College football

BCS inches toward playoff, but won’t call it that

Implementation is at least 7 years away, but discussions make it possible

Rob Carr / AP

LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey holds up a copy of the Times Picayune at the end of the game against Ohio State in the BCS championship college football game at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Monday, Jan. 7, 2008. LSU defeated Ohio State 38-24 to win the national championship.

updated 10:30 p.m. ET April 25, 2008

NEW YORK - Big-time college football never has been closer to having a playoff.

Don’t get too excited.

There are still plenty of obstacles standing in the way, and at best it’s probably seven years away from becoming a reality — if it ever does. But, hey, at least the people in charge want to talk about it. In Bowl Championship Series terms, that’s progress.

“This whole postseason of college football, since going back into the mid- to early ’90s, has been an evolution. Significant change traditionally has not come speedily,” Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner and current BCS coordinator John Swofford said, chuckling at his obvious understatement. “I’ve often equated it to turning a battle ship.”

The commissioners of the 11 major college football conferences, along with the athletic director of Notre Dame, will dock in south Florida for three days of meetings starting Monday, and talk about steering their ship into previously uncharted waters. Namely, what would it take to implement the so-called plus-one model into the BCS.

What’s so great about a plus-one? Well, one version of it is essentially a four-team playoff, using the major bowls to host 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 semifinals. The winners would advance to the BCS championship game to be played about a week later.

Currently, the BCS’s 1 vs. 2 championship game is set after the regular season, which generally leads to much second-guessing, consternation and complaining from the camps of deserving teams that get left out.

While there’s no denying the BCS since its inception in 1997 has created championship matchups that would never have been possible under the old every-bowl-for-itself system, its imperfections have left many fans, players, coaches and members of the media to wonder aloud: “Is this really the best we can do?”

Now the people who count most are asking the same question — Swofford, Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive, Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese and Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe all have said they want to talk about the plus-one.

The plus-one idea has been floating around since ABC proposed it to the BCS in 2004, when the two sides where trying to work out a new television agreement. But this will be the first time the commissioners themselves have committed to giving it a good long look.

Why now? There are two answers:

The BCS will begin negotiations on another TV deal with Fox for the rights to the Orange, Fiesta and Sugar Bowls as early as September. The current four-year, $320 million deal runs through the 2010 bowl season. Once another TV contract is set, the format is probably locked in for another four years (at least). So if the BCS wants to make a change that could go into effect for the 2011 bowls, now is the time to do it.
Because the working relationship between the conference commissioners is far better than it was back in 2004, when ABC put the plus-one idea on the table and it was soundly rejected. At that point, the Big East was hanging on for dear life after the Atlantic Coast Conference had lured away Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College. By raiding the Big East, the ACC had alienated itself, to some degree, from the rest of the group. And the five conferences that don’t have an automatic bid into the BCS games were fighting for more access.

Now the Big East is thriving, the ACC is no longer getting dirty looks from the other leagues and the teams that play in the Western Athletic Conference, Mountain West Conference, Mid-American Conference, Conference USA and Sun Belt all have a better chance of playing in a BCS game than they did before.

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“All that adds up to the ability to have quality discussions about most anything,” Swofford said. “The challenge is that ... this is not a simple majority rules kind of situation. It’s a full consensus situation.”

And there’s the reason why a plus-one, or any major format change to the BCS, is unlikely to be hammered out before a new TV deal is inked.

CONTINUED : Rose Bowl's TV deal an obstacle

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