In addition to creating a national championship game , the BCS also created a set format for other major bowls . After the two top teams in the BCS rankings were matched up in the BCS National Championship Game , the other three or ( after the 2005 season ) four bowls selected other top teams . The term " BCS conference " was used by many fans to refer to one of the six conferences whose champions received an automatic berth in one of the five BCS bowl games , although the BCS itself used the term " automatic qualifying conference " ( AQ conference ) . While the number of AQ conferences was technically variable , the BCS always had six AQ conferences since its inception in 1998 . The Mountain West Conference ( MW ) was perhaps the closest of the other conferences to getting AQ status , but its request for AQ status was denied in 2012 . Each of the bowls had a historic link with one or more of the six BCS conferences with the exception of the former Big East , and the bowl games selected a team from each of these conferences if it was eligible for a BCS bowl and not playing in the national title game . The conferences included in this group , with their traditional bowl links , were : Notre Dame is an independent in football , but was a founding member of the BCS . Because of the " Notre Dame rule " , it had guaranteed access to the BCS bowls when it met certain defined performance criteria
independent
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
Power Five conferences