For the Big Ten, the winner of tOSU-Iowa gets the automatic bid to the BCS; and the chances of that being the Title game are miniscule, so the winner of Saturday's game will go to the Rose Bowl.
For the Pac Ten, the scenario is a little more complicated.
Here are the Pac Ten rules for breaking a tie to determine the automatic qualifying BCS (Rose) Bowl bid.
2-team tie: Head-to-head
3-team tie: Record among head-to head teams (and they all play each other). If the 3 teams all beat each other, they look at who beat the 4th-place team(s), and eliminate a team that has a poorer record against the 4th-place teams, and then go to the head-to-head for the other two. If they all beat the 4th place team, or all went 1-1 against two teams tied for 4th, then they do the same thing against the next rung in the standings, until they get a difference. If they all beat the same teams, the team that has gone the longest without an automatic Conference Rose/BCS-CG Bowl would get the bid.
Pac.Ten.Tie.Break.Rules
Oregon and Arizona are the only teams with 1 conference loss, and they have yet to play, so if either team wins out no tiebreaker is involved. If the winner of that matchup loses another game, 2-way, 3-way, and 4-way ties are possible. 2-way ties are easily understood, so I will look at the various scenarios for 3 or 4 teams with 2 conference losses. I'll ignore the scenario where every team has at least 3 conference losses, but that's a possibility.
3 teams currently have 2 conference losses. Here are the top 5 teams, their losses, wins against the other teams in the top-5, and remaining Pac Ten games.
Oregon - USC(W), Stanford(L), still hosts ASU, plays at Ariz and hosts Oreg St
Arizona - Oregon St(W), Stanford(W), Wash(L), still plays at Cal, hosts Oregon, at Ariz St, and at USC
USC - Wash(L) Oregon(L), Oreg St(W), still hosts Stanford, UCLA, and Arizona
Stanford - Oreg St(L), Arizona(L), Oregon(W), still plays at USC, hosts Cal
Oreg St - Ariz(L), Stan(W), USC(L), still hosts Wash, plays at Wash St and at Oregon
3-way tie among 2-loss teams (tie-break winner bolded)
Oregon-Ariz-USC (USC would have a better record over Stan/Oreg St)
Oregon-Ariz-Stan (either head-to-head, or wins over USC and Oreg St)
Oregon-Ariz-Oreg St (Ariz will have wins over USC and Stanford)
Oregon-USC-Oreg St (USC would have a better record over Ariz/Stan)
Oregon-Stan-Oreg St (based on head-to-head)
Ariz-USC-Oreg St (USC would have beaten them both)
Ariz-Stan-Oreg St (based on head-to-head)
Ariz-USC-Stanford is not possible with 2 losses, since USC plays Stanford)
Oregon-USC-Stanford is not possible with 2 losses, since USC plays Stanford)
Oreg St-USC-Stanford is not possible with 2 losses, since USC plays Stanford)
4-way tie among 2-loss teams
If Stanford wins out, Oregon State wins out, Oregon beats Arizona, and Arizona beats Cal, ASU, and USC there will be a 4-way tie.
Arizona (beat Oregon State and Stanford, lost to Oregon and Washington)
Oregon State (beat Oregon and Stanford, lost to Arizona and USC)
Stanford (beat Oregon, lost to Arizona and Oregon State)
Oregon (beat Arizona, lost to Stanford and Oregon State)
Arizona would win the 4-way tiebreaker because of head-to-head over Oregon State after Stanford and Oregon drop out.
For the Pac Ten, the scenario is a little more complicated.
Here are the Pac Ten rules for breaking a tie to determine the automatic qualifying BCS (Rose) Bowl bid.
2-team tie: Head-to-head
3-team tie: Record among head-to head teams (and they all play each other). If the 3 teams all beat each other, they look at who beat the 4th-place team(s), and eliminate a team that has a poorer record against the 4th-place teams, and then go to the head-to-head for the other two. If they all beat the 4th place team, or all went 1-1 against two teams tied for 4th, then they do the same thing against the next rung in the standings, until they get a difference. If they all beat the same teams, the team that has gone the longest without an automatic Conference Rose/BCS-CG Bowl would get the bid.
Pac.Ten.Tie.Break.Rules
Oregon and Arizona are the only teams with 1 conference loss, and they have yet to play, so if either team wins out no tiebreaker is involved. If the winner of that matchup loses another game, 2-way, 3-way, and 4-way ties are possible. 2-way ties are easily understood, so I will look at the various scenarios for 3 or 4 teams with 2 conference losses. I'll ignore the scenario where every team has at least 3 conference losses, but that's a possibility.
3 teams currently have 2 conference losses. Here are the top 5 teams, their losses, wins against the other teams in the top-5, and remaining Pac Ten games.
Oregon - USC(W), Stanford(L), still hosts ASU, plays at Ariz and hosts Oreg St
Arizona - Oregon St(W), Stanford(W), Wash(L), still plays at Cal, hosts Oregon, at Ariz St, and at USC
USC - Wash(L) Oregon(L), Oreg St(W), still hosts Stanford, UCLA, and Arizona
Stanford - Oreg St(L), Arizona(L), Oregon(W), still plays at USC, hosts Cal
Oreg St - Ariz(L), Stan(W), USC(L), still hosts Wash, plays at Wash St and at Oregon
3-way tie among 2-loss teams (tie-break winner bolded)
Oregon-Ariz-USC (USC would have a better record over Stan/Oreg St)
Oregon-Ariz-Stan (either head-to-head, or wins over USC and Oreg St)
Oregon-Ariz-Oreg St (Ariz will have wins over USC and Stanford)
Oregon-USC-Oreg St (USC would have a better record over Ariz/Stan)
Oregon-Stan-Oreg St (based on head-to-head)
Ariz-USC-Oreg St (USC would have beaten them both)
Ariz-Stan-Oreg St (based on head-to-head)
Ariz-USC-Stanford is not possible with 2 losses, since USC plays Stanford)
Oregon-USC-Stanford is not possible with 2 losses, since USC plays Stanford)
Oreg St-USC-Stanford is not possible with 2 losses, since USC plays Stanford)
4-way tie among 2-loss teams
If Stanford wins out, Oregon State wins out, Oregon beats Arizona, and Arizona beats Cal, ASU, and USC there will be a 4-way tie.
Arizona (beat Oregon State and Stanford, lost to Oregon and Washington)
Oregon State (beat Oregon and Stanford, lost to Arizona and USC)
Stanford (beat Oregon, lost to Arizona and Oregon State)
Oregon (beat Arizona, lost to Stanford and Oregon State)
Arizona would win the 4-way tiebreaker because of head-to-head over Oregon State after Stanford and Oregon drop out.
