NCAA Football Officials Looking at 4-Team Playoff System

Thursday's Frat Boy News Daily Sports Page (compiled by FanBlogs.com)

The New York Post is reporting that the BCS conferences are moving toward a new format to start in 2011 that would implement a final-four format for college football. The "plus one" format would have four teams compete in semi-final games, with the two winners meeting in the national championship game.

"There haven't been any official discussions among conference commissioners, but the overwhelming sense is that that's where we're headed," one conference source said. "There's simply too much money at stake and there's been too much debate with the current system."

Under the new format, the top four teams would be seeded, probably using a voter/computer formula similar to the current BCS system and a sixth major bowl game would be created.

The four top-seeded teams would play in two "semifinal" games, using the existing bowls - Orange, Sugar, Rose, Fiesta and the current BCS title game on a rotating basis - with the two winners meeting in a newly created bowl. Theoretically, it would leave less argument over who's No. 1.

This has all the makings of a win-win-win for the conferences, networks and bowls. The existing BCS bowls would go from hosting a "premiere" game once every for years, to hosting a huge game every other year with the semi-finals plus (potentially) hosting the National Championship in off years.