[jayasena]

I don't think ND gets the full payout of a BCS conference automatic qualifier. I think they get something like $6 million. But they do get to keep it all. I think ND also gets a guaranteed payout around $1.7 million every year if they don't make a BCS bowl.

NIU also doesn't cost as much as a BCS auto qualifier. I think something like $12 million gets split up among the non-automatic conferences as a result of NIU getting to a BCS bowl.

So ND getting in doesn't hurt the overall BCS finances. But NIU getting in (over an at-large from an automatic qualifying conf) does increase the overall payout. Not sure whose pocket that comes out of though.

[jayasena]

I don't think ND gets the full payout of a BCS conference automatic qualifier. I think they get something like $6 million. But they do get to keep it all. I think ND also gets a guaranteed payout around $1.7 million every year if they don't make a BCS bowl.

NIU also doesn't cost as much as a BCS auto qualifier. I think something like $12 million gets split up among the non-automatic conferences as a result of NIU getting to a BCS bowl.

So ND getting in doesn't hurt the overall BCS finances. But NIU getting in (over an at-large from an automatic qualifying conf) does increase the overall payout. Not sure whose pocket that comes out of though.