The Capital One (2nd), will then make its pick following the BCS selections. The bowl must select the team with the next best overall record or a team within one win of the team with the next best overall record.
The Outback, Chick-fil-A and AT&T Cotton Bowls will work with the conference office to determine picks 3-5. The Cotton Bowl has the first preference of teams from the Western Division and the Outback Bowl has first preference of teams from the Eastern Division. The Cotton or Outback Bowl can select teams outside of its divisional preference, but must not select them before the opposite bowl selects from its divisional preference. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has the selection of preference following the Cotton and Outback Bowls.
In selections 6-7, the AutoZone Liberty and Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowls will make their selections, not in any specific order, but in consultation with the SEC Office. The Bowls will rank available qualified teams in order of preference. If there are no similarities in the order of selection, the bowls will be granted its selection. If the bowls rank the same teams in preference, the team involved in the process would get its preference of which bowl to participate.
The Petro Sun Independence Bowl will receive the eighth selection and the Papajohns.com Bowl will have the ninth selection of available SEC teams.
PETRO SUN INDEPENDENCE BOWL Dec. 28 • 8 p.m. ET • ESPN Shreveport, La. • Independence Stadium (50,459) Teams: SEC vs. Big 12
PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL Dec. 29 • 3 p.m. ET • ESPN Birmingham, Ala. • Legion Field (71,594) Teams: SEC vs. Big East
CHICK-FIL-A BOWL Dec. 31 • 7:30 p.m. ET • ESPN Atlanta, Ga. • Georgia Dome (71,228) Teams: SEC vs. ACC
GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY BOWL Dec. 31 • 3:30 p.m. ET • ESPN Nashville, Tenn. • The Coliseum (67,000) Teams: SEC vs. ACC
OUTBACK BOWL Jan. 1 • 11 a.m. ET • ESPN Tampa, Fla. • Raymond James Stadium (65,657) Teams: SEC vs. Big Ten
CAPITAL ONE BOWL Jan. 1 • 1 p.m. ET • ABC Sports Orlando, Fla. • Florida Citrus Bowl (65,438) Teams: SEC vs. Big Ten
AT&T COTTON BOWL Jan. 2 • 2 p.m. ET • FOX Sports Dallas, Texas • The Cotton Bowl (68,252) Teams: SEC vs. Big 12
AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL Jan. 2 • 5 p.m. ET • ESPN Memphis, Tenn. • Liberty Bowl Stadium (62,338) Teams: SEC vs. Conference USA
BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Following the 2008 college football regular season, the Bowl Championship Series will determine the National Championship. This season will also mark the third year of the BCS National Championship Game, which stands alone from the four traditional BCS bowls but will be hosted by each of the bowls once during a four-year cycle.
The BCS will once again consist of the FedEx Orange, Allstate Sugar, Rose, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game. The conferences with automatic berths include the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern Conferences.
FOX Sports will televise all of the Bowl Championship Series games, with the exception of the Rose Bowl, which will be televised by ABC Sports.
The Bowl Championship Series guarantees a matchup between college football's top two teams in a true national championship game.
A Division I-A independent team or champion of Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt or Western Athletic conferences will be guaranteed a slot in one of the five BCS games should that team be ranked 12th or higher in the final BCS standings or if a team is ranked in the top 16 and its ranking is higher than that of a champion from a conference that has an automatic berth in one of the BCS bowls. Should two such teams reach this critieria, the BCS will take the highest ranked team in the final BCS standings.
At the conclusion of the 2008 regular season, the BCS National Championship Game will be hosted in Miami, Fla., on Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. EST. The BCS National Championship Game will have the top two teams ranked in the BCS final regular season standings.
Other BCS games following the 2008 regular season include the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 at 4:30 p.m. EST, FedEx Orange Bowl on Jan. 1 at 8:30 p.m. EST, Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. ET and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. EST.
Each host site of a BCS bowl will host the national championship game during the four year cycle. Phoenix hosted the National Championship Game in January 2007, New Orleans hosted in January 2008, Miami will host in January 2009 and Pasadena will host in January 2010.