BCS commissioners meet this week
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Because of lack of support from the Pac-10 and Big Ten, the 'plus-one' playoff format to determine the national champion has little chance of passing.
It is halftime in Fox's contractual compact with college football -- two years down and two to go -- with important decision-makers meeting in South Florida on Monday to discuss possible end games.
Is this, finally, the first step toward a modified playoff?
Short answer: no.
The "Plus One" model, as promised in January by incoming BCS coordinator John Swofford, will be on the table at the annual Bowl Championship Series commissioners meetings. Yet, the plan seemingly has little chance of succeeding so long as the Pacific 10 and Big Ten conferences remain opposed.
Swofford said on a conference call Friday that any changes to the format would have to be by unanimous consent of the 11 BCS commissioners.
"I don't think it can be forced on anyone one way or another," Swofford said of the playoff proposal.
Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen can't stop the topic from being discussed.
"If they do, fine," Hansen said. "But there has been no change in the position of the Pac-10 that the current BCS system is the preferred system."
Fox's four-year, $320-million deal with the BCS expires after the 2009 season. The Rose Bowl, however, has a separate contract with ABC that extends through the 2014 game.
The Pac-10 argues that contract effectively ends any short-term playoff scenarios.
While most college officials remain opposed to an NFL-style playoff, four of the six major conferences are willing to consider a modified extension to the season.
The most popular Plus One model would involve seeding the top four schools in the final BCS standings, with the winners playing for the national title. Last year, No. 1 Ohio State would have played No. 4 Oklahoma in one "semifinal" with No. 2 Louisiana State facing No. 3 Virginia Tech in the other.
Hansen said you can talk models all you want.
"I have not seen a scenario that would change our mind about changing the current format or satisfy conversations we've had about the Plus One," Hansen said.
Rose Bowl CEO Mitch Dorger also opposes any format change but said he only follows the lead of his partner conferences -- the Pac-10 and Big Ten.
"Bowls aren't the people that are going to decide this issue," Dorger said. "We didn't decide the last system and we're not likely to decide the new system."
People with various degrees of interest and credibility continue to throw haymakers.
