Enquirer wire services

The fallout from the BCS' weekly conference call Tuesday put Iowa and USC in the BCS, Penn State in the Capital One Bowl and Florida in the Outback vs. Michigan.

It also left BCS chairman Mike Tranghese wondering what he had missed. Shortly after the conference call, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany was back on the phone.

"We were informed by the Big Ten that the clock was running, it was our turn to pick, and that Iowa and Ohio State were not available," Florida Citrus Sports director Tom Mickle said. "They must feel Iowa and Ohio State are in the BCS, or we wouldn't invite Penn State."

The Big Ten issued a release that declared Ohio State and Iowa were headed to the BCS. It was news to the BCS.

"A big assumption on their part, I'd say," Tranghese said.

A BCS-conference official said the group evaluated several scenarios, all of which involved Iowa and USC. That led the Big Ten to believe Iowa's inclusion was a certainty, although it wasn't official.

With USC assured of a BCS invitation with its No.4 ranking in the BCS standings, Iowa's inclusion creates a three-team parlay among Washington State, Kansas State and Notre Dame.

Washington State gains a BCS berth (Rose Bowl) if it wins the Pac-10 title Saturday by beating UCLA. That probably puts Iowa in the Orange Bowl and Kansas State and Notre Dame out of the BCS.

If WSU falls, K-State and Notre Dame become potential at-large picks by the BCS. If the pick were made today, a BCS official said, it would be K-State, sending Notre Dame to the Gator Bowl.

There, Notre Dame would assume a slot reserved for the Big East, pushing Big East teams down the ladder and possibly pushing No.18 Virginia Tech (9-3) as far as the Motor City Bowl.