in the Big 12 title game, but their two losses at the beginning of the year were tough to ignore. Others felt Oregon deserved the honor, being ranked in both the AP and Coaches' Polls as the number two team in the country. Ultimately, after all of the upsets, Nebraska ended up as the number two team in the BCS, despite being the team whose loss started all of the drama three weeks earlier. Rules changes The NCAA Rules Committee adopted the following rules changes for the 2001 season: Charged team time-outs are reduced to 30 seconds if the team taking the time-out requests it. Otherwise, team time-outs are 90 seconds in length. Eliminated TV/Radio time-outs during overtime periods. All penalties committed by the offense behind the neutral zone are enforced from the previous spot, completely repealing the 1991 rule that enforced offensive holding, clipping, and illegal use of hands occurring behind the line from the spot of the foul. Stopping the clock once a runner's helmet comes off. Runners are exempt from being called for hurdling. Roughing the passer penalties committed during a two-point conversion will be assessed on the ensuing kickoff or, if committed during overtime, on the succeeding spot. Guidelines for officials on lightning-related game issues are included in the rulebook. Conference and program changes One team upgraded from Division I-AA, thus increasing the number of Division I-A schools from 116 to 117. The Big West Conference stopped sponsoring football after the 2000 season. Its remaining football-playing members departed for the WAC, the Sun Belt (see below), or independence: Boise State joined the WAC Utah State opted to become an Independent. The Sun Belt Conference, previously a non-football conference, began sponsoring football during the 2001 season, absorbing many of the Big West's former members. Arkansas State, New Mexico State and North Texas joined from the Big West. Idaho joined the Sun Belt as a football-only member Louisiana–Lafayette, Louisiana–Monroe, and Middle Tennessee joined after playing as independents. TCU joined Conference USA from the Western Athletic Conference Louisiana Tech joined the Western Athletic Conference after five years as an independent. Troy State joined Division I-A football this season. Regular season top 10 matchups Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will