It looks like the BCS will officially come to an end. The BCS commissioners have agreed to implement a four-team playoff model beginning in 2014. While several of the details have yet to be revealed, the fact that Jim Delany and Larry Scott support it is a great sign.
The commissioners' consensus must be approved by the BCS presidential oversight committee, which meets June 26 in Washington, D.C. If approved, the four-team playoff would replace the current BCS system, which has been in place since 1998.
Sources told ESPN.com that under the recommended model, four participating teams would be selected by a committee, which would consider certain criteria such as conference championships and strength of schedule.
The two national semifinal games would be played within the existing BCS bowl games (Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar) on a rotating basis, with the host sites being predetermined before each season. The national championship game would be offered to the highest bidding city.
"We're very unified," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said. "There are issues that have yet to be finalized. There's always devil in the detail, from the model to the selection process, but clearly we've made a lot of progress."
Let's just hope the new selection committee does not produce as many headaches as the current BCS selection committee (though I am not overly optimistic). More links and stories after the jump.
General
- Days before the 40th anniversary of Title IX, Sandy Barbour discusses how it has played a role in her life and the lives of Cal athletes.
- Four years ago she broke her foot in the Olympic Trials in Eugene. This time around she's faster than ever and ready to book that trip to the Olympics.
Football
- Don't tell any Old Blues, but Cal has the fourth-best odds of winning the Pac-12 this season, behind (in order) USC, Oregon, and UW.
- Ted Miller has begun to go through the football season week by week to determine the ultimate Pac-12 road trip. He passes on a trip to the new Memorial Stadium in favor of watching Washington State against BYU (I can't blame him, I'm just as interested in seeing the Cougs' new Pirate offense). In week 2 Uncle Ted passes on a certain classic Cal-Southern Utah matchup in favor of a trip to see LSU host Washington.
- The latest APR numbers are out and they bring good news and bad news. Good news is that Cal will face no penalties, but the bad news is that scores have continued their downward trend over the past several years.
- Uncle Ted ranks Keenan Allen as no. 6 among the Pac-12's Heisman contenders.
- Ted Miller reviews the latest news on the Pac-12 recruiting front.
- Six Pac-12 North players have something to prove, including our own Zach Maynard.