The Utah Utes have now had 2 undefeated seasons with a BCS Bowl win, and still don't have a National Championship to show for it. No other team can make this claim, mostly because other teams are allowed to play in the National Championship game if they finish the season undefeated.Because of this, the leaders of the Mountain West Conference are trying to boost the MWC's standing in the eyes of the BCS voters and computers, in order to give their teams a legitimate shot at a championship. Their goal is to get the MWC champion an automatic berth in a BCS bowl, like the winners of the SEC, ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big 10 and Pac 10.
Is it possible? Definitely. The BCS has very specific rules for which conferences get automatic berths, and it actually leaves room for another conference to move up and snatch an automatic berth, if it consistently outperforms one of the BCS conferences. Here are the guidelines, taken from the BCS Selection Procedures:
The 2008-2011 regular seasons will be evaluated under the same standards to determine if other conferences will have annual automatic qualification for the games after the 2012 and 2013 regular seasons. The champions of no more than seven conferences will have annual automatic berths.
If the BCS continues under the same or similar format, conferences will be evaluated on their performances during the 2010-2013 regular seasons to determine which conferences will have automatic qualification for the bowls that will conclude the 2014-2017 regular seasons.
The evaluation data includes the following for each conference (1) the ranking of the highest-ranked team in the final BCS standings each year, (2) the final regular-season rankings of all conference teams in the computer rankings used by the BCS each year and (3) the number of teams in the top 25 of the final BCS standings each year."
This year, Utah's performance was far better than that of the Big East and ACC champions. The MWC also had 3 teams finish in the top 25, which was equal to the ACC and one more than the Big East. So by 2 of the 3 qualifying standards, the MWC would qualify for an automatic berth.
The one problem, however, is with that tricky one at #2, the "final regular season rankings of all conference teams in the computer rankings". In that category, the MWC falls short, since teams like Wyoming (#122 in the Sagarin Ratings) and San Diego State (#136) really hurt their chances. The bottom teams in the Big East, for example, are Louisville and Syracuse, at #92 and 104, respectively.
Does the MWC deserve an automatic BCS berth? Probably not yet. But after the 2011 season, the berths will be reevaluated. If they continue to have teams like Utah, TCU and BYU finishing well, then I believe they'll have a strong case for a berth in 2012.
Mountain West making push for BCS auto bid [Rivals]
more
