PROVIDENCE – The Bowl Championship Series announced the following update regarding institutions that are under consideration for the Nokia Sugar Bowl, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, FedEx Orange Bowl and Rose Bowl.
Florida State, the Atlantic Coast Conference champion, has clinched a berth in the BCS.
Michigan, the Big Ten champion, also has clinched a BCS berth.
USC will be the Pac-10 representative in the BCS. The Trojans are at least the league's co-champion and they hold the edge in the Pac-10 tiebreaker if it needs to be applied.
Miami will represent the Big East in the BCS. The Hurricanes are the league's co-champions, but earn the BCS berth by virtue of the Big East tiebreaker.
The representatives from the other participating conferences (Big 12, and SEC), which receive an automatic bid to one of the BCS bowls, have not been determined. The following is a list of potential conference representatives:
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Big 12: Kansas State, Oklahoma
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SEC:Georgia, LSU
The following institutions remain under consideration for the two at-large positions:
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Ohio State
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Tennessee
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Texas
To qualify for the at-large pool to a BCS bowl, teams must have nine regular-season wins (not including wins in exempt games) and be ranked in the top 12 of the final BCS standings on Dec. 7. All other institutions have been released for consideration by other bowls.
The team selection process for the BCS bowls is as follows:
Teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the final BCS standings will participate in the Nokia Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4. The following conference representatives will serve as the host team in the respective BCS bowl games, unless such team is ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the final BCS standings: Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Big 12), FedEx Orange Bowl (Big East or ACC) and Rose Bowl (Big Ten & Pac-10). Should a bowl lose its host team(s) to the Nokia Sugar Bowl, such bowl(s) will be allowed first choice of the remaining teams (except the host team of another bowl). The bowl losing the No. 1-ranked team shall have the first choice.
The SEC champion is normally the host team for the Nokia Sugar Bowl. This year, if the SEC champion is not ranked No. 1 or No. 2, it is not obligated to a specific bowl.
