A "MINI-CONFERENCE" IS CREATED AMONGST THE FOUR TIED TEAMS

Scenario I:
In the mini-conference, Teams A & B are 2-1, and Teams C & D are 1-2.  The higher ranked of the 2-1 teams earns the bid.  If the 2-1 teams tie for the highest ranking, the bid goes to the team that won the head-to-head match up.
 
Scenario II:
In the mini-conference, Team A is 3-0, Team B is 2-1, Team C is 1-2, and Team D is 0-3.  Team A earns bid regardless of ranking.
 

 

 

January 2012

 

Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio

January 2, 2012

5 p.m. ET, ESPN

Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, Calif.

 

 

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl 

January 2, 2012

8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.

 

Allstate Sugar Bowl

January 3, 2012

8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, La.

 

Discover Orange Bowl

January 4, 2012

8 p.m. ET, ESPN

Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.

Allstate BCS National Championship Game

January 9, 2012

8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, La.

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to the Bowl Championship Series, the BIG EAST Conference also has agreements with a number of other postseason bowl games. The conference's new lineup, which began in the 2010 season, has the BIG EAST paired against three of the other five automatic-qualifying Bowl Championship Series conferences in the postseason, giving the BIG EAST its strongest bowl partnerships in its history. 

The BIG EAST announced a four-year agreement with Florida Citrus Sports and the Champs Sports Bowl to send a team to the Orlando, Fla., game beginning in the 2010 season.  

The Champs Sports Bowl will have the first selection from the BIG EAST after the league's BCS representative has been determined. The BIG EAST's opponent in the Champs Sports Bowl will be from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Champs Sports Bowl will have the opportunity to select Notre Dame, in place of a BIG EAST team, once during the four-year agreement. 

The BIG EAST has extended its agreement with the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., through the 2013 season as well. The Belk Bowl (previously known as the Meineke Car Care Bowl) will have the BIG EAST's third selection, after the BCS and Champs Sports Bowl. 

The BIG EAST has been aligned with the Belk Bowl since the inception of the game in 2002. The game has averaged more than 62,000 fans and was named one of the five best startups in sports in the previous five years by Sports Business Journal. 

The 2010 season featured the introduction of a new bowl game in New York City when the BIG EAST participated in the first New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.  The New Era Pinstripe Bowl pits the fourth overall selection from the BIG EAST against a team from the Big 12 Conference. In the event that the Big 12 is unable to supply a team for the game, Notre Dame could step in as the opponent of the BIG EAST's representative. 

The BIG EAST completed its bowl lineup in April 2010 by renewing deals with the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., and the Beef  '0' Brady's Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla. The conference also announced a new agreement with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn. The BIG EAST will send teams to two of those three games in each of the 2010-13 seasons. 

The BBVA Compass Bowl pairs a BIG EAST team against an opponent from the Southeastern Conference at Legion Field in Birmingham. BIG EAST teams are a combined 5-0 in the BBVA Compass Bowl. 

If a BIG EAST team is chosen for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, the conference's representative would face either the Conference USA champion or an opponent from the Southeastern Conference.  

The Beef  '0' Brady's Bowl will be played for the fourth time in 2011 with the BIG EAST scoring wins in each of the first three games. The BIG EAST will face Conference USA at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.