The Blue Board

"Also, the highest-rated champion from the "Group of Five" conferences -- the Big East, Conference USA, Mountain West, Sun Belt and Mid-American -- will receive an automatic berth in one of the six access bowls.

Earlier, ESPN reported the six-bowl rotation would be used, as well as an automatic bid awarded for the "Group of Five" conferences.

The six games will include three "contract bowls" and three "host bowls." The spots in the contract bowls are reserved for teams that have deals with those bowls.

The contract bowls are: Rose (Pac-12 versus Big Ten), Sugar (SEC versus Big 12) and Orange (ACC versus Big Ten, SEC or Notre Dame).

The "Group of Five" conferences fought to get automatic access to the six major bowls. It was especially important for the Big East, which has had an automatic berth into the BCS bowls, but in the new system, the conference will not have guaranteed access unless its champion is the top-rated among the "Group of Five."