EBS Qualifying Format

Overview

The following document outlines the ways in which a team may qualify for the Enhanced Bowl Season (EBS) tournament. Each year twelve teams participate in the EBS tournament. Team qualifications are objective so as to curtail the controversy associated with a subjective selection committee, especially given the limited number of teams earning entry into the tournament. A team can qualify either by winning its conference or as the result of its position in the "rankings." A team's ranking, in this case, refers to where that team is located in some mathematical construct (e.g., 1st, 2nd, etc). For the example seasons shown in this document, the current (enacted 2005) BCS rankings formula is used.

Methods

Teams may qualify for the EBS tournament in one of four ways:

The conference champions from the "yearly-qualifying conferences" (the current BCS conferences: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10, and SEC) qualify for the EBS tournament each year.
The highest-ranked, "merit-qualifying conference" champion (teams from C-USA, MAC, MWC, Sun Belt, and WAC) will qualify for the EBS tournament each year.
Further, any other merit-qualifying conference champion or independent ranked in the Top 12 will qualify for the EBS tournament provided no more than five teams are eligible to qualify under this rule. In that event, the five highest-ranked of these teams qualify.
Finally, the remaining available spots are for at-large qualifiers and go to the highest ranked teams who are not already qualified for the EBS.

Details

Yearly-Qualifying Conference Champions

The conference champions from the six "yearly-qualifying conferences" (the Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pacific-10, and Southeastern Conferences) are guaranteed a spot in the EBS tournament every year. These conferences have regularly demonstrated that their conference champions are among the best teams in the country. Rewarding the teams who have excelled in their conference play not only ensures a broad cross-section of teams from across the country, but also maintains the importance of a significant portion of the regular season.

Of the all National Championships recognized for current DI-A teams, all but nineteen of those were won by teams currently in these conferences (twelve of those nineteen were won by Notre Dame). This history of success demonstrates the ability of these conferences to produce the best teams in the country.

The inclusion of these teams also ensures the continued importance of the regular season. With conference play comprising the majority of the regular season, rewarding teams who successfully navigate their conference schedules keeps the winning of their conference as a primary goal for conference teams. Further, the inclusion of all the champions from these conferences ensures that teams from all parts of the country are represented in the postseason. This eliminates any perceived geographical bias in the polls as well as allowing the relative strengths of conference to be determined on the field rather than attempting to extrapolate from the limited number of out-of-conference games played each year. Finally, awarding these conferences' champions a guaranteed spot in the postseason preserves the bowl tradition which was founded as a means of showcasing the best teams from each conference in an intersectional competition.

Conferences without a title game may only automatically qualify one team under this rule. Conferences are free to break ties between co-champions as they see fit, provided the method does not seem to be an attempt to qualify the lower ranked co-champion in the hopes the higher ranked co-champion(s) will earn at-large bids. Conferences are free to use the rankings to determine which co-champion earns the qualification provided it is the highest ranked team that does so.

Merit-Qualifying Conference Champion

Because twelve teams can qualify for the EBS tournament, it is easy to provide mechanisms by which teams from "non-major conferences" can qualify for the tournament. The most striking example is the guaranteed inclusion of at least one team from these conferences every year. This guaranteed spot in the postseason goes to the highest ranked conference champion, who over the course of the regular season has proved not only its worth by winning its conference, but also by winning significant out-of-conference games allowing the team to achieve such a high ranking.

An analysis of BCS era shows that only four times this team finished the regular season outside the Top 12. Of the years such a team was outside the Top 12, the lowest ranking was estimated at #19 (BYU in 2001). Note that this is higher than the lowest ranking position held by several yearly-qualifying conference champions including: #22 Florida St. (2005), #21 Pittsburgh (2004), and #21 Stanford (1999).

Having demonstrated the ability to excel among their peer institutions, it seems reasonable that these teams should be given the opportunity to prove their worthiness against "traditional powerhouse" schools on the field.

Conferences without a title game may only automatically qualify one team under this rule. Conferences are free to break ties between co-champions as they see fit, provided the method does not seem to be an attempt to qualify the lower ranked co-champion in the hopes the higher ranked co-champion(s) will earn at-large bids. Conferences are free to use the rankings to determine which co-champion earns the qualification provided it is the highest ranked team that does so.

Automatic Qualifiers

A special qualifying method is included for any additional merit-qualifying conference champion or independent ranked in the Top 12. While a yearly-qualifying conference team can play its way into the postseason by winning its conference, regardless of ranking, these teams cannot; therefore, it is only equitable to provide a mechanism by which these teams may do so. These teams, having proven their worthiness of participating in the postseason by demonstrating that they belong among the twelve best teams in the country, do not otherwise have a means of automatically qualifying for the EBS tournament.

In the unlikely event that more than five schools are eligible to qualify under the rule, only the five highest ranked teams are selected. As of 2007, the maximum number of teams that could possibly qualify under this rule would be eight: the four remaining merit-qualifying conference champions and four independents: Army, Navy, Notre Dame, and W. Kentucky.

Conferences without a title game may only qualify one team under this rule. Conferences are free to break ties between co-champions as they see fit, provided the method does not seem to be an attempt to qualify the lower ranked co-champion in the hopes the higher ranked co-champion(s) will earn at-large bids. Conferences are free to use the rankings to determine which co-champion earns the qualification provided it is the highest ranked team that does so.

At-Large Qualifiers

The remaining open spots in the EBS tournament are given to the highest ranked teams who have not yet qualified. At most, there will be five at-large bids. While theoretically possible that there would be no at-large bids, the fewest at-large bids that were projected to have been extended was three during the BCS era. This occurred in 2004 when the C-USA (Louisville) and WAC (Boise St.) champions both earned automatic bids in addition to the seven other qualifying teams.

The at-large bids serve not only to round out the tournament pool but also help maintain the importance of the regular season for teams that would ordinarily be out of the National Title hunt. The regular season becomes more important to more teams because a single loss no longer necessarily means the end to a team's National Title chances.