BCS adds fifth bowl to system

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- The Bowl Championship Series agreed to add a fifth game Sunday, increasing access for schools not part of college football's most lucrative postseason system.

The champions of the six BCS conferences -- the Big East, ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-10 -- will maintain automatic berths in one of the five games. The remaining four spots will be at-large berths to be decided by a complex formula using national rankings.

The fifth bowl is still subject to final approval based on market viability, but all indications point to it being in place when the new BCS contract takes effect before the 2006 season.

"This agreement is a significant victory for college sports and higher education," NCAA president Myles Brand said.

The current BCS bowls are the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Orange. One of those bowls pits the top two teams in the BCS standings in a championship game, which will be the Orange Bowl next season. The Rose, Fiesta and Sugar host the other games.

Oregon president Dave Frohnmayer, a member of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, said the fifth bowl would join in the title game rotation. He also said the Rose Bowl would retain its long-standing ties to the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions during years in which it does not host the title game. The other bowls also would have the chance to protect conference ties.

Frohnmayer said existing bowls probably will get the first shot at becoming the fifth BCS bowl. Cities expected to show immediate interest include Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Jacksonville, Orlando and San Diego.