November 07, 2003

New SEC Tie-Breaker has BCS Tie-in

As was previous noted here on Fanblogs it is entirely possible that Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida engage in a three way tie it could fall through the first six tie-breakers resulting in a vote by the other conference AD's. This concerned the SEC more than a little, and today SEC Athletic Directors unanimously approved a new 7th tie-breaker.

The new tie-breaker has a BCS tie-in to it, and will become a part of the permanent tie-breaking rules in the SEC. According to this article in the Atlanta Constitution-Journal, it goes a little something like this

if three teams are tied for the division title and the six previous tiebreakers fail, then the team with the highest rating in the BCS Standings after the games of Nov. 29 will be awarded the berth in the SEC championship game.

The catch is if the top two teams are within 5 spots of each other, then it goes to the head-to-head winner of those two games. As of now, this would put Georgia in the championship game.

Posted by Pete Holiday

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Comments & Trackbacks

1. Chris Lawrence says:

   posted on November 8, 2003 05:13 AM — link

   Interesting to note that the "within 5" exception is virtually guaranteed to open up the 2 BCS slot possibility, assuming a UT loss to Miami: it puts Florida in the title game with the conference champion slot at stake against LSU or Ole Miss, and gives Georgia an outside shot at an at-large BCS bid without having to worry about losing in the title game.

   Even without 2 SEC teams in the BCS, though, the SEC should make out like bandits, with 8 guaranteed bowl slots for the conference this year.

2. Kevin says:

   posted on November 8, 2003 09:49 AM — link

   Even USC is headed to a bowl (I believe), bandits indeed.

3. Chris Lawrence says:

   posted on November 8, 2003 10:04 PM — link

   Well, the UT win today certainly shakes things up a little. It's going to be an interesting few weeks of BCS-watching unless something goes haywire.