I used the 2010 bowl tie-ins, but switched the BCS conferences up to better represent the college basketball landscape. The swaps were made based on conference size, strength and relevant tie-ins. Keep in mind this isn't based just on the past season (the tie-ins are always set before a football season begins).
For this exercise...
SEC (Football) = Big East
Big 12 (Football) = ACC
Big Ten (Football) = Big Ten
ACC (Football) = Big 12
Pac-10 (Football) = SEC
Big East (Football) = Pac-10
Additionally, I took all of the other conference tie-ins and made them available to all mid-major teams, which I ranked based on the RPI (aka, BCS Formula). Two mid-major teams - BYU and San Diego State - were automatic qualifiers for BCS bowl games based on their top five RPI rankings. This left 20 bowl spots for mid-majors.
If a team from a major conference had a losing record, they were not bowl eligible (Virginia was the only team close at 16-15).
Purdue took the third at-large BCS bid since Ohio State qualified for the national title game and the Rose Bowl needed a Big Ten representative. This left Duke (BCS #4) to claim the fourth at-large bid.
Conference champions were based on final regular season standings, not conference tournament results.
Here's what the 2011 college basketball bowl schedule would have looked like:
March 19
New Mexico Bowl: OAKLAND (Mid-Major #20) vs. UTEP (Mid-Major #22)
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: UAB (Mid-Major #10) vs. RICHMOND (Mid-Major #14)
UDrove Humanitarian Bowl: XAVIER (Mid-Major #5) vs. GEORGE MASON (Mid-Major #6)
Military Bowl: BAYLOR (Big 12 #8) vs. GONZAGA (Mid-Major #21)
March 22
Beef ‘O Brady's Bowl: WASHINGTON STATE (Pac-10 #6) vs. PRINCETON (Mid-Major #14)
March 23
Maaco Las Vegas Bowl: UTAH STATE (Mid-Major #3) vs. GEORGIA (SEC #5)
March 24
SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl: UNLV (Mid-Major #6) vs. BELMONT (Mid-Major #19)
March 25
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: MEMPHIS (Mid-Major #8) vs. SAINT MARY'S (Mid-Major #17)
March 27
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: MINNESOTA (Big 10 #9) vs. MISSOURI STATE (Mid-Major #16)
March 28
Advocare V100 Independence Bowl: NEBRASKA (BIG 12 #7) vs. TEMPLE (Mid-Major #9)
March 29
Insight Bowl: CLEMSON (ACC #5) vs. PENN STATE (Big 10 #6)
Champs Sports Bowl: TEXAS A&M (Big 12 #3) vs. UCLA (Pac 10 #2)
March 30
Valero Alamo Bowl: VIRGINIA TECH (ACC #4). vs. ALABAMA (SEC #2)
Texas Bowl: MARYLAND (ACC #7) vs. MICHIGAN STATE (Big 10 #7)
March 31
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl: BUTLER (Mid-Major #11) vs. HARVARD (Mid-Major #12)
New Era Pinstripe Bowl: USC (Pac 10 #4) vs. VIRGINIA (ACC #8)
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl: COLORADO (Big 12 #6) vs. CINCINNATI (Big East #6)
Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl: BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC #6) vs. VANDERBILT (SEC #4)
April 1
Meineke Car Care Bowl: WASHINGTON (PAC-10 #3) vs. MISSOURI (Big 12 #5)
Autozone Liberty Bowl: OLD DOMINION (Mid-Major #4) vs. CONNECTICUT (Big East #9)
Hyundai Sun Bowl: KENTUCKY (SEC #3) vs. KANSAS STATE (Big 12 #4)
Chick-fil-A Bowl: TEXAS (Big 12 #2) vs. ST. JOHN'S (Big East #5)
April 2
TicketCity Bowl: NORTHWESTERN (Big 10 #8) vs. MIAMI (FLA.) (ACC #9)
Outback Bowl: MICHIGAN (Big 10 #4) vs. SYRACUSE (Big East #4)
Gator Bowl: WEST VIRGINIA (Big East Pick) vs. ILLINOIS (Big Ten #5)
Capital One Bowl: WISCONSIN (Big Ten #3) vs. NOTRE DAME (Big East #2)
April 3
Rose Bowl: FLORIDA (SEC Champion) vs. PURDUE (Big Ten Representative)
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: SAN DIEGO STATE (Non-BCS Automatic Qualifier) vs. NORTH CAROLINA (ACC Champion)
April 4
Discover Orange Bowl: DUKE (At-Large) vs. BYU (Non-BCS Conference Automatic-Qualifier)
April 5
Allstate Sugar Bowl: ARIZONA (Pac-10 Champion) vs. PITTSBURGH (Big East Champion)
April 7
GoDaddy.com Bowl: CLEVELAND STATE (Mid-Major #15) vs. VCU (Mid-Major #18)
April 8
AT&T Cotton Bowl: FLORIDA STATE (ACC #3) vs. LOUISVILLE (Big East #3)
April 9
BBVA Compass Bowl: GEORGETOWN (Big East #8) vs. CALIFORNIA (Pac-10 #5)
April 11
BCS National Championship Game: KANSAS (BCS #1) vs. OHIO STATE (BCS #2)
NOTES:
--Of the 70 bowl participants, 18 - California, Cleveland State, Miami, Northwestern, Boston College, Colorado, Virginia, Harvard, Alabama, Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri State, Saint Mary's, Washington State, Princeton, Baylor, and UTEP - did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
--National champion Connecticut is facing Old Dominion in the Liberty Bowl.
--National runner-up Butler is facing Harvard in the Armed Forces Bowl.
--This would have sucked
Loading comments...