[Editor's note: This is a continuing look at what my design would look like for this year and will walk backwards one year per week, until the dawn of the BCS era. For other years and a better look at my design look here.]

Qualifying teams

Oklahoma, FSU and Miami(FL) would have qualified as the top group of teams.

Tournament

Florida State would have played Miami(FL) in the Wild Card Game for the opportunity to play Oklahoma in the National Championship Game.

Possible BCS Bowls

Orange: Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech
Sugar: Florida vs. Notre Dame
Rose: Washington vs. Purdue
Fiesta: Nebraska vs. TCU

Teams in bold would have been tied to that berth, italics indicate a BCS berth would have been guaranteed. Numerous Big 12, SEC and PAC 10 teams were ineligible due to their conferences quota of two bowls.

What actually happened and a tier based plus one next.

[Editor's note: It should be noted that the BCS projections above do not reflect what is presented in my proposal. The proposal download page will be supplemented with an erata page to document known errors while remaining true to the orignial presentation.]

What actually happened

BCS Games

NCG-Orange: Oklahoma 13 FSU 2
Sugar: Miami(FL) 37 Florida 20
Rose: Washington 34 Purdue 24
Fiesta: Oregon State 41 Notre Dame 9

Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Kansas State, Oregon, Texas, Georgia Tech and TCU were BCS eligible but not selected.

Under the current rules TCU would have earned an automatic qualification.

Controversy

FSU and Miami were practically tied with FSU coming out ever so slightly ahead in the standings despite having beat Miami earlier that season.

Oregon State was selected over Virginia Tech but most of the complaints came against Notre Dame being selected over Virginia Tech, Nebraska and Kansas State.

This was the third year in a row Kansas State sat out while a lower ranked team qualified.

A Tier Based Plus-One

Semifinals

Oklahoma would have played Washington and FSU would have played Miami(FL) in the semifinals.

Direct Participants

Florida would have qualified as a direct participant for being the highest ranked automatic qualifying conference champion. Purdue would have qualified due to not winning enough games to be eligible for two bowls.

TCU would have been guaranteed a spot in the first round games.

Remaining Teams Eligible for a Second Bowl

Kansas State, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oregon State, and Texas would have been eligible for a second bowl game.

Possible first round games

Mid-West: Oregon vs. Kansas State
North: Notre Dame vs. Nebraska
South: Virginia Tech vs. Texas
West: Oregon State vs. TCU

An Improvement

Both alternative desings settle the FSU-Miami controversy on the field. The Tier based plus one leaves itself open for controversy regarding the selection of Washington over Virginia Tech.