Big 12 Proposal Will Hurt Non-BCS Schools' Bowl Chances

The six BCS leagues already get most of the BCS bowl game slots and now there's a greater chance they'll start gobbling up all of the at-large bids to the minor bowls beginning in 2010.

Last week, the NCAA's Division I Board of Directors agreed to sponsor legislation that would treat football teams with .500 records the same as teams with winning records for bowl participation. If the legislation passes, it would allow a bowl, that has to go outside its conference affiliation to fill a spot, to select a more attractive 6-6 BCS school over a 7- or 8-win non-BCS school.

Which is exactly why the Big 12 proposed the legislation. Sources told FanHouse that the Big East and ACC support the legislation, while the other BCS leagues (Big Ten, Pac-10 and SEC) also are expected to support it.

"Our feeling is that a 6-6 team from the Big 12 that has played five teams in the Top 25 should not be in a different position from a 7-5 team from another conference that may have only played one or no teams in the Top 25," Big 12 commissioner Don Beebe told the NCAA News. "The six-win team is probably more marketable in some cases than the others, so it should be treated the same."

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Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy answers a question during a news conference in Stillwater, Okla., Monday, Nov. 2, 2009. Gundy says he has "complete confidence" in Zac Robinson's abilities and believes the starting quarterback will bounce back after perhaps the worst game of his college career. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Penn State football coach Joe Paterno answers a question at his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009 in State College, Pa. Penn State host Ohio State in an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Nov. 7. (AP Photo/Pat Little)

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More marketable as in, will sell more tickets.

For this season, the non-BCS winning teams cannot be bypassed by a 6-6 BCS team. For example: if the Big Ten does not have enough bowl-eligible teams to send to the Little Caesar's Bowl or the SEC doesn't have a team to send to the Papajohns.com Bowl, those bowls must select a team with at least seven wins.

If there were not any BCS seven-win teams available, the bowl would have to select a non-BCS league (Mountain West, WAC, Mid-American, C-USA or Sun Belt). Next year, however, in that scenario, the bowl could bypass a seven-win non-BCS team for a 6-6 BCS team.

So basically, after a BCS team opens with a win against a FCS team, it only needs to go 5-6 against FBS teams to secure a bowl bid.

This year there are 34 bowl games. With the addition of the Yankee Bowl and Dallas Football Classic next season, there could be as many 36 bowls, meaning 60 percent of the 120 FBS teams would play in a bowl game.

No wonder the FBS doesn't want a playoff.