The Mountain West Conference, seeking a bigger piece of post-season college football revenue, is proposing to dismantle the controversial Bowl Championship Series and create a 16-team playoff to determine a national champion.
Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson, in an interview with The Arizona Republic, estimated a playoff would generate $700 million annually for college football, more than three times the nearly $182 million the BCS generated last year.
"What we are trying to do is offer an alternative with the current system. We have not been comfortable with the current system," said Thompson, who based his financial projections on current television contracts with various conferences.
Thompson's proposal is among a number of ideas being considered by university officials who run the BCS, which faces a potential anti-trust suit by Utah's attorney general and a federal anti-trust inquiry. Other suggestions include returning to the old bowl system, where conferences sent their champions to specific bowls, or a playoff with four or eight teams. Or, the current system could remain in place; the current BCS contract expires in early 2014.
"The process of evaluating the future has already started. The first step is for each commissioner to visit folks on campuses and those conversations are taking place," said Bill Hancock, BCS executive director. Hancock declined to comment on the Mountain West's proposal, but a decision on the future of the BCS is expected in late April, when the BCS holds its annual meeting in south Florida.
The BCS began 13 years ago, and is a partnership among 11 college football conferences, the University of Notre Dame and the four major bowls - the Fiesta, Orange Rose and Sugar. The five-game system, which includes a national championship game rotated among the four bowls, rewards six major conferences - Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern. Those conferences created the BCS and receive about 80 percent of the BCS payouts. Their conference champions are guaranteed a berth annually in BCS games.
The Mountain West shares a much smaller share of the BCS pie with four other conferences - Conference USA, Mid-American, Sun Belt and Western Athletic - whose teams have never played for a BCS national championship.
Thompson said a playoff, which his conference proposed in 2009 but was rejected, would give more schools an equal shot at playing for a national title and would generate additional money. Currently, a BCS formula determines which two teams play for the national title.
The Mountain West plan would make it easier for champions of all 11 Football Bowl Subdivison conferences to qualify for the post-season as long as a team is ranked among the top 30 in the country. The rest of the tournament would be filled with at-large selections, and a committee would determine the seeding. Teams not making the tournament could play in minor bowl games.
Different playoff rounds would be played at home stadiums of teams in the tournament and bowls now in the BCS. All bowls, including those not part of the BCS, would be able to bid to host the title game. The payouts would escalate for conferences as their teams advanced, with the potential for a conference to receive roughly $95 million if one of its teams plays for the championship.
Currently, the most any of the six major conferences could receive is $28.4 million if two teams play in BCS bowls. The five other conferences will share $26.4 million this upcoming year if any one of their schools is invited to play in a BCS game. If none gets a BCS bid, they share $13.2 million.
The plan also calls for $100 million to be used for bonuses to conferences with high academic achievement and for enforcement and compliance of NCAA rules.
Thompson said his plan was sent to conference commissioners and Notre Dame in early September. He plans to push it during a meeting among commissioners and university presidents that run the BCS next month in San Francisco.
"This is an attempt to offer an alternative," Thompson said. "If you are standing still, you are falling behind. We are trying to be creative."
Reach the reporter at craig.harris@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8478.
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