MAKING THE PLAYOFF BRACKET

HOW THE BCS PLAYOFF BOWL BRACKET GETS MADE

• Champions from the Top 6 BCS Conferences are automatically in the Playoff, and are also automatically in the Quarterfinals unless Notre Dame is ranked as one of the Top 4 BCS teams in the final regular season poll, in which case the lowest ranked Top 6 BCS Conference Champion moves to the First Round

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• First round teams are selected by taking the remaining 4 highest-ranked BCS teams after the Top 6 BCS Conference Champions are selected (with the exception that if Notre Dame is ranked as one of the Top 4 BCS teams in the final regular season poll, then Notre Dame automatically qualifies for the Quarterfinals instead of the First Round, and the lowest ranked Top 6 BCS Conference Champion moves to the First Round)

  • Highest-ranked First Round team plays lowest ranked First Round team, and 2nd highest-ranked First Round team plays 3rd highest-ranked First Round team

 

• Seeding for Semifinal match-ups is determined assuming that the best team in each Quarterfinal game advances

  • Traditional seeding is then applied based off of the BCS rankings of the teams in Semifinals either by being a conference champion or by being expected to advance from Quarterfinals 

    • #1 ranked BCS team plays team with lowest BCS ranking that is expected to be in Semifinals after the Quarterfinals are played

    • # 2 ranked BCS team plays team with second lowest BCS ranking that is expected to be in Semifinals after the Quarterfinals are played

    • #3 ranked BCS team plays team with the second highest BCS ranking that is expected to be in Seminfinals after the Quarterfinals are played

    • #4 ranked BCS team plays team with the highest BCS ranking that is expected to be in Seminfinals after the Quarterfinals are played

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• How Notre Dame fits in the Playoff System ...

  • ​Notre Dame receives an automatic spot in the Quarterfinals if it is ranked as one of the Top 4 BCS teams in the final regular season poll. ​​

  • Otherwise, Notre Dame must qualify for one of the first round playoff games by being one of the four highest ranked teams remaining in the BCS rankings after the Conference Champions from the Top 6 BCS Conferences are removed from the rankings as a result of them automatically receiving a slot in the Quarterfinals.