NEW YORK — As Southeastern Conference commissioner, Mike Slive's job is to be an advocate for his members at bowl time. He believes being Bowl Championship Series coordinator does not change that.

The SEC is in prime position to get two teams in the BCS when the pairings are released Sunday. The winner of the SEC championship game between Arkansas and Florida on Saturday receives an automatic bid. LSU was fifth in the last BCS standings, right behind Florida, and will be in the mix for an at-large berth in one of the five big-money bowls.

Slive said all commissioners have a responsibility to promote their teams to bowl officials.

"As commissioners, we talk with bowls about our teams, and we talk about how good we think they are and we know they are," Slive said Wednesday during a teleconference. "We talk about the fan base. I talk about the fact in the SEC that we had ... over 6.8 million people to our games this past year, and we just wanted to make sure that everyone knows all there is to know about the Southeastern Conference."

The SEC champ will play in the Sugar Bowl, unless Florida can catch some breaks and reach the national title game. LSU could be looking at a Rose Bowl bid.