- The Bowl Championship Series consists of 5 major bowl games that attempt to feature postseason matchups between the top 10 BCS ranked teams
- One BCS bowl is determined the national championship game in which the #1 and #2 ranked teams will be matched up
- All 11 conferences of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and independent Notre Dame, along with representatives of the bowl organizations manage the BCS bowls
- The BCS uses a complex ranking system based on the combination of a coaches poll, a writers poll and a computer ranking to determine a team's rank throughout the season and produces a final ranking upon the season's completion
- The BCS uses a system of automatic and at-large bids to determine who plays in which bowl games
- Each champion from the 6 BCS conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, SEC) receives an automatic bid to one of the 5 BCS bowls, including the national championship
- The 4 remaining BCS bowl spots are filled via specifications described below
- Schools from the other 5 conferences may only receive an automatic bid to a BCS game if they meet certain criteria
- A special rule for Notre Dame is in place to determine whether or not they may receive an automatic bid to a BCS bowl
- If there are still slots open, there is a complicated system to determine who gets automatic or at-large bids to fill out the 10 teams needed for the 5 games
- Those teams that do not qualify for a BCS bowl may still qualify to play in one of several minor non-BCS bowl games and are chosen by the various bowl committees
You can find the complete explaination of the system at the BCS official website found here
