I think the Rose bowl is not part of the playoffs this year. They get the B1G champ unless they are in the playoffs. In that case they get the next best team.

Does anyone know how they determine who the next best team is? Is it the B1G runner up? Or can they pick whoever they want? (For example: if OSU wins the east, can the Rose Bowl take MSU or would they take whoever won the west? )

Zero percent chance OSU end's in the Rose Bowl this year.

But as far your question, I don't think the conference tie ins are there anymore. They can take whoever.

wouldn't they use the playoff ranking system? and just take the next best team that hasn't already been selected for a bowl?

The Rose Bowl has always done an excellent job of preserving the Big Ten vs. PAC tie-ins. My guess is if the Winner of the Big Ten East/West earned a playoff bid, the Rose Bowl would take the loser then of the Big Ten East/West Championship game, provided they're not dragging in some atrocious record.

In years when the bowls are not part of the playoff bracket, the highest-ranked non-playoff teams from the following conferences or groups are selected as follows:[SUP][52][/SUP]

• Rose Bowl — Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1
• Sugar Bowl — SEC #1 vs. Big 12 #1
• Orange Bowl — ACC #1 vs. SEC #2, Big Ten #2, or Notre Dame
• Cotton Bowl — at-large or "Group of Five" (committee selection)
• Fiesta Bowl — at-large or "Group of Five" (committee selection)
• Peach Bowl — at-large or "Group of Five" (committee selection)

So yes, rose Bowl will have Big Ten Champ if not in top 4 or the next highest ranking Big Ten team.

Wikipedia has a good summary of all possibilities. big Ten also appears to be guaranteed 3 appearances in Orange Bowl as well during first 8 years of this format.

I guess my question is, does anyone think the second best team in the east would be ranked above whoever won the west, but lost in the title game?

It depends. The last 3 or 4 years, it has been that way.

It's been the same in the SEC and Pac 12 too though. One side's second place team, who didn't get to the CCG, still finished higher in the BCS/playoff standings than the other division winner.

FatHobbit;1744664 wrote:I guess my question is, does anyone think the second best team in the east would be ranked above whoever won the west, but lost in the title game?

JMO but if it's a 1 loss MSU, yes. If it's a 2 loss MSU, probably still yes (if the losses are to Oregon and us).

I envision that both OSU and MSU will represent Big Ten in the New Years Six.

FatHobbit;1744664 wrote:I guess my question is, does anyone think the second best team in the east would be ranked above whoever won the west, but lost in the title game?

It was that way last year...was it not?

Sparty ranked above Wisky?

2 loss Sparty was 8 in the final poll, while 3 loss Wisky was 18. And probably could have been even lower after the ass whooping OSU put on them.