The BCS consists of the Rose Bowl presented by AT&T, Nokia Sugar Bowl, FedEx Orange Bowl and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The conferences with automatic berths include the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern Conferences.
Any Division I-A independent team, or champion of the Western Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Mountain West Conference, or any other Division I-A team which is ranked sixth or higher in the BCS standings, will also be eligible for the BCS. Otherwise, any Division I-A team can qualify for selection in the BCS if they have won at least nine college football games during the most recently completed regular season (not to include wins in exempted games) and are ranked in the top 12 of the final BCS standings.
Beginning with the 2001 season, teams ranked No. 3 or 4 in the final BCS standings that did not win their conference championship must be selected as an at-large team. If both the No. 3 and No. 4 fall into this criteria, only the No. 3 is guaranteed an at-large berth.
Also, beginning with the 1999 regular season, each BCS conference is subject to review and possible loss of automatic selection by the BCS should the conference champion not have an average ranking of 12 or higher over a four-year period.
At the conclusion of the 2001 regular season, the Rose Bowl presented by AT&T will host the national championship. The game will be played on Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. ET in Pasadena, Calif. The Rose Bowl shall select the top two teams ranked in the BCS final regular season standings.
The BCS uses regional consideration regarding other team selection. Specifically, as a member of the BCS, the Rose Bowl will host the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions in those years in which either the Rose Bowl does not have the national championship game or the Big Ten and Pac-10 champion is not ranked No. 1 or No. 2. Other "regional consideration" tie-ins include the SEC champion in the Sugar Bowl, the ACC or Big East champion in the Orange Bowl and the Big 12 champion in the Fiesta Bowl. The Fiesta is also aligned with the Pac-10 champion in years when the Rose Bowl hosts the national championship.
Other BCS games following the 2001 regular season include the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1 at 3 p.m. ET, the Nokia Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET and the FedEx Orange Bowl on Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. ET.
A revised statistical rating system will be in place to determine the teams that will participate in the championship game of the Bowl Championship Series following the 2001 season. The rating system will consist of five major components: subjective polls of the writers and coaches, computer rankings, schedule strength, number of losses, and wins over Top 15 opponents. Games in which one team beats another for the second time that season will not be counted.
The two teams which have the lowest point total in the five categories will play in the national championship game.
A breakdown of the components:
I. Polls (25 percent)
Average of team's rankings in:
Associated Press
Coaches poll
II. Computer rankings (25 percent)
Average of a team's rankings among the following eight rankings, after removing its highest and lowest score:
Jeff Sagarin
Seattle Times
Richard Billingsley
Kenneth Massey
David Rothman
Matthews/Scripps-Howard
Dr. Peter Wolfe
Wes Colley
III. Strength of schedule (25 percent)
Combination of team's:
Opponents' record (66 percent)
Opponents' opponents' record (33 percent)
This number gets divided by 25
IV. Losses (25 percent)
Team's losses count one point each
V. Quality Wins (Added to previous total)
A team receives "bonus points" for beating a team ranked in the BCS Top 15 at the conclusion of the regular season. Points range from 0.1 for beating No. 15 to 1.5 for beating No. 1.
