BCS talk is just talk

GREENSBORO — Even after two Congressional hearings and a plea from President Barack Obama, the Bowl Championship Series won't be changing any time soon.

ACC commissioner John Swofford, who is also the chairman of the BCS, said Sunday college football's postseason format is unlikely to change in the next five years.

"There's a full commitment by the conferences for another five years to the television contracts," Swofford said during his address at the ACC Kickoff in Greensboro. "So in terms of the next five years, I think what we're going to see is the BCS, by in large, as it is today."

ESPN finalized a four-year deal in November to broadcast the four BCS bowl games beginning with the 2011 season. ABC already had the rights to the fifth BCS game, the Rose Bowl, through 2014.

Swofford said there was no support for the eight-team playoff proposal by the Mountain West Conference, which in part, had Swofford sitting in front of a House of Representatives subcommittee in April.

"We went through the process, voting on it at the conference level, and there simply was not support for the kind of change that was being proposed," Swofford said.

The BCS was back in Washington earlier this month for a antitrust hearing with the U.S. Senate. Swofford said the examination of the system, which is designed to put the top two teams in the championship game, is nothing new. He also said neither is the attitude toward a playoff by those who run the sport, despite a public desire to see a playoff.

"Like it or not, I do think that it has reached it's goals," Swofford said. "It's goals are very simple — to provide te opportunity for No. 1 to play No. 2 and to maintain the bowl system.

"I think in every conference, there are a few presidents who would like to go in a different direction, but the majority, in every conference, continues to support the model as it exists."

Swofford's two-year assignment as BCS chairman ends after the national title game on Jan. 7, 2010.