BCS Claims To Be "On Threshold Of Creating New Postseason Structure"

June 20, 2012 by CFP Staff and BCS

The following statement was issued on Wednesday by the Eleven Conference Commissioners and the Notre Dame Athletics Director:

"We are excited to be on the threshold of creating a new post-season structure for college football that builds on the great popularity of our sport. We take our responsibility to our universities, our presidents, and to student-athletes seriously and we're determined to make this great sport even more popular.

"At our meeting with the Presidential Oversight Committee next week, we will present our views so the presidents can make their decisions. On many issues we have achieved widespread consensus; on some issues, important and valuable alternatives have been suggested.

"We have developed a consensus behind a four-team, seeded playoff, while recognizing that the presidents will certainly present their views, including a discussion of a Plus-One. We also discussed various selection methods and look forward to having these discussions with the presidents.

"We are getting very close and we look forward to next week's meeting. We have already had extensive discussions with our presidents and it remains important to note that all final decisions will be made by the presidents, either at next week's meeting or at whatever date is appropriate."

On April 26 the BCS reported that, "As part of our deliberations, we have carefully considered a number of concepts concerning the post-season structure for the BCS. From the start, we set out to protect college football's unique regular season which we see as the best regular season in sports. We are also mindful of the bowl tradition and seek to create a structure that continues to reward student-athletes with meaningful bowl appearances.

"Having carefully reviewed calendars and schedules, we believe that either an 8-team or a 16-team playoff would diminish the regular season and harm the bowls. College football's regular season is too important to diminish and we do not believe it's in the best interest of student-athletes, fans, or alumni to harm the regular season."

Accordingly, the April 26 release revealed that "we have taken off the table both an 8-team and a 16-team playoff."