They had to get permission from the NCAA to play in a bowl with a losing record. And they got it because there are too many bowls and too few normally qualifying teams to fill the slots. I heard they'd probably go to the Sun Bowl, not exactly a top tier destination. Sure am glad they lost last night ... being the the Orange at 7-6 would be criminal.
But as I recall, Florida State went to the Sugar a few years ago with 4 or 5 losses.
Probably should do away with automatic qualifiers altogether. Actually, I'm not sure how the current BCS bowls will be filled after the playoff starts.