BCS: Why a Sixth Game Is Necessary

The BCS is a convoluted mess of computer rankings, human polls. automatic and non-automatic qualifiers that get special treatment and at-large teams that make up four lower-tier bowl games and a "championship" game. 

The flaws in the system have been debated and bantered about since the inception of this system, but there is one glaring flaw when it comes to the bowl games: The Big East champion isn't tied directly to one of the lower-tier bowls.

The Rose Bowl is tied to the Big Ten and Pac-10, the Fiesta is tied to the Big XII, Orange to the ACC and Sugar to the SEC.  The Big East is essentially an at-large contributor to the bowls, even though they have an "automatic qualifier" status. 

Being able to choose a team that didn't win their conference over an "AQ" team that did just doesn't seem fair. It's time to give the Big East their own tie-in, and instead of forcing them into the Orange Bowl, why not move the Gator Bowl into the BCS system for the direct tie-in?

How would that change things this year?  Let's break it down:

• The BCS title game matchup of Auburn and Oregon and the Rose Bowl pairing of Wisconsin and TCU would stay the same due to the rules in place. 
• The Sugar Bowl, losing SEC champ Auburn, would get first pick, and would still select Arkansas, due to their ranking in the BCS top-14 making them eligible, and their SEC tie-in.
• The selection order for the January 2011 bowls is the following: Sugar, Orange, Fiesta.  For simplicity, we will add the Gator as having the final pick.
• The Sugar Bowl would still pick Ohio State to match up with Arkansas.
• The Orange Bowl would still choose Stanford to compete against ACC champ Virginia Tech.
• The Fiesta Bowl, not having to select Connecticut by default, would likely choose 11th-ranked Boise State against Big XII champion Oklahoma in a rematch of one of the best BCS bowls ever played.
• The Gator Bowl would likely choose 12th-ranked Missouri to go against Big East champion Connecticut.  LSU and Michigan State are ineligible due to the rule that states that only two teams from a conference can play in the BCS bowls.

To recap, the bowl games would be:

• BCS Title—Auburn vs. Oregon
• Sugar Bowl—Arkansas vs. Ohio State
• Orange Bowl—Virginia Tech vs. Stanford
• Fiesta Bowl—Oklahoma vs. Boise State
• Gator Bowl—Connecticut vs. Missouri

To me, this only seems logical.  As long as the BCS is going to allow for automatic qualification, the teams that do automatically qualify by way of winning a championship should take precedence over the at-large selections. 

Until the Big East is affiliated with a bowl, or loses their AQ status, another BCS bowl game is necessary.  Besides, it would mean more money for the BCS system, which we all can agree is what it's in place anyway.