In not-so-surprising news, the BCS leaders have rejected the Mountain West Conference's playoff proposal.

The MWC wanted to institute an eight-team playoff, which would've certainly benefited the smaller conferences.

Utah made a big statement this past season when it beat Alabama by 14 in the Sugar Bowl, finishing 13-0 in the process. Despite being the FBS' only undefeated team by season's end, the Utes never really had a shot to play in the title game. In fact, Utah ranked No. 6 in the BCS Poll at the end of the regular season.

In the AP Poll, which is not tied to the BCS, the Utes finished No. 2 and grabbed 16 first-place votes.

The MWC's plan also laid out how each of the four BCS venues would be used.

A non-major conference team has played in a BCS game four times ("BCS Buster"), winning three. Those four teams were all undefeated.

The only non-major conference schools to go unbeaten and not play in a BCS game have been Tulane (1998) and Marshall (1999). But both would've made a BCS game under the current criteria, which was adopted after the 2005 season.

You can check out the BCS selection guidelines here.

-Wayne