NCAA President Mark Emmert has “reached out to Division I presidents urging them to support what is becoming the controversial implementation of four-year scholarships,” according to Dennis Dodd of CBSSPORTS.com. Emmert in a letter “asks the presidents to defeat the override proposal on legislation that is allowing four-year scholarships for athletes.” Emmert in the letter said, “It (override) will take away the opportunity for multi-year support for thousands of student-athletes. As we are a presidentially led Association, it is important that you direct what the vote of your institution will be. I encourage you to defeat the override of this proposal.” Dodd noted presidents “can vote online next week beginning" Feb. 13 through 5:00pm ET on Feb. 17. It will take “222 schools out of 355 in Division I to override the measure.” If the proposal “survives, four-year scholarships would still be optional only for each school.” The one-year renewable scholarship “has been in effect since 1973.” Big Ten Associate Commissioner for Compliance Chad Hawley said, “I’d be surprised, frankly, if it’s overridden. The proposal [came] out of a working group on student-athlete welfare. Nationally there seems to be a commitment to keeping it in play. I’d be more surprised than not if it went away.” Last month, the board “delayed implementation of the annual $2,000 player stipend” and asked that the working group “come back with a modified proposal by April.” Even if a new proposal gets through in April, it “would have to survive a 60-day comment period.” During that time “there would be a second chance to override” (CBSSPORTS.com, 2/6).

The Big Ten is not only "ready to listen to proposals regarding a national four-team football playoff, league and school officials are kicking around an intriguing idea," according to Teddy Greenstein of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Sources said that a Big Ten plan would "remove the top four teams from the BCS bowl pool and have semifinal games played on the college campus of the higher seed." That would “do away with the facade of ‘neutral’ sites such as New Orleans, Miami and Pasadena, Calif., and ease travel concern for fans.” The championship game “then could be bid out, like the Super Bowl.” Northwestern AD and Big Ten Administrators Council Chair Jim Phillips said, "We have to listen to the fans; we cannot be tone-deaf.” Also on the table is “creating a seven-win requirement for bowl teams, a rule that could torpedo more than a half-dozen money-losing games.” Another proposal is “moving up the BCS title game.” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said, “There is a very strong sense that we have missed the boat and are playing games too late. Students are back in class, people are back at work." He added, “It's a matter of coming up with something that does not kill the baby with the bath water. We have a regular season that is vibrant. We have 12 games plus a (conference) championship game -- that's a lot of games. We have academic calendars, though that doesn't resonate with many people. But if you're dealing with university presidents, faculty and coaches, you're talking about it" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/7).

The Pac-12 BOD yesterday unanimously extended the contract of Commissioner Larry Scott through '16, with the option to add additional years in the future. Scott since taking the position in '09 has helped deliver equal revenue sharing for the first time in conference history, secure a media rights agreement with Fox and ESPN and create the Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Digital Network (Pac-12). ESPN.com's Ted Miller wrote Scott has "done more in two years than just about any of the five commissioners before him. Combined." Scott was "asked to save the conference from becoming obsolete," and "he did." Miller: "Some have dismissed Scott landing the mega-TV deal with ESPN and Fox as serendipity. Scott got lucky with the timing, they say. Funny thing is: Not a single so-called pundit predicted the number Scott ended up getting." The "big question with Scott may be how long he will feel challenged by being Pac-12 commissioner." Miller asked, "Is he a lifer? ... I doubt it. Scott strikes me as the sort who likes action, and things might be settling down a bit in the conference" (ESPN.com, 2/6).