14 of the 16 were in the top 16 of BPI, and the 2 that weren't were the SEC regular season champs (LSU), and the PAC12 Champions (Oregon).
My feeling is that the PAC12 champs and SEC champs are pretty much are top 16 teams in the country over a Southern Conference team and a 5th place BigXII team that was 500 in the conference.