Mountain West proposes 8 team playoff

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http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2009-03-04-mwest-bcs-proposal_N.htm

By Erick Smith, USA TODAY
The Mountain West Conference has proposed a new plan for the Bowl Championship Series that includes an eight-team playoff to determine a national championship for college football and eliminates the current BCS standings based on computer rankings and human polls.

The plan was revealed in a conference call by Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson and comes two months after league champion Utah went unbeaten and defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, but missed out on playing for the national championship.

"I will put this as bluntly as a I can," said Tom Buchanan, University of Wyoming president and chairman of the MWC board of directors. "We all believe that change is needed. The current system is not fair and somebody needs to stand up and say that and ask for dialogue amongst all the parties involved."

Under the proposal that would start in 2010, the standings that decide the 10 teams playing in the five BCS games would be determined by a 12-member committee consisting of one representative from the 11 Division I-A (FBS) conference and one from Notre Dame.

READ THE PLAN: Complete document from the Mountain West (pdf)

The committee would release the top 25 teams in BCS standings only after the completion of the regular season. The current BCS conferences would retain their automatic berths, and the Mountain West would also have an automatic berth to fill out seven slots.
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The criteria for an automatic berth is based on two factors. The league is required to play at least 20 games against the other BCS conferences during the regular season and must have a minimum winning percentage of .400 in those contests.

Notre Dame, at-large schools from the BCS leagues and teams from non-BCS conferences would be eligible for the three at-large berths.

"We have received the Mountain West proposal," BCS coordinator and ACC commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. "Some of these ideas or similar ones have been addressed before in BCS meetings. We will make sure that the proposal has a full airing by the commissioners and presidents, and we will respond to the Mountain West at the conclusion of those discussions."

Based on the final BCS standings, the committee ranks in order the 10 teams selected for the five BCS games. The teams finishing ninth and 10th would play each other in an existing bowl game that is not currently part of the rotation The top eight teams would be slotted in the four major games (Rose, Orange, Sugar, Fiesta) based on the current tie-ins to BCS games, leaving the traditional Big Ten and Pac-10 matchup in the Rose Bowl in tact as well as the SEC champion playing the Sugar Bowl. The committee would then fill out the schedule with teams tied to a specific bowl.

After the conclusion of the four major BCS games around New Year's Day, the winners would play in a semfinal matchup and the winners of the semifinals would meet for the national title at later dates in January.

The plan does have hurdles to overcome with existing television relationships in need of adjustment. ESPN takes over televising the BCS in 2010. The approval of the conferences would also be required. Both the Big Ten and Pac-10 both have been against any playoff format that extends the season and this plan would create two more weekends of play.[url][/url][url][/url][url][/url]