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Automatic BCS bids would be extended to the champions from the Big Ten, Pac-10, SEC, ACC, Big East and Big 12 conferences. Champions from the WAC, Conference USA, or any other Division I-A conference champion or independent team would be BCS eligible provided the were ranked at least sixth in the standings. Additionally, any other Division I-A team could qualify in one of three ways: by winning at least eight games, by ranking among the Top 12 teams in the final BCS standings, or ranking higher than the lowest ranked qualifying team.
"There is still the possibility the championship could be split. The AP poll, unlike the coaches poll, will not necessarily award No. 1 to the winner of the Fiesta Bowl," CBS SportsLine senior writer Dennis Dodd claimed. "You guessed it: After this season-long calculus class, we could still have a split national championship." "Then there is the possibility of the No. 1 and No. 2 teams playing a bad, low-scoring game in the Fiesta Bowl while the No. 3 team wipes out its opponent in another BCS bowl. What do you do then? The BCS doesn't have an answer, just a probability that its system will work." Sporting News writers Mike Dienhard and Tom Huguenin disagreed. "The BCS means the season isn't guaranteed of having a nice and tidy finish with a bow on top, much to the chagrin of those who wail for a playoff. In fact, a lot of gnashing of teeth and talk-show blathering is possible once the national title game pairing is announced in early December," Dienhard and Huguenin countered in their July 15 column. "But at least every regular-season game still matters under this plan, which makes it a good thing." "It's important to remember this 'poll' is in place to only determine participants, not crown a champion. That honor still belongs to the subjective polls. That means the cloud of controversy can form in any year. And you know what? That's what makes college football great." Ideally, the new BCS was differ from the original Bowl Alliance in one major way: it was to guarantee a match-up between college football's top two teams in a true national championship game. If everything went as planned, there would be no speculation as to the undisputed king of college football. Did the BCS work, and is it the long term answer? -- As I stated two weeks ago, I think the BCS did just fine this season. It took a lot of heat early in the year with Kansas State and Tulane getting snubbed, but for the most part it managed to work itself out. A lot of people seem to feel that K-State's poor showing against Purdue was because they essentially had nothing to play for. They make a good point, but a team needs to be focused anytime they step on the field. The coach needs to make sure of that. And the Wildcats could have gone out and tried to prove the BCS wrong - if they were lacking motivation, that is. Either way, they didn't get the job done.
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