The Bowl Championship Series raised the eligibility standards Wednesday for at-large berths in college football’s most lucrative postseason games.
Beginning this season, at-large teams must have nine regular-season wins instead of eight–preseason games such as the Kickoff Classic won’t count–and be ranked in the top 12 of the final BCS standings to qualify for slots in the Fiesta, Rose, Orange or Sugar Bowls.
Conferences whose champions have an average finish lower than 12 over a four-year period could lose automatic bids.
The BCS tweaked its ratings system by adding five new computerized rating systems to the New York Times, Seattle Times and Jeff Sagarin’s ratings. It is adding Richard Billingsley, Dunkel Index, Kenneth Massey, David Rothman and Matthews-Scripps Howard.