BCS Bowl Selection 2012: Explaining Procedures, Order, Format, Tiebreaker Rules

As we head into bowl season, it's time to take a look at the possible scenarios for the five BCS bowl games.

The teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the final BCS rankings will be placed in the BCS Championship Game, but what happens with the other four BCS bowl games?

Well, let's take a look.

Fiesta Bowl

The Fiesta Bowl takes the Big 12 champion (Kansas State this year) and pits it against an at-large selection.

An at-large selection must either be a program that has won at least nine regular season games and is ranked in the top 14 of the BCS standings, or be the Big East champion (the Big East champion gets an automatic BCS bowl berth, no matter what).

Sugar Bowl

The Sugar Bowl normally takes the SEC champion, but if the SEC champion is ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the BCS rankings (like Alabama currently is), then that team goes on to the BCS Championship Game. That means the Sugar Bowl would find a replacement in the SEC. 

The Sugar Bowl pits the SEC champion or replacement against an at-large selection.

Orange Bowl

The Orange Bowl grabs the ACC champion and pits it against an at-large selection.

Rose Bowl 

The Big Ten champion plays the Pac-12 champion in the Rose Bowl.

Order of At-Large Selections

This year, the Fiesta Bowl gets first choice of an at-large selection, followed by the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl. Because the Orange Bowl gets the final pick, it will likely be required to take the Big East champion as an at-large selection.

Tie-Breaker Procedure

If there are any ties after the BCS rankings computation is carried out to full decimal points, then the following procedure will be used in a tie-breaker:

1. Head-to-head record

2. Record vs. highest-ranked common opponent in BCS rankings

3. Use all six computer ranking systems and the Harris and Coaches polls

4. Teams draw