Back in 2008 conference commissioners John Swofford of the ACC and Mike Slive of the SEC proposed a plus-one format, but the idea was shot down by the other conference commissioners with the BCS continuing as it is today. Now, Slive is saying that when the BCS meets again in the spring to discuss changes to the system that he will keep a plus-one format "in mind":
"For the last six years, looking at it from our own prism, we were better off without it ... If I knew that for six more years it was going to work this way then I wouldn't be for the plus-one. But I think the law of averages catches up over time.
"Knowing that any team in our league with one or two losses is one of the top two teams in the country, then I'd have to think very hard about the plus-one absent other kinds of changes. There may be other changes that are laid out on the table that need to be clearly thought out. But we'll go to the table with the plus-one very much in mind."
One would think that the SEC would be one of the leagues that would want to keep the current BCS system alive since the SEC has won the past five and soon to be sixth straight BCS championship game. The exact details of how a plus-one would work are not described. The two common scenarios are running it like a true four-team playoff where the top four teams play with the two winners advance to a title game or have the bowl games played as they are with the top-two ranked teams meet the following week to determine a national champion.
The latter would likely appease the Rose Bowl and Big 10 commissioner Jim Delany who is likely the loan hold out for a plus-one format or anything that would have the Big 10 give up their coveted Rose Bowl spot. This is a baby step toward a more suitable playoff that would allow more teams to be able to compete for a national title, or it could be nothing and the BCS scraps automatic bids and takes who they want for a BCS game.
My hope is the move toward a plus-one, because at least with that it would allow more deserving teams to compete for a national title.
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