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Updated: April 23, 2006, 12:45 PM ET
BCS considering way to make more teams eligible
Associated Press


NEW YORK -- Becoming eligible for the Bowl Championship Series might be easier this season.

With the BCS expanding to five games, college football officials will consider increasing the number of teams eligible for at-large bids. To do so, they'll have to lower the standards a bit.

In the past a team needed nine wins and a top-12 ranking in the final BCS standings to be in the running for an at-large bid to the best paying bowl games.

"One thing we will discuss is whether or not the pool of eligible at-large teams should be increased, given the additional two slots with the fifth bowl," new BCS coordinator Mike Slive said. "I'm not saying we will or we won't. There will be discussion and I anticipate a decision will be made and recommended."

Slive, the Southeastern Conference commissioner, and the rest of the Division I-A conference commissioners that make up the BCS braintrust begin four days of meetings in Phoenix on Monday. For the first time in three years, they'll gather with no major changes needing to be made to the system used to crown a major college football champion.

Two years ago the BCS simplified its standings formula, emphasizing the polls over the computers. Last season the formula stayed the same, but a new poll was created to replace The Associated Press Top 25. The Harris Interactive poll, voted on by former college football players, coaches and administrators, plus some media members, took the place of the AP poll.

The status quo will be in effect this season.

"We anticipate that the BCS standings will again be made up of the Harris poll, the coaches' poll and the computers," Slive said.

Last season, after two straight years filled with controversy, everything fell into place nicely for the BCS.

Southern California and Texas were the undisputed top two teams in the country, and both were undefeated when they played in the Rose Bowl for the national title. The Longhorns knocked off the defending champion Trojans in a game that will go down as one of the best in college football history.

The decision to add a fifth big-dollar game was made in 2004, with BCS officials feeling pressure to provide greater access to teams outside the six conferences with automatic bids.

The BCS championship game will now be played a week after the four other marquee games at the site of either the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta or Orange bowls.

The Fiesta Bowl gets the first shot at double hosting. Fiesta Bowl officials will be part of the BCS meetings this week.

"So there are several format and administrative issues that are not necessarily newsworthy, but that will take some time and some thought and some consideration," Slive said.

Representatives from Fox, the new television home of the BCS, will also be on hand.

Fox takes over for ABC after signing a four-year deal worth $320 million for the broadcast rights to the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls from 2007-10 and the national title game from 2007-09.

The Rose Bowl, which negotiates its own TV deal, will still be on ABC.

Fox is in charge of naming the new championship game and finding a sponsor.

"It doesn't do me any good to speculate," Slive said when asked about possible sponsors.

The Sugar Bowl has a new sponsor this year -- AllState Insurance replaces Nokia -- and should be back in its old home.

The Sugar Bowl made a temporary move to Atlanta last season after being forced out of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. The Sugar Bowl is expected to return to the Superdome this season.

"The Saints expect to play there so we think by the time the Sugar Bowl comes there won't be an issues," Slive said. "We're really looking forward to getting back to New Orleans."

Good article...I still don't think this will help the non-Elite Conference teams. It's just another ploy to get the sub-par elite conference teams in a big money bowl game.

Exactly. Instead of creating more at-large bids, why not give new bids to some of the non-BCS conferences? Hello? Anyone home? Anyone? Anyone at all?

like make it an automatic for the two highest ranked 'non-bcs' teams!!

Or just give BG an auto. bid....that would be better!!!

Falcons4Life wrote:like make it an automatic for the two highest ranked 'non-bcs' teams!!

Or just give BG an auto. bid....that would be better!!!

and it will not sell out and it wont be a big money bowl if that is the case...i am not saying that a game like we had in the bowl against MEM would not be good, but the issue is IMHO for that game MEM was overrated. this happens with all the non BCS schools, and the proof is in the reporting (they never get anyting right) becasue they dont watch and they dont care.

Ask me and I say as far as the BCS bowls go they could do any number of things to make them better,
such as
each conference winer from each BCS con gets a bid then and match them up. Taht is 3 bowl games, then take the ND equation and if they meet standards they get a bid for the next bowl, vs Best ranked non bcs Conference winer and if ND does not quallify the highestranke BCS school that is not a con winer, and then repeat that for the next bowl.
that is just one idea is more inclusive and could pit a BG team vs ND or Bosie VS ND or VS M what ever it makes it interesting and any win there in this formate would be golden.

Why not have a Mid-Major showcase bowl game? Pay 2 teams BCS money, hold it at a smaller stadium (Stanford's new stadium comes to mind) and make it the first BCS game.

BGDrew wrote:Why not have a Mid-Major showcase bowl game? Pay 2 teams BCS money, hold it at a smaller stadium (Stanford's new stadium comes to mind) and make it the first BCS game.

An interesting idea, but I don't think the masses would watch unless both teams were amazing stories (undefeated, top-10, star player has cancer, etc.).

People love to see David versus Goliath. I doubt they would pay too see 2 boys in loincloths chucking stones at each other. Well, some around here might....not that there's anything wrong with that.

BGDrew wrote:Why not have a Mid-Major showcase bowl game? Pay 2 teams BCS money, hold it at a smaller stadium (Stanford's new stadium comes to mind) and make it the first BCS game.

Isn't this game called "the Liberty Bowl?"

If you apply the name BCS to it, and ESPN and such hype it as it were a BCS game.....trust em it would be watched and well reported....

Its not what your presenting, its how you present it!

ah the recent BCS spins
BCS brass thinks it has right formula

By Mark Blaudschun, Globe Staff | April 27, 2006

PHOENIX -- The conference commissioners who run the Bowl Championship Series ended their annual spring meetings yesterday the same way they began: confident the new formula will work smoothly.
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''No major problems," said BCS coordinator and Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive.

Slive said the main task of the BCS and Fox Sports, its new television partner, would be to market the public on the new concept, in which one of the four BCS bowls (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, and Orange) would also serve as host for the BCS title game.

Fox Sports will televise three of the four BCS bowl games, as well as the BCS title game, which will be played a week after the first round of games.

Next year's title game will be played at the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 8.

Slive also said he expected Fox to make an announcement as to the name of the title game -- most likely the BCS title game ''presented by Tostitos" (the chip maker is the Fiesta Bowl's main sponsor) within a ''week to 10 days."

The only other change in the BCS system: an adjustment in the eligibility for colleges that don't qualify by being champions from the six leagues that have guaranteed BCS spots (Big 12, Big East, ACC, SEC, Pac-10, and Big Ten) from needing a minimum of nine wins and a top-12 BCS ranking to a top-14 ranking.
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.



April 24, 2006, 8:36PM
BCS Chief: New System Needs Explaining

By ANDREW BAGNATO AP Sports Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

PHOENIX — For eight years, the Bowl Championship Series has created as much confusion as clarity. And one year after it worked perfectly, with two unbeaten teams squaring off in a classic championship game, the BCS is changing again. And its top official wonders if fans will understand why.

"Just the fundamental format, I think, needs explanation," Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive said as the BCS' annual meetings opened here Monday.

The BCS is expanding to five games next year, with a new stand-alone national title game being added to the existing four bowls _ the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange.

Like the old format, the top two teams in the final BCS standings will play for the national title. Unlike the old format, they won't play in an existing bowl game. The title game will rotate among the four BCS sites beginning with the Fiesta in Glendale, Ariz., next January.

"I think one of the things that we need to be doing over the next several months is explaining the double-hosting model, which is in effect the national championship game rotating through the four bowls," Slive said. "I think there might be some confusion as to how the teams get to the (title) game."

It will help when the new game has a name and a title sponsor. That could be announced as early as Tuesday.

"We will (have a name) before we leave here," said Slive, who is starting his first of two years as BCS coordinator.

For the first time in three years the BCS meetings are generating little buzz.

Two years ago, the BCS responded to growing criticism by simplifying its standings formula, emphasizing the polls over the computers. Last season the formula stayed the same, but a new poll was created to replace The Associated Press Top 25. The AP poll was replaced by the Harris Interactive poll, which included former college football players, coaches and administrators, plus some media members.

There's little call for change this year, partly because the 2005 season played out perfectly from the BCS' perspective. Only two teams finished the regular season undefeated _ Southern California and Texas _ and they played for the BCS title in the Rose Bowl, with the Longhorns upsetting the defending champion Trojans.

The BCS' biggest change was adopted two years ago, when the fifth game was added in response to pressure to improve access for non-BCS conferences.

With more slots available, commissioners Monday discussed adding more at-large teams to the BCS-eligible pool. Under the present system, at-large teams must win nine games and be ranked in the top 12 of the final BCS standings. Commissioners are considering allowing lower-ranked at-large teams into the pool.

"The reason it came up, we raised it because you've added 25 percent more slots by going from eight to 10," Slive said. "Should we examine going to more than 12 (in the standings) as the cutoff for eligibility for at-large? We just started some dialogue today. We're going to continue to talk about that.

"I'm hoping that we'll come to some decision here," Slive said. "We may not. It's an important topic and we may want to talk about it more."

Any change would have to be approved by the BCS' presidential oversight committee.

College Football: BCS might ease bowl eligibility
New game: With five bowls, the BCS will consider new rules for at-large bids
By Ralph D. Russo
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Becoming eligible for the Bowl Championship Series might be easier this season.
With the BCS expanding to five games, college football officials will consider increasing the number of teams eligible for at-large bids. To do so, they'll have to lower the standards a bit.
In the past, a team needed nine wins and a top-12 ranking in the final BCS standings to be in the running for an at-large bid to the best paying bowl games.
''One thing we will discuss is whether or not the pool of eligible at-large teams should be increased, given the additional two slots with the fifth bowl,'' new BCS coordinator Mike Slive said. ''I'm not saying we will or we won't. There will be discussion and I anticipate a decision will be made and recommended.''
Slive, the Southeastern Conference commissioner, and the rest of the Division I-A conference commissioners that make up the BCS braintrust begin four days of meetings in Phoenix today. For the first time in three years, they'll gather with no major changes needing to be made to the system used to crown a major college football champion.
Two years ago the BCS simplified its standings formula, emphasizing the polls over the computers. Last season, the formula stayed the same, but a new poll was created to replace The Associated Press Top 25. The Harris Interactive poll, voted on by former college football players, coaches and administrators, plus some media members, took the place of the AP poll.
The status quo will be in effect this season.
''We anticipate that the BCS standings will again be made up of the Harris poll, the coaches' poll and the computers,'' Slive said.
Last season, after two straight years filled with controversy, everything fell into place nicely for the BCS.
Southern California and Texas were the undisputed top two teams in the country, and both were undefeated when they played in the Rose Bowl for the national title. The Longhorns knocked off the defending champion Trojans in a game that will go down as one of the best in college football history.
The decision to add a fifth big-dollar game was

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made in 2004, with BCS officials feeling pressure to provide greater access to teams outside the six conferences with automatic bids.
The BCS championship game will now be played a week after the four other marquee games at the site of either the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta or Orange bowls.
The Fiesta Bowl gets the first shot at double hosting. Fiesta Bowl officials will be part of the BCS meetings this week.
''So there are several format and administrative issues that are not necessarily newsworthy, but that will take some time and some thought and some consideration,'' Slive said.
Representatives from Fox, the new television home of the BCS, will also be on hand.
Fox takes over for ABC after signing a four-year deal worth $320 million for the broadcast rights to the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls from 2007-10 and the national title game from 2007-09.
The Rose Bowl, which negotiates its own TV deal, will still be on ABC.
Fox is in charge of naming the new championship game and finding a sponsor.
''It doesn't do me any good to speculate,'' Slive said when asked about possible sponsors.
The Sugar Bowl has a new sponsor this year - AllState Insurance replaces Nokia - and should be back in its old home.
The Sugar Bowl made a temporary move to Atlanta last season after being forced out of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. The Sugar Bowl is expected to return to the Superdome this season.
''The Saints expect to play there so we think by the time the Sugar Bowl comes there won't be an issues,'' Slive said. ''We're really looking forward to getting back to New Orleans.''