Let's play a "What If" college football game

Under the current BCS rules, the champions of six conferences -- Atlantic Coast, Big East Big 10, Big 12, Pac 10, and Southeastern -- receive automatic bids to the BCS bowl games. Five -- Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West (which went 4-0 against the Pac 10 last weekend), Sun Belt, and Western Athletic -- don't. In order for a team from one of these conferences to make a BCS bowl it must finish ranked among the Top 12 in the final BCS standings or in the Top 16 if that puts them ahead of a BCS conference champion. However, that Top 12 spot is only guaranteed for one team.

Here's the What If game: What if, say, BYU and East Carolina both finish in the Top 12? Only one makes it in and that team is BYU. And what if Virginia Tech wins the ACC's automatic birth and West Virginia wins the Big East's automatic invitation. Both of these teams lost to East Carolina. How would that look?

Just wondering. But then this exercise was only a game.