The at-large spot in the Orange Bowl was filled via a round-robin selection procedure defined by the other Bowl Championship series games ( the Sugar , Fiesta , and Rose bowls ) and the automatic bids . The order of at-large selections rotates annually among the BCS bowls . In 2010 , after the bowls who lost host teams to the 2010 BCS National Championship Game chose their replacements , the Orange Bowl picked first , followed by the Fiesta Bowl , then the Sugar Bowl . Having lost their SEC tie-in ( Alabama Crimson Tide ) to the national title game , the Sugar Bowl chose the Florida Gators as the replacement . Likewise , the Fiesta Bowl picked the Texas Christian Horned Frogs to replace the Big-12 champion 2010 Texas Longhorns . The Orange Bowl then selected the Iowa Hawkeyes , while the Fiesta Bowl picked the Boise State Broncos to set up a battle of the unbeatens . The Sugar Bowl was thus left to select Big East Conference champion Cincinnati Bearcats , fulfilling the BCS ' contractual obligation to provide a game for the conference 's champion
Big East Conference
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
2010 Orange Bowl