The 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick met Tuesday in Dallas, along with BCS Exec Dir Bill Hancock to “resume discussing possible changes to college football's postseason,” according to Ralph Russo of the AP. While there seems to be “growing support for creating a four-team playoff to determine a champion, how exactly that would work and when the games would be played remains to be seen.” Hancock said, "It's very clear the commissioners do not want the championship game to be played too late.” He added the commissioners were "resolute about not having BCS games in the midweek after Jan. 1." Hancock said that the commissioners would “like to avoid playing games from early December to about Dec. 21, when most schools have finals.” The commissioners will meet again today, but Hancock “doesn't expect them to start whittling down the long list of ideas for how to conduct the postseason yet” (AP, 2/21). SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said, “If we reach a decision by summer, that would be timely. I don't see this being done until after this academic year." In Austin, Kirk Bohls noted any implementation of a playoff in any form “would not begin until the 2014 regular season.” Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson: “My takeaway is that we're still at 30,000 feet" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 2/22). In Ft. Worth, Mac Engel writes the way these guys are talking “they are cornering themselves into a very small four-team playoff.” Engel: “Call it a plus-one. Call it a playoff. … It's more like a toe in the water, and the tiniest tip-toe toward a playoff. My guess is the FBS will eventually become a conventional playoff, but none of the players in the meetings that conclude today will be a part of the process” (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 2/22).

IRONIC TIMING: In Illinois, Barry Rozner writes how “perfect it is ... that after a season in which the BCS actually got it right -- yes, the title game had the correct participants -- the very same conference bosses and athletic directors that praised the series all those years now want it changed.” Clearly it is “all about money, ratings, TV contracts and -- as much as anything -- vanity, because of all the years to be upset about the championship game, this should not be the one” (Illinois DAILY HERALD, 2/22).

In an open letter to Univ. of Missouri fans posted on the school's athletics website, AD Mike Alden "outlined several changes that are under way as MU makes the transition from" the Big 12 to the SEC, including an "increase in football ticket prices 'across the board,'" according to Dave Matter of the COLUMBIA DAILY TRIBUNE. Alden "stipulated that faculty, staff and students will not see a rise in ticket prices but the other price changes will place Missouri 'in the middle of the pack in the SEC.'" The other changes include Faurot Field "getting a new artificial surface this summer, costing approximately" $1.5M. Alden said that the Tiger logo will be "slightly enlarged at midfield," and SEC logos "will be placed on the field rather than on the grass berms where MU formerly placed Big 12 logos." Visiting teams will be "allotted approximately" 6,000 tickets per game, an "increase from the standard" 3,800 tickets MU has typically given to visiting teams. Alden's letter also addresed uniform changes that will be "introduced at the April 14 spring game." MU's "redesigned Nike uniforms will 'focus much more' on the school's Tiger logo than the block M that has adorned Missouri helmets since" '71. MU will also "unify the shade of gold for all its team uniforms and unveil new lettering" (COLUMBIA DAILY TRIBUNE, 2/21). In K.C., Terez Paylor noted how much MU will raise ticket prices "is unclear." Alden said that MU Senior Associate AD of Administration Mark Alnutt is "working to finalize" the '12 football schedule. MU currently has 11 games scheduled, and needs one more. Alden has said in the past that he "hopes to have the schedule done by" March 1 (K.C. STAR, 2/21).