MWC trying to get a piece of the BCS pie

Numerous news sources are reporting that the MWC is trying to get an automatic bid into the BCS bowls.

Now they have a compelling case. You could say that, this year, the MWC was a better conference (especially at the top) than the ACC, theBig East, and even possibly the Big Ten. The automatic bids for the ACC and Big East are historical matters -- it's really based on the strength of Miami and Virginia Tech (formally of the Big East) and the historical strength of Florida State (for the ACC). Neither of those conferences 'deserved' their automatic bids this year.

But when the last BCS contract was signed, it would have been stretch to say the MWC deserved a bid. But now Utah has 'earned' its way in twice, and TCU was one of the best 8 teams in the country in my opinion (and should have been given more national respect).

I think this is the right move by the MWC -- the iron is hot in trying to get into the Big Party. But I don't think anything will change. As MWC commissioner Craig Thompson points out, it's not a good time for change because the contracts are all signed and dotted at this point -- but the pressure for the BCS to open up its vaults to the MWC may never be better.

If I were to redesign the system, I would swap the Big East and MWC for automatic bids, or maybe just eliminate the Big East bid and open up another at-large bid. Either way, change is needed. But wouldn't the Big East fight anything like that? You bet, with a $17 million payout on the line. That's why I wouldn't count on any change for the 3-4 years at least. If the MWC can keep crashing the party, then change may be forced.