With the new national semifinals almost in place that will help determine who plays for the National Championship, the landscape of the major bowl games will be shifting considerably. One of the newest developments is that the Big 12 and SEC have reportedly agreed to send their champions to a bowl game if they don't qualify for the National semifinals.

SEC & Big 12 bowl champ agreement in 2014 similar to Rose agreement w/Big 10 & Pac 12 champs

— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyCBS) May 18, 2012

There is no word on which bowl will take the winner of these two conferences, but this is an important revelation for West Virginia, the Big 12's newest member.

This is important, because what makes the Rose Bowl special is that it features the same two conferences and often lends itself to rematches of great games from its history. But with the National Champiosnhip expanding to four teams, and the SEC seemingly always having at least one team in the two two in the entire country, it makes you wonder just how often the champions of these two conferences will both miss out on the national semifinals and play in this game. Gary Parrish might have said it best.

Best I can tell, the SEC and Big 12 just agreed to play a game that'll never be played. Ever.

— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) May 18, 2012

For more on what this agreement means for the Mountaineers, and all things West Virginia athletics, please check out The Smoking Musket.