BCS REPRESENTATIVE TIE-BREAKER PROCEDURE

The following is the Bowl Selection Process for the Atlantic Coast Conference for the 2004 football season. Over the past three years the ACC has seen a 19 of its schools receive post-season invitations, a record for a three-year period, and that includes in 2002 when a record seven ACC schools enjoyed Bowl trips. Over the past three years, ACC teams have posted an impressive 13-6 record in Bowl Appearances.

This year the Conference will have as many or more quality choices for post-season bowl games than ever before in its history. The Selection Process for these games is the result of a true partnership between the ACC and its Bowl Partners. Each Bowl makes its own selection with regard to the criteria it believes is important for its game. The Bowl has the financial responsibility for this process and each Bowl also has a responsibility to its own community to create the best possible game for its city.

Although each Conference's Bowl Selection Process has its own unique specifics, the flexibility in the ACC Selection Procedure is mirrored by virtually every major Conference in the country. Avoiding regular season rematches and consecutive appearances in the same bowl game are two of several situations that require this flexibility.

After the BCS makes its selection or selections, the Toyota Gator Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowls have the next choice of ACC teams. The team that they choose, though, must be within one conference win of the next available team in the ACC standings. As an example if the Gator Bowl were to pass on a team with a 6-2 record in the ACC, it could only do so by choosing a team with no less than a 5-3 conference record. It could not choose a team that was 4-4.

The final three bowl games in the Selection Process: The Champs Sports Bowl (formerly the Tangerine), the Continental Tire Bowl and the MPC (fomerly the Humanitarian) Bowl do not have this stipulation. Each of these bowl games need the additional flexibility to allow them to make the best possible match-ups for their games.

ACC CHAMPION IS GUARANTEED TO BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

If the ACC Champion is #1 or #2 in final BCS Standings, then it goes to the FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami, Fla., on Jan. 4, 2004 to play in the National Championship Game. If not #1 or #2, then the ACC Champion is likely to be chosen either by the Nokia Sugar Bowl Bowl (Jan. 3, 8 p.m.) or the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m.). It could also be chosen by the Rose Bowl(Jan. 1, 5 p.m.), should that bowl lose either the PAC 10 or Big 10 as its host teams.

A second ACC team may be chosen as an At-Large BCS team and could be chosen for the FedEx Orange, the Tostitos Fiesta or the Rose Bowls.

ACC BOWLS

BCS BOWLS