Oregon Overlooked by BCS Bowl Series

How does the team ranked 5th in the BCS standings get dropped out of the BCS Bowl series entirely? Oregon, ranked 5th in the BCS and no lower than 6th in any of the major polls, is 10-1 but gets bumped by #22 ranked Florida State for the Orange Bowl?

Wasn't it just two years ago that #1 ranked USC was knocked out of the BCS Championship game because it only ranked #3 in the BCS poll? Why is it that the BCS poll served as "god" then but not now?

Consider this:

In the BCS Bowl Series we find #22 ranked FSU who lost games to 19th ranked Florida and also lost to three UNranked teams going to the Orange Bowl.

In the BCS Bowl Series we find #7 ranked Georgia (ranked behind Oregon), who lost to teams ranked #15 & 16, going to the Sugar Bowl.

In the BCS Bowl Series we find #11 ranked West Virginia (10-1) playing in the Sugar Bowl.

In the BCS Bowl Series we find Notre Dame, ranked #6 (behind Oregon), with one of its two losses against unranked Michigan State, going to the Fiesta Bowl (because it has a "BCS Guarantee" if it ranks 3rd-6th in the BCS poll). Gee...I wonder who negotiated that one.

In the BSC Bowl Series we DO NOT find the University of Oregon, who lost only one game...to #1 ranked USC, being chosen. Instead they go to the Holiday Bowl where each team gets $2 million instead of the BCS Fiesta Bowl where they would have received between $14 & $17 million.

I understand the need to spread the wealth around to the major Conference Champions BUT, after the Champions have been assigned their spots, the one remaining "at-large" position should go to the highest ranked BCS team not winning an eligible Conference Championship. In this case, Oregon.

A team such as Notre Dame (which cannot win a Conference Championship because it has chosen to be "Independent" should be treated no differently than any other ranked team.

Once the Conference Champions have been determined all other teams should be considered equally "independent" and chosen on merit, not by a popular bias towards one team over the others such as Notre Dame.

If Notre Dame wants to get into the BCS Bowl series with a lower ranking than other teams, let them join a Conference and win it like Florida State!

It is conceivable that at team such as Oregon could wind up undefeated and ranked #2 nationally but denied a BCS Bowl bid at all because the Championship game was given to the #1 ranked team (also from the Pacific 10 Conference and co-Champion having not played Oregon that year) and Notre Dame, Ranked 3rd-6th being given the at-large spot because of contracted agreements with the BCS.

This is folly! It must stop. The NCAA is not Animal Farm where all are equal but some (such as Notre Dame) are more equal than others.

I am not even an Oregon fan.

But the system needs some tweaking.

And the first tweak should be that sweetheart deal with Notre Dame.