Georgia Tech No. 12 in first BCS

By Doug Roberson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia Tech debuted at No. 12 in the first BCS standings released Sunday.

Predictably, SEC powers Florida and Alabama were Nos. 1 and 2. They don't meet each other in the regular season, but could play for the SEC championship in the Georgia Dome on Dec. 5.

Texas was No. 3, followed by Boise State and Cincinnati. There were four SEC teams in the top 25, four from the Big Ten, and three each from the ACC,  Big 12, Big East,  Mountain West and Pac-10.

Also predictably, Tech (6-1) coach Paul Johnson wasn't too impressed when told the Jackets were No. 12.

"That's great," Johnson said dryly. "We still have five games left to play. The rest of that stuff will take care of itself."

The top two teams in the final BCS standings will play for the national championship. This year's title game will be played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Jan. 7, 2010. Florida defeated Oklahoma, 24-14, to win last year's title in Miami.

The other BCS games are as follows:

• Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m.
• Rose Bowl, Jan. 1, 5 p.m.
• Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 4, 8 p.m.
• Orange Bowl, Jan. 5, 8 p.m.

The BCS standings formula has three components and they carry equal weight: the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Harris Interactive College Football Poll and an average of six computer rankings (Anderson & Hester, Colley Matrix, Jeff Sagarin, Kenneth Massey, Peter Wolfe and Richard Billingsley). The Associated Press poll crowns its own champion.

Unless a conference's champion rises to either Nos. 1 or 2 in the final BCS standings, the conference is contractually obligated to play in certain bowls. The ACC plays in the Orange, the SEC in the Sugar, the Big 12 in the Fiesta and the Big Ten and Pac-10 in the Rose.

To move up the BCS standings, teams need to win. It also helps to defeat teams that are ranked in the BCS.

Georgia Tech’s best hope for playing in a BCS bowl is to win the ACC, earning the automatic berth. But to do so, the Yellow Jackets (6-1, 4-1 ACC) must emerge from the pack in the Coastal Division and then win the conference’s championship game.

Tech’s ability to move up in the rankings will not be helped by its schedule; none of its remaining opponents are ranked in the BCS. The same is true for Virginia Tech (5-2, 3-1) and Miami (5-1, 2-1).

Virginia (3-3, 2-0) is not as fortunate. Virginia will play at No. 10 Miami on Nov. 7. Virginia will host No. 14 Virginia Tech on Nov. 28.

The BCS is an important tie-breaker for the ACC. Should at least two teams be tied for the division lead, and they didn't play each other during the regular season (which is the first tiebreaker), the next-to-last tiebreaker goes to the team with the highest BCS rating. However, if the tied teams are within five spots of each other in the BCS ratings, the head-to-head results would determine which team would play for the ACC title. If that can't undo the deadlock, a drawing is held.

For example, if Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Miami finish tied for the Coastal Division lead, the head-to-head tiebreaker would be inconclusive because each team beat the other. So, after going through all the tiebreakers, the decider may be the BCS rating. Should one be within five spots of the other, which is the case after the initial BCS ratings, a drawing would be held because each team beat the other.