2014 BCS Bowls

We take one more trip to the BCS this season, with five BCS bowls, 10 teams — fittingly all of which are from the “original” power six conferences that formed the basis for this change in championship crowning all those years ago. These pairings are according to multiple reports from early Sunday.

For more information on how the teams were selected, head over to the BCS Bowls page.

2014 BCS Schedule

	Rose Bowl January 1, 2014 5 p.m. ET
	Michigan State Spartans
vs.
	Stanford Cardinal
	—
	Fiesta Bowl January 1, 2014 8:30 p.m. ET
	Baylor Bears
vs.
	UCF Knights
	—
	Sugar Bowl January 2, 2014 8:30 p.m. ET
	Alabama Crimson Tide
vs.
	Oklahoma Sooners
	—
	Orange Bowl January 3, 2014 8:30 p.m. ET
	Clemson Tigers
vs.
	Ohio State Buckeyes
	—
	BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, Calif. January 6, 2014 8:30 p.m. ET
	Florida State Seminoles
vs.
	Auburn Tigers

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2013-14 BCS Bowl Selection Process Explained

More information can be found at the BCS Bowls page.

The BCS was created (by its own admission) to facilitate the meeting of the No. 1 and No. 2 team in the country in the BCS national title game. As we’ve figured out in the years since its creation, it does much, much more than that. The system also pairs the teams in its four bowls — the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta. But how exactly does that happen?

In the 2013 season as in past years, there is a specific selection process for the five games with slight changes year-to-year.

On Sunday, Dec. 8, representatives from the conferences, bowl games and schools meet to decide the matchups in the five bowl games in the following fashion. (We’ve added some context for this season):

Creating the BCS Selection Pool

• The champions of the six automatically qualifying BCS conferences — the ACC, AAC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC — all receive guaranteed bids to BCS games.
• The highest-ranking conference champion among the four non-AQ conferences — the C-USA, MAC, MWC and Sun Belt — in the final BCS rankings will be assured of a bid to a BCS bowl if they rank within the top 12 or within the top 16 and rank higher than any AQ conference champion.
  • Northern Illinois is in play here
• Notre Dame will automatically qualify for a BCS bowl if it finishes among the top eight in the final BCS standings.
  • Not happening this year.
• Any team to win nine games and finish within the top 14 of the final BCS standings will be BCS bowl-eligible. Teams in the top 18 with nine wins may also be eligible if there are not enough eligible teams in the top 14.
• Though more than two teams from a single conference can be BCS bowl eligible, no more than two teams from a single conference can be selected to play in the five BCS bowls.

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BCS National Championship Game Participants

• The teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the final BCS standings — regardless of conference affiliation or own-conference finish — will be placed in the BCS National Championship Game to be held in Pasadena, California in January 2014 as the selection committee’s first measure.

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Filling Conference Affiliation

• After the BCS title game is filled, the remaining BCS bowls will fill their bowls with their traditional “anchor host” conference champions as follows:
  • Rose Bowl: Big Ten and Pac-12
  • Fiesta Bowl: Big 12
  • Orange Bowl: ACC
  • Sugar Bowl: SEC

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Championship Replacement

• If any of the bowls’ traditional anchor hosts have been lost to the BCS National Championship Game, that bowl will be allowed to select a replacement team from the eligible pool before other picks are made.
• If more than one bowl loses a host conference champion, the bowl which lost the BCS No. 1 will choose its replacement from the pool first, followed by the bowl that lost the BCS No. 2.

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Filling the Rest of the Bowls

• Once all the affiliation and replacement selections have been made, the Sugar, Fiesta and Orange will select from among the remaining members of the eligibility pool in the following order:
  • Orange, Sugar, Fiesta
• One of these three bowls will be required to select the AAC champion and the automatically qualifying non-AQ champion if one exists.
• If not selected previously, a team which finishes third in the final BCS standings will automatically be awarded a spot in a BCS bowl if they are an at-large team and not an AQ BCS conference champion. If the third team is a conference champion, the fourth-place team will also be given this automatic eligibility if not selected previously.
• The three bowls will then select among the rest of the pool if no other teams automatically qualify for inclusion among the five bowls.

Harris Interactive Poll Week 14: Auburn Looming At No. 3 Behind FSU, OSU

Florida State takes over at No. 1 in the Harris Poll, but with Auburn’s victory over Alabama, the Tigers position themselves for a last-week push for a spot in the national title game.

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Harris Interactive College Football Poll – December 1

Rank	Team	Votes	Share of Vote
1	Florida State Seminoles	2617	.997
2	Ohio State Buckeyes	2488	.948
3	Auburn Tigers	2422	.923
4	Alabama Crimson Tide	2262	.862
5	Missouri Tigers	2231	.850
6	Oklahoma State Cowboys	2083	.794
7	Stanford Cardinal	1873	.714
8	South Carolina Gamecocks	1841	.701
9	Baylor Bears	1778	.677
10	Michigan State Spartans	1758	.670
11	Clemson Tigers	1444	.550
12	Oregon Ducks	1398	.533

USA Today Coaches’ Poll Week 14: Florida State Takes Over

Florida State claims the USA Today Coaches’ Poll No. 1 spot after Alabama’s loss, while Auburn gains major ground on Ohio State, leaving the possibility for a title game bid for the Tigers well open.

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USA Today Coaches’ Poll – December 1

Rank	Team	Votes	Share of Vote
1	Florida State Seminoles	1546	.997
2	Ohio State Buckeyes	1462	.943
3	Auburn Tigers	1437	.927
4	Alabama Crimson Tide	1333	.860
5	Missouri Tigers	1315	.848
6	Oklahoma State Cowboys	1248	.805
7	Baylor Bears	1100	.710
7	South Carolina Gamecocks	1100	.710
9	Michigan State Spartans	1037	.669
10	Stanford Cardinal	1034	.667
11	Clemson Tigers	853	.550
12	Oregon Ducks	843	.544

USA Today Coaches’ Poll Week 11: Florida State Convincing No. 2

Oregon’s loss allows Florida State to slide easily and convincingly into the No. 2 spot in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, with Ohio State taking the No. 3 spot and Baylor in at No. 4 before one-loss No. 5 Stanford.

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USA Today Coaches’ Poll – November 10

Rank	Team	Votes	Share of Vote
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	1546	.997
2	Florida State Seminoles	1485	.958
3	Ohio State Buckeyes	1401	.904
4	Baylor Bears	1376	.888
5	Stanford Cardinal	1307	.843
6	Clemson Tigers	1164	.751
7	Oregon Ducks	1162	.750
8	Missouri Tigers	1083	.699
9	Auburn Tigers	1069	.690
10	Oklahoma State Cowboys	965	.623
11	Texas A&M Aggies	898	.579
12	South Carolina Gamecocks	830	.535

Harris Interactive Poll Week 11: Alabama Unanimously No. 1, FSU No. 2

Oregon’s loss not only solidifies Florida State as the No. 2 team in the Harris Interactive Poll, but convinces voters that Alabama is overwhelmingly and clearly the No. 1 team in the country after the Tide top LSU.

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Harris Interactive College Football Poll – November 10

Rank	Team	Votes	Share of Vote
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	2625	1.000
2	Florida State Seminoles	2514	.958
3	Ohio State Buckeyes	2373	.904
4	Baylor Bears	2304	.878
5	Stanford Cardinal	2240	.853
6	Oregon Ducks	1968	.750
7	Clemson Tigers	1940	.739
8	Missouri Tigers	1855	.707
9	Auburn Tigers	1843	.702
10	Texas A&M Aggies	1582	.603
11	Oklahoma State Cowboys	1545	.589
12	South Carolina Gamecocks	1417	.540

Harris Interactive Poll Week Nine: Stanford’s Leap Makes A Statement

Stanford’s leap from No. 8 to No. 6 in this week’s Harris Interactive College Football Poll is the highlight of a all-new Harris Poll from 104 voters.

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Harris Interactive College Football Poll – October 27

Rank	Team	Votes	Share of Vote
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	2590	.996
2	Oregon Ducks	2492	.958
3	Florida State Seminoles	2386	.918
4	Ohio State Buckeyes	2301	.885
5	Baylor Bears	2130	.819
6	Stanford Cardinal	2035	.783
7	Miami Hurricanes	1997	.768
8	Clemson Tigers	1767	.780
9	Missouri Tigers	1510	.581
10	Oklahoma Sooners	1475	.567
11	Auburn Tigers	1453	.559
12	LSU Tigers	1408	.542

USA Today Coaches’ Poll Week Nine: Baylor Being Heard

Though Baylor’s ranking is unchanged in this week’s USA Today Coaches’ Poll, the Bears are certainly making their case as the calendar approaches November.

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USA Today Coaches’ Poll – October 27

Rank	Team	Votes	Share of Vote
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	1542	.995
2	Oregon Ducks	1483	.957
3	Florida State Seminoles	1419	.915
4	Ohio State Buckeyes	1375	.887
5	Baylor Bears	1293	.834
6	Miami Hurricanes	1190	.768
7	Stanford Cardinal	1182	.763
8	Clemson Tigers	1064	.686
9	Oklahoma Sooners	933	.602
10	Missouri Tigers	834	.538
11	Auburn Tigers	804	.519
12	Oklahoma State Cowboys	803	.518

Projected BCS Standings: Oregon To Claim No. 2 In Second BCS Standings of 2013

Time seems to run out slowly when you’re making a chase for a BCS bid. Whether it’s on the clock to hold on to the last-second victory or the weeks ticking slowly by in the last BCS year.

Projected BCS Rankings
Rank	Team
1	Alabama Crimson Tide
2	Oregon Ducks
3	Florida State Seminoles
4	Ohio State Buckeyes
5	Stanford Cardinal
Scroll down for more

Teams from around the country had little trouble dispatching of less difficult foes, but for a few teams, the time needed to get victories on Saturday must have seemed to move extra slow.

And in the case of Missouri, a crushing loss was probably already a death sentence for the season as far as a national title game bid is concerned.

So what else, if anything, did we learn this week? Mostly that the nation’s top BCS teams in its first iteration — Alabama, Oregon and Florida State — are very good. This week, like last week, we’ll see a fight to the finish for No. 2 between Oregon and Florida State.

The better victory this week belongs to the Ducks and not the Seminoles, and with that in mind, expect Oregon to make enough headway in the computers and the human polls to end the Seminoles one-week run at No. 2. Oregon is projected to take back that spot this week.

Elsewhere, the Ducks’ Pac-12 mates Stanford and Big 12 surprise Baylor will be the likely beneficiaries of the Missouri loss, as the Cardinal and Bears will fight for the No. 5 spot, along with Miami. Also look out for Oklahoma, fresh off a victory over previous No. 10 Texas Tech.

An interesting fight is also breaking out between Fresno State and Northern Illinois. Fresno State might remain ahead of Northern Illinois after the Bulldogs finished of San Diego State in OT and the Huskies had an easy victory, mostly because of the lateness of Fresno’s game. But the truly interesting part will come when the BCS rankings wind down. Who will be in front? For now we’re projecting that the Huskies will, even with Fresno possibly taking these first two weeks as the leader in the BCS buster clubhouse.

It’ll all be somewhat familiar when the second BCS rankings are released tomorrow, but with some changes that could play into the chase for the title game when the season winds up. The minutia becomes all the more important this time of year. Good thing we’re here to take a look at it.

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Remember, we’ll be here to take you through all of it, starting with tomorrow’s releases of the human polls, computer rankings and BCS. Follow along all day @BCSKnowHow and here to stay up to the second with projections, mathematical breakdowns of the computers, human polls and everything in between. Then follow along this week as we break down scenarios and implications.

Here’s what the BCS standings will likely look like when they are released tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN:

Projected BCS Standings – BCS Week Two (October 27)

Rank	Team
1	Alabama Crimson Tide
2	Oregon Ducks
3	Florida State Seminoles
4	Ohio State Buckeyes
5	Stanford Cardinal
6	Baylor Bears
7	Miami Hurricanes
8	Clemson Tigers
9	Oklahoma Sooners
10	South Carolina Gamecocks
11	Missouri Tigers
12	Auburn Tigers

Harris Interactive Poll Week Eight: Florida State Leads An Upward Charge

Much like in the Coaches’ Poll, Florida State grabs a big chunk of support from the Harris Interactive Poll voters, sliding into the third spot and challenging Oregon for the No. 2 spot.

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Harris Interactive College Football Poll – October 20

Rank	Team	Votes	Share of Vote
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	2615	.996
2	Oregon Ducks	2520	.960
3	Florida State Seminoles	2401	.915
4	Ohio State Buckeyes	2321	.884
5	Baylor Bears	2038	.776
6	Missouri Tigers	2026	.772
7	Miami Hurricanes	2008	.765
8	Stanford Cardinal	1952	.744
9	Texas Tech Red Raiders	1662	.633
10	Clemson Tigers	1616	.616
11	UCLA Bruins	1323	.504
12	LSU Tigers	1212	.462