NEW ORLEANS — John Swofford, newly appointed coordinator of the Bowl Championship Series, said Monday the BCS conferences will seriously discuss a plus-one format over the next nine to 12 months.
Speaking at the annual Football Writers Association of America breakfast, the Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner said his conference, for one, has “much more of an open-mindedness about a plus-one model than there was two years ago. Considerably more.
“My intent in advancing it is for us to collectively evaluate it in a very thorough way and ultimately make a decision,” he said. “See if there’s a strong enough consensus there to make that change and move forward in that manner. There may be hurdles that may be too difficult to overcome.”
A plus-one format would use the current BCS system but instead of putting the top two teams in a championship game, the top four teams would be seeded. No. 1 would play No. 4 and No. 2 would play No. 3, with the two winners meeting at a later date for the national title.
Backers believe the format would lessen the controversies that have plagued the BCS since its inception in 1998. However, the Big Ten and Pac-10 want their conference champions tied to the Rose Bowl, which is one of the four games in the BCS bowl rotation. A change could not occur until the 2011 season when the current Fox TV contract expires.
The BCS conferences will launch format discussions at their annual meetings in Hollywood, Fla., in April and will begin discussions for a new TV contract next fall.
