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).
