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The Alamo Bowl announced today they'll be taking the best of the Pac-12 and the best of the Big 12 that do not qualify for the College Football Playoff. That could mean that the Alamo Bowl gets the second best Pac-12 and second best Big 12 teams, and sometimes even the Pac-12 or Big 12 Champions in the rare case that either conference gets pushed out of the playoff AND the Rose Bowl is in the current Playoff rotation.
RT @valeroalamobowl: Top teams from @big12conference & @pac12 outside playoff group coming to @alamodome: bit.ly/16PMkOa
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) June 7, 2013
RT @bryandfischer Rose Bowl will always have Pac-12 Champion unless team is in semis or RB hosts a semi
— Pacific Takes (@PacificTakes) June 7, 2013
In the old bowl format, the Alamo Bowl was already the top non-BCS bowl for the Pac-12, featuring Oregon State, Washington, and Arizona in the past three seasons. The Big 12 is upgrading, having sent their third best team from the conference in previous three years.
The Big 12 is 3-0 in matchups against the Pac-12, although it's a slightly skewed statistic: The Big 12 only sent one BCS team in each of those seasons, while the Pac-12 sent two each year. Thus it was a matchup between the Pac-12's 3rd best team and the Big 12's 3rd best team, so it was a bit more on even ground. Washington nearly went toe-to-toe with RGIII and Baylor, while Oregon State controlled much of their game with Texas before things unraveled in the final minutes.