These standings will be at the top of the page until the end of the bowl season and will be updated daily.

What is ROS next?

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More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

2 months ago: FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2008 file photo, workers pause to study their work as they paint the logo for the BCS Championship football game on the field at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Bowl Championship Series officials are considering hiring a permanent point person to be a full-time advocate for the often-criticized postseason system. If a new position were created it likely would take over much of the high-profile responsibilities of the BCS coordinator _ a two-year post that rotates among the commissioners of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Big 12 and Southeastern Conference.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

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[For the rest of the bowl season I will be periodically posting a summary of recent news for each BCS bowl participant.]

National Championship Game:

Texas Longhorns: DJ Monroe will be allowed to play in the NCG. The charges of DWI charges that got him suspended were reduced to a misdemeanor driving offense. DJ Monroe is a star kick returned known for his speed.

Alabama Crimson Tide: QB Greg McElroy will apply next year to be a Rhode Scholar. He will wait until finishing his final season of eligibility at Alabama to apply.

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This is a continuing look at what my design would look like for this year and will walk backwards one year per week, until the dawn of the BCS era. For other years and a better look at my design look here.

Qualifying teams

Top Group: Ohio St. and LSU
Undefeated: #10 Hawaii

Hawaii did not play two teams that were in the final BCS top 25 in 2003-2006 but would likely have scheduled differently had this rule been in place. If this rule is applied here the current system would have been used.

Since Hawaii was not in the top eight the field would be expanded to the second gap to guarantee they got three rounds of competition to prove their worth.

Added Teams: Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Georgia

Tournament

The following play-in games would be held on December 19th or 20th:

Hawaii @ Virginia Tech, Georgia @ Oklahoma

The lowest ranked team to advance would play LSU in the Sugar Bowl. The other advancing team would face Ohio St. in the Rose Bowl. The winners would advance to the National Championship Game.

Possible BCS Bowls

Fiesta: Kansas vs. USC
Orange: West Virginia vs. Boston College

Teams in bold would have been tied to that berth, italics indicate a BCS berth would have been guaranteed.  Missouri, Arizona St. and Illinois would have been eligible for BCS bowls. Only one of Kansas and Missouri would have been eligible.

What actually happened and a tier based plus one next.

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December 26th 2009, 1 ET ESPN

The Little Ceasar's Pizza Bowl starts its first season under its new name (Formerly the Motor City Bowl) with the Marshall Thundering Herd team that was present for the first four games in the thirteen year history of this bowl game. This bowl is advertised as the only major bowl game played in the mid-west.

Marshall is 3-1 in the Pizza Bowl and this will be the Ohio Bobcats first appearance.  Ohio leads the all time series 29-17-6, though Marshall has a four game winning streak.  They won the most recent game 16-13 in Athens Ohio. They have not played since Marshall left the MAC for C-USA.

Five years later, how do the teams look?

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More photos » by Norm Dettlaff - AP

about 1 month ago: Nevada's Luke Lippincott (7) threads his way through the New Mexico State defense Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009, at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces, N.M., during the first quarter of the NCAA college football game. (AP Photo/Las Cruces Sun-News, Norm Dettlaff)

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December 24th 2009, 8:00 ET ESPN

This year's Hawaii Bowl will feature the 8-4 Nevada Wolfpack vs. the 7-5 SMU Mustangs. This will be the eight Hawaii Bowl and the third without the Hawaii Warriors. Nevada will be making their second Hawaii Bowl appearance, with a 49-48 OT win over UCF in 2005. This is the only time either of this year's participants have been in a Hawaii Bowl.

Nevada leads the all time series 3-2, and three of the last four. SMU won the last meeting 38-20 in Dallas in 2004. All previous games where from 2000-2004 when both teams were members of the WAC.

Nevada started off with a three game losing streak to then rally off eight straight games before losing to Fiesta Bowl bound Boise State. Most of those games were not even close.

SMU finished winning four of their last five in a long season with many close games.

What will we see when these two teams meet on the field?

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New Year's Day was once a celebration of elite college football. Bowls were once played on days in order of increasing prestige. Bowls were once limited in number to maintain their significance of their reward.

The recent bowl creep and (to a lesser degree) the BCS have eroded these traditions.

Selecting participants and maintaining relationships with conference is a major part of the major bowls image. Most major bowls will not agree to be hosts for seeded games with arbitrary conference alignments. The New Year's and New Year's Eve dates are also largely non negotiable.

The BCS bowls expect to have teams from the top 10 in most years. Having them as an outside NIT like role after the tournament selection will not achieve this. Consolation games and third place games have never worked in any league. The BCS bowls will not agree to become games for those eliminated from the tournament alone.

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More photos » by Lynne Sladky - AP

4 months ago: FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2009 file photo, the BCS championship trophy sits on display in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, FILE)

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I have been busy with finals week at work, but have the next three weeks off. This will give me time to amp up the pace of my bowl previews and work on my secret project (don't let the word out that I am working on a moajor revision to me BCS proposal)

For now, here are some of the BCS topics people are talking about:

K Street sees payout with BCS blitz - - POLITICO.com

A breakdown on the $$$ in Washington and who is paying what to get their ideas represented on the hill.

A penalty on BCS basher George Will - washingtonpost.com

A defense of the BCS

OSU's Gee reaffirms there's 'no support' for major college football playoff: Ohio State Insider | Ohio State Buckeyes - cleveland.com - - cleveland.com

Apparently college presidents still don't like a playoff. Purdue, Michigan, the SEC and MWC might disagree, but I digress.

PlayoffPAC

A solid rebuttal to many anti-playoff claims. I wish this could be done without the partisan your either for us or against us tone.

Fiesta Bowl disappointment - Brooklyn Eagle, Bay Ridge Eagle Brooklyn, NY :: daily paper in Brooklyn

Coming from Idaho this complaint is common. From Brooklyn? Now I will mention it.

Alabama football fans may be caught in crossfire between broadcaster, cable company | Breaking News from the Press-Register - al.com

Sorry Mobile Mediacom subscribers - NO CHAMPIONSHIP FOR YOU!

Time out: Alabama judge delays trial for college football / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

Attention Mobile Mediacom subscribers - try the local courthouse.

Utah football: Bowl games a hard sell - Salt Lake Tribune

Bowl ticket sales down due in part to the economy. I expect I will be taking the "Are the bowls really the money makers everyone claims they are?" ball and running with it latter this week.

More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP

about 1 month ago: Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn (3) looks toward the scoreboard in the final minutes of Utah's loss in an NCAA college football game against TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday, Nov. 14. 2009. TCU won 55-28. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

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December 23rd 2009, 8:00 ET - ESPN. 

This year's Poinsettia Bowl will be a second of two MWC vs. PAC 10 bowls. Last year's game featured this year's Fiesta Bowl participants.

This year we have the Utah Utes vs. the California Golden Bears.  Utah will make their second appearance in the fifth Poinsettia Bowl. Their first visit, the only one for either team, was a 35-32 win over Navy in 2007.

Utah currently owns the longest bowl winning streak with eight.  Six of those are in consecutive years with wins over teams from six conferences, including four automatic qualifying conferences.

California leads the all time series 4-2.  Utah won the last meeting in Salt Lake City in 2003 by a score of 31-24.  Utah has won two of the last three games.

Who is the better team in 2009?

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More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

2 months ago: Oregon State coach Mike Riley indicates a touchdown against Arizona State following an official's review on a ball caught by wide receiver James Rodgers in the second quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009, in Tempe, Ariz. Oregon State won 28-17. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

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December 22nd 2009, 8:00 ET - ESPN. 

This year's Las Vegas Bowl will face off the Oregon St. Beavers vs. the BYU Cougars.

This will be BYU's fifth consecutive trip to the Las Vegas Bowl and Oregon St.'s second.  BYU is tied at 2-2 in Las Vegas while Oregon State's last appearance was a 55-14 beating of New Mexico

Oregon St. leads the all time series 5-3 with the most recent meeting coming in 1986 when BYU fell in Provo 7-10.  Two decades later, how do these teams compare now?

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More photos » by Bob Levey - AP

about 1 month ago: Southern Mississippi wide receiver Freddy Parham (6) completes a reception over Houston cornerback Jamal Robinson in the fourth quarter during an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, in Houston. Houston won 50-43. (AP Photo/Bob Levey)

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December 20th 2009, 8:30 ET - ESPN. 

This year's New Mexico Bowl will face off the Southern Miss. Golden Eagles vs. the Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders

This will be S. Mississippi's fourth trip to the New Orleans Bowl and they have a 3-0 record in their previous appearances. Middle Tennessee St. lost their only other bowl appearance in 2006. 

This will be the first meeting between these programs on the gridiron.  How is this series likely to begin?

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