YSU, Citadel Games Could Cost OSU, Wisconsin BCS Bids

Marvin, the Duck of Infinite Inexplicability, on the scene for this bizarre little note.

Michigan's loss to Appalachian State just got a little more inexplicable, as a little-discussed change to the Big Ten's rules for determining the conference's automatic BCS representative has just been brought to light thanks to the Ann Arbor News' Jim Carty and MVictors, a Michigan blog. Apparently before the 2006 season the Big Ten slipped in a small change to the selection process designed to discourage games against I-AA teams. The relevant portion of the new bylaws:

2) If there is a tie for the championship, the winner of the game between these two teams shall represent the conference.
3) If there is still a tie for the championship, or if the tied teams did not play each other, the team that played more games against Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams shall be eliminated.
4) If there is still a tie, or if the tied teams did not play each other, or if both teams played the same number of games against an FCS team(s), the representative shall be determined on the percentage basis of all games played.

The same rules apply in the case of a three-way tie that can't be broken by head-to-head; this is a tiebreaker that figures to get used every three or four years or so if past history is any indication. Kudos to the league office for doing what it can to prevent the shameful spread of interdivisional sacrifices.

A question: are Big Ten athletic directors even aware of the change? The prospect of losing out on a BCS bid because you decided to feast on Youngstown State or ~~Appalachian State~~ some other I-AA team instead of Temple, Buffalo, and Florida International like Penn State should be a huge discouragement to any Big Ten team with eyes on a BCS bid. Which begs the question: why the hell did Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin all schedule I-AA teams? There's no functional difference between grabbing a I-AA team and the bottom of I-A, and doing the former puts you at a severe disadvantage should one of the Big Ten's many co-championships get issued in the year you put the spurs to Samford. (Or, yes, they year Appalachian State puts the spurs to you.)