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HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Ed Goren likes his Marlboro Lights, at least as much as the Emmy he proudly displayed for the BCS commissioners Tuesday.
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| John Swofford and his BCS colleagues have plenty to discuss. (Getty Images) |
"We set that up," Goren said. "We thought it was an audition for a reality show."
My Big Fat Obnoxious Playoff? Not so fast. The Emmy was upstairs in a conference room if you wanted to touch it and pray for a miracle -- like repairing a broken postseason.
"It's not an issue with me," Goren said as he considered the biggest issue floating around the BCS meetings this week -- a plus-one playoff. "Certainly the public would like to see a change. If there's a change, we're on board. If it stays the same, we're thrilled. We just want to be associated with this product."
That's rich. Fox won its Emmy category by beating out the Super Bowl and World Series, but college football's postseason can't even heal itself. The BCS reached Wednesday what BCS chairman John Swofford agreed was a watershed moment in the BCS' 10-year history. So why did everyone expect so little -- which is exactly what was delivered when it was decided to keep the current system through 2013.
For the first time, commissioners formally discussed a different postseason model. A four-team playoff that has taken on the moniker "plus-one" was on the table. The 2014 season was the earliest, realistically, it could have been implemented considering the complicated series of television contracts that still exist. Not to mention the long-stated opposition of one-third of the six major conferences -- the Pac-10 and Big Ten.
When asked how plus-one proponents would rappel up that little Everest, Swofford said, "I don't know that we do."
The question, then, was whether Wednesday's discussion would kill a plus-one for the foreseeable future. The answer is, probably. Things are too good now to take a chance that they might get better with a plus-one in the future.
Two years into Fox's BCS deal with the Fiesta, Sugar and Orange bowls, Goren is happy. He left little doubt that his network is going to take advantage of its exclusive negotiating window in September to re-up with BCS.
That little move would stiff-arm ABC/ESPN from reacquiring the property it let go of after the 2005 season.
"Oops," Goren said cheerfully.
It's no secret that ABC/ESPN wants back in to the entire BCS after being left with just the Rose Bowl through 2014 game.
• In the two years since Fox has owned the BCS contract, its prime time selection show ratings are comparable to a "top five show in the fall," Goren said.
• Theoretically his network could charge more for ad revenues if there were a plus-one. But, Goren added, there is a finite limit to those ad dollars.
"It's a very crowded sports marketplace in January," he said. "Let's say GM is going to spend a certain amount of money to sports advertising. Just because you add product doesn't mean they're going to add money to their budget."
• Ratings might be up for an enhanced postseason, maybe. But what about the regular season, which would be de-emphasized with a plus-one?
Try to get your mind around this unseemly possibility: Michigan and Ohio State, both already locked into the plus-one before their epic November showdown. Sure, each wants to win, but how bad? Enough to risk playing starters the entire game?
Imagine Jim Tressel taking Chris Wells out of the game in the second half to save him for the national semifinal.
• The most compelling argument against a plus-one? It actually would ramp up the controversy. Think of the teams that annually make a case for being in the top two. Now imagine the number of teams that think they're deserving of being in the top four.
Put in terms of the real estate here on Ocean Drive, the BCS is oceanfront property.
"This is our No. 1 agenda," said Goren, whose network also has Major League Baseball, NASCAR and the NFL. "There's this wonderful misconception that television controls these leagues. I've been doing it for 40 years. I don't even control my wife. How do I control a league?"
While the Pac-10 and Big Ten are against it, a plus-one would enhance the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar. In the current BCS, the participants host a national championship game once every four years. In a plus-one, the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar would be in a national semifinal as well as a national championship rotation.
Better games. More money. While that sounds good in theory, the commissioners still face the formidable challenge of convincing Division I-A presidents. The CEOs would hold the final rubber stamp on any change.
"Things in college sports tend to move at glacial speed," Goren said.
That's why the magic number is 2011. That's when the commissioners, bowls and TV partners could conceivably begin planning for a plus-one. The TV contracts would be lined up. Perhaps presidential opposition will have melted. The Big Ten and Pac-10 might have new commissioners.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delay held court in a hallway at the Westin Diplomat, indignant that he has been labeled part of the postseason "axis of obstruction" (in a Sports Illustrated story) along with the Pac-10 and Rose Bowl.
"The axis of obstruction is cute," Delany said. "It's a takeoff on the Axis of Evil. It's a stolen line from Bush ... I think it's a stretch, myself. We think the burden for changing is on the proponents of change, not on the group that brought a bowl and two conferences (from) one place of tradition to a place that is 10 years old."
End of plus-one discussion. Thanks for coming, commissioners. See you again next year.
For you playoff honks?
"The Emmy is still upstairs if you want to see it," Goren said.
Touch it. Miracles still happen.