When the Rose Bowl gave in and finally joined the BCS, we were told that the arrangement would be straightforward: When neither a Big Ten or Pac 10 school is in the #1 vs #2 BCS Championship game, the Rose Bowl will feature the Big Ten champion versus the Pac 10 champ.

There was even an informal agreement that in years when a Pac 10 or Big Ten team played in the BCS Championship game, that when either conference had a second team in the BCS, the Big Ten vs Pac 10 rivalry would remain. For example, if USC were ranked #1 and off to a BCS Championship game, and say, Cal qualified for the BCS, then the Big Ten champ would play Pac Ten school Cal.

But things are changing.

With a new rule in place, a NON-BCS conference school that qualifies for the BCS could force the Rose Bowl to invite them, even if another Big Ten/Pac 10 school qualifies and could maintain the rivalry.

Via, ESPN, here’s how it would work:

“Let’s say USC is selected for the national championship game following the 2010 season. Rather than selecting another Pac-10 team, the Rose Bowl would have to take a non-BCS team if that team is eligible for BCS bowl selection and not headed to the national championship game. So you could have the Big Ten champion against a team from the Mountain West, WAC, Conference USA, MAC or Sun Belt.”