JTrain--thanks for the information. Pretty much sums up what we were thinking on this board already.
As for Rose Bowl loyalty to the Pac-12 and tradition...the Rose Bowl has already broke with tradition. And I mentioned elsewhere that some of the salt-of-the-Earth B1G fans I work with...well...while they're glad DoNU is in the B1G, they kind of see the Rose Bowl tradition somewhat sullied with a Nebraska B1G championship and berth.
Plus, with all of the anti-B1G press constantly going on about how down our conference is, the Rose Bowl may be pressed to do something to 'extra' to make the matchup more enticing to television viewers. Notre Dame would do this (only if they're undefeated), but the only team on that list of at-large candidates that would make the Rose Bowl a 'must watch' game for the nation would be Oklahoma.
While this would make the traditionalists upset, even the B1G fans would have to admit it would be an instant Top-5 bowl to watch. And let's check off the intangibles: traditional rivals, conference realignment politics, the 2010 Big XII Title Game, and the Ohio connection between the coaches would certainly get more butts in front of TVs than a UCLA/Nebraska, Oregon State/Nebraska, or Stanford/Nebraska Rose Bowl.
Again, this discussion is rendered moot if Oregon chokes in the regular season or doesn't win its title game...but I don't think that's likely.
This is an unwritten rule that does not need to be followed by the Rose Bowl. They will chose who they want because of MONEY. If they have a chance to have ND and us play, they will take it.
Correct. If there are no Pac-12 at-large candidates, then the Rose Bowl gets free reign, and Stumpy hit the reason right on the head.
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Also, found this via HuskerNationNick's link (thanks for the official information, BTW):
Team-selection procedures
The bowls will select their participants from two pools: (1) automatic qualifiers, all of which must be selected, and (2) at-large teams, if fewer than 10 teams qualify automatically. The following sequence will be used when establishing pairings:
1. The top two teams in the final BCS Standings will be placed in the National Championship Game (hereinafter "NCG").
2. Unless they qualify to play in the NCG, the champions of selected conferences are contractually committed to host selected games:
Atlantic Coast Conference -- Orange Bowl
Big Ten Conference -- Rose Bowl
Big 12 Conference -- Fiesta Bowl
Pac-10 Conference -- Rose Bowl
Southeastern Conference -- Sugar Bowl
3. If a bowl loses a host team to the NCG, then such bowl shall select a replacement team from among the automatic-qualifying teams and the at-large teams before any other selections are made. If two bowls lose host teams to the NCG, each bowl will get a replacement pick before any other selections are made. In such case, the bowl losing the No. 1 team gets the first replacement pick, and the bowl losing the No. 2 team gets the second replacement pick. If the Rose Bowl loses both the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions to the NCG, it will receive two replacement picks.
(For the games in January 2011 through 2014, the first year the Rose Bowl loses a team to the NCG and a team from the non-AQ group is an automatic qualifier, that non-AQ team will play in the Rose Bowl.)
I think the TCU selection is throwing folks a bit--the Rose Bowl was obligated per the last item here, it appears, to take TCU that year, as they lost the Pac-12 champ to the NC game. The Rose Bowl, it appears, may not have willingly taken TCU. I don't know if this is common knowledge or not, so I apologize in advance if I'm regurgitating something already known here.
Also, this doesn't mean the Rose Bowl is 'required' to take a Pac-12 team if Oregon goes to the NC. In fact,
per the rules above, the Rose Bowl's hands are tied if no other Pac-12 team hits at-large status.
So for those folks saying the Rose Bowl will pick a Pac-12 team no matter what...I don't believe the BCS rules support this...