Kyle from Denton, Texas, writes: Adam, what are the chances the Huskers end up playing Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl this year? My thinking is very high since the Big 12 doesn't have a championship game and the SEC and the Pac-12 do... that could end up pushing Oregon into the NCG. Oklahoma sits at #12 right now and if they win out will be eligible for an At-Large bid. If Nebraska wins out could we expect to see this match up in the Rose Bowl? I don't see how the bowl selection committee could pass this potential game up.
Adam Rittenberg: Kyle, this won't happen because the Rose Bowl still will select another team from the Pac-12. The Rose Bowl only must select a non-Big Ten or Pac-12 team once in a four-year cycle when it loses one of its conference champions and an eligible team from a non-automatic-qualifying conference is eligible. That's why you saw the Rose Bowl, after losing Oregon to the national title game in 2010, select TCU to face Big Ten champion Wisconsin. So it doesn't matter if Oklahoma is eligible for an at-large bid. The Rose Bowl will select a Pac-12 opponent -- USC, Oregon State, Stanford being the likely candidates -- if it loses Oregon to the title game.