BCS conference

The BCS conferences are the six major NCAA Division I FBS football conferences whose champions receive an automatic bid into the Bowl Championship Series every year. All of these conferences besides the Big East have strong ties to certain BCS bowls (called "affiliations"). The six conferences and their bowl affiliations are:
*Atlantic Coast Conference (Orange Bowl)
*Big 12 Conference (Fiesta Bowl)
*Big East Conference (at-large) (They used to be tied to the Orange bowl. Starting with the 2006 season, the Orange Bowl will be exclusively tied with the ACC and will use the brand Home of the ACC Champion.)
*Big Ten Conference (Rose Bowl)
*Pacific-10 Conference (Rose Bowl)
*Southeastern Conference (Sugar Bowl)

In addition, independent Notre Dame receives an automatic bid if it finishes in the top eight in the final BCS rankings.

There are other conferences and independent schools who can participate in BCS bowls, but they do not receive automatic bids for their champions. These schools are often called "mid-major" schools. The Fiesta Bowl has twice taken such schools, and the Sugar Bowl once. The conferences include [ [http://www.bcsfootball.org/bcsfb/conferences FOX Sports on MSN - BCSFootball - BCS Conferences ] ] :
*Conference USA
*Mid-American Conference
*Mountain West Conference
*Sun Belt Conference
*Western Athletic Conference

Usage of the term

The term is generally used in college football (the sport, of course, from which it was derived), though it is often applied to all collegiate sports. In some sports, such as college basketball or college baseball, these conferences are also called the Power Conferences.

References