BCS Says No to Play-Off, Yes to Play-In

Nov. 29, 2007 — -- The five games that make up college football's Bowl Championship Series will set their matchups Sunday after one more weekend of action, but future years could see more tweaking to the system, BCS coordinator Mike Slive said Wednesday.

Missouri and West Virginia, the top two teams in the BCS standings, are expected to meet for the national title Jan. 7 in New Orleans if both win this weekend.

Missouri plays Oklahoma for the Big 12 title, and West Virginia is a four-touchdown favorite against rival Pittsburgh. Third-rated Ohio State and No. 4 Georgia, who have finished their regular seasons, are hoping to move up.

Slive, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, reiterated Wednesday that a full-blown postseason tournament remains unlikely.

But Slive previously has said he's open to discussing the possibility of what's known as a "plus-one" format, whereby the top two teams after the traditional bowls are over would meet in a one-game championship matchup.

"I don't see what I would call an NFL-style playoff in the offing," Slive said. "I have been open-minded about whether or not we could modify the format into the … so-called plus one. We are looking at that as a potential option for some modification. I'm certainly, at least from my perspective, looking very, very hard at drilling down into that concept."

It's likely that a plus-one format would involve seeding the top four teams in the BCS standings and having two semifinal-type matchups in bowls with the winners advancing to the title game.

Future discussions would involve the bowls, the Division I-A conferences and Notre Dame. This is the second year of a four-year television agreement between the BCS and Fox Sports, so the current system will be in place for at least another two seasons.

The Rose Bowl, which features the Big Ten and Pacific-10 winners, has a separate agreement with ABC, and those leagues might not be as accommodating to a plus one.

"Some other people would have to decide that they like it, and then we would just have to sit down and we'd talk about it," Slive said. "If we were interested and other conferences were interested, we would have to see whether anybody else might be."