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By Joshua Mason Daily Bruin Contributor

Bowl season has arrived, and with it the annual controversies pertaining to the Bowl Championship Series rankings. With two BCS bids, one to the Rose Bowl and one to the Fiesta, the Pac-10 is seemingly in appreciation of their BCS fate. At least this year. So too are Bobby Bowden and his Seminoles, who will compete in the national championship game for the third straight year since the BCS has been in existence. Other conferences, particularly the Big East, are in disarray over the selection process. Virginia Tech was denied a BCS invitation, despite a BCS ranking better than Fiesta Bowl selectees Oregon State and Notre Dame. All this comes on the heels of Big East champ Miami being deprived of a shot at the national championship game, despite finishing No. 2 in both the AP and Coaches polls. “Regardless of how it turned out, it can’t take anything away from our great season,” Miami coach Butch Davis said in a statement. “We had some great games, against Florida State and then Virginia Tech. We’ve won nine in a row and did everything we think we could have.” Which brings into consideration issues of selection. Besides the national championship game itself, which guarantees a matchup between the BCS No. 1 and No. 2, the other three bowls feature a combination of conference champions and at-large bids, giving the bowl committees the ultimate say in BCS politics. It’s the at-large bids that are the center of the controversy. The bids themselves aren’t necessarily dependent on BCS or poll rankings – rather, they are reliant on a combination of factors, including ranking, matchup desirability, national interest, regional consideration, and most importantly, expected draw. The three teams that received at-large bids this season were Miami to the Sugar Bowl, and Oregon State and Notre Dame to the Fiesta Bowl. Miami’s selection is easily warranted, but disagreements have arisen over the Fiesta selections. Many experts felt a Virginia Tech berth was in the bag after a late-season win over Virginia leap-frogged them ahead of Oregon State in the BCS rankings. Media attention due to heralded quarterback Michael Vick, was also considered an advantage for Virginia Tech over the small-market Beavers. The Fighting Irish, though they possessed the lowest BCS ranking of the three teams at No. 11, decidedly had an advantage in the selection procedure because of their independent status and massive national following. The Pac-10 put a spin on BCS selection procedures, however, when conference commissioner Tom Hansen suggested the Pac-10 pull out permanently if Oregon State, a Pac-10 co-champion, were not selected to the Fiesta Bowl. A week later the Beavers were invited to play Notre Dame in the coveted Fiesta contest, which will garner each of the teams a payday of around $12 million, which the Beavers will split with the Pac-10. “We selected Oregon State because they deserved it and won it on the field of battle,” said Fiesta Bowl president John Junker in a statement. Junker denied the relevance of Hansen’s threat as a consideration, and reinforced the notion that the Beavers were the first choice for the Fiesta because their season was “an incredible turnaround that somewhat mirrors what Kansas State has done.” The Pac-10 argument has been brewing in the BCS for a long time now. Many football fans perceive East Coast bias in the rankings, more than likely coming from the factoring in of both the AP and Coaches polls, which have traditionally held a bias toward the dominant East Coast schools. More coaches and writers come from the East Coast, and naturally, a bias exists in relation to the tradition of the larger conferences. An example of this bias was the difficulty Washington, Oregon and Oregon State had in working their way into the polls’ favor, despite all finishing the season with only one loss in one of the toughest conferences in college football. Only one school, Oklahoma, finished the season undefeated. “I’m glad Oregon State was selected,” UCLA head coach Bob Toledo said. “It’s about time the Pac-10 gets some of the respect that it deserves.” Of course, next year will be an even more chaotic time for BCS backers, particularly if a poll split occurs when determining the national champion, a scenario that may be possible with Seminole and Hurricane victories. Further, next season Rose Bowl traditionalists will witness, for the first time in most fans’ lifetimes, a New Years’ matchup in Pasadena that won’t feature the Big 10 winner versus the Pac-10 champion. Instead, the Rose Bowl will be the site of next year’s national championship, making a Pac-10 BCS invitation even harder to attain, especially if Washington and Oregon State don’t live up to the expectations of this bowl season. “There will definitely be some pressure on the Pac-10, but there’s always pressure on us to win,” Toledo said. “Winning those bowls would definitely help give us the credibility we’re talking about.” By losing a $13 million payoff and potential claim to the national championship, the Big East may have a legitimate right to complain this season, but prospects seem much drabber for the already excluded Pac-10 next season.

BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES COLLEGE FOOTBALL RATINGS AP POLL USA TODAY Coaches Poll Poll Average Strength of Schedule Ranking Strength of Schedule Numberical Ranking Losses BCS 8 Poll Computer Average Total 1.Oklahoma 1 1 1.0 11 0.44 0 1.86 3.30 2.Florida St. 3 3 3.0 2 0.08 1 1.29 5.37 3.Miami Fla. 2 2 2.0 3 0.12 1 2.57 5.69 4.Washington 4 4 4.0 6 0.24 1 5.43 10.67 5.Virginia Tech 6 5 5.5 14 0.56 1 5.14 12.20 6.Oregon St. 5 6 5.5 42 1.68 1 6.50 14.68 7.Florida 7 7 7.0 1 0.04 2 5.71 14.75 8.Nebraska 9 8 8.5 18 0.72 2 7.00 18.22 9.Kansas St. 11 9 10.0 29 1.16 3 10.14 24.30 10.Oregon 8 11 9.5 24 0.96 2 11.86 24.32 SOURCE: Yahoo! Sports Original graphic by VICTOR CHEN Web adaptation by MIKE OUYANG/Daily Bruin