Univ. Of Georgia President Criticizes Big Ten, Pac-12 BCS Plan

Univ. of Georgia President Dr. Michael Adams Friday “criticized the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences for seeking special treatment in ongoing negotiations about the next Bowl Championship Series format,” according to Rachel Bachman of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Adams said, “This is not 1950, or 1960. … I think it’s time to put everybody on an equal footing. I just reject the notion that the Big Ten and the Pac-12 ought to be treated differently in this process.” Bachman noted Adam’s comments came “after several playoff formats under consideration by BCS leaders were reported” last week. Among those recommendations was an “unusual plan that would expand the semifinals to three games to preserve the Rose Bowl’s historical Big Ten-Pac-12 matchup.” Adams said, “If they can be accommodated without changing the entire process, then I think everyone is open to that.” He added, “But I don’t think that they have the right to dictate policy to all the rest of us.” Asked for his reaction, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said through a spokesperson that he is “glad that Michael Adams and others are fully participating in the conversation,” and that “the Rose Bowl has, and will continue to have, a very important relationship with the Big Ten.” Oregon State President & Pac-12 CEO Group Chair Ed Ray said that the BCS formats “are still being negotiated and that no one in his group was making demands.” Ray said of the proposal that called for three semifinal games, “We as a group never discussed that option.” Adams said that he “still supports an eight-team playoff using the four major bowls” (WSJ.com, 4/6).

EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF: YAHOO SPORTS’ Graham Watson wrote, “I agree that changing the rules to accommodate the Pac-12 and Big Ten is ludicrous and unfair to teams that worked hard to get into the top four spots and actually deserve to be in the playoff.” But Adams “isn’t exactly championing the sanctity of fair college football, rather trying to protect the SEC from getting aced out of a national championship or an extra playoff berth.” Watson wrote while a four-team playoff “might not be the perfect solution, at least it's [a] step in the right direction and a step toward a fair way of picking a national champion.” Adding in a special provision for the Rose Bowl and the Pac-12 and Big Ten “would diminish any progress toward a fair system” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 4/9).