No Major Changes Out Of BCS Meetings

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ BCS officials concluded three days of meetings Wednesday with no major changes being made to the system used to crown a college football champion. <br/><br/>The commissioners from the

Wednesday, April 25th 2007, 7:08 pm

By: News On 6

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ BCS officials concluded three days of meetings Wednesday with no major changes being made to the system used to crown a college football champion.

The commissioners from the 11 major conferences and Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White discussed a wide range of Bowl Championship Series issues, including the standings and automatic qualification standards, and decided to stand pat, said Southeastern Conference spokesman Charles Bloom.

``The commissioners handled the business of the BCS and general maintenance of the system,'' Bloom said. ``It was a very productive meeting, but there were no major changes.''

Last season, the BCS produced another controversial championship game. When the final BCS standings were released, Florida jumped over Michigan and into the title game against Ohio State. The debate over whether the Gators or Wolverines should've played the Buckeyes raged for weeks.

Then the Wolverines lost 32-18 to Southern California in the Rose Bowl, and the Gators beat the Buckeyes 41-14 to win the national championship, and the controversy subsided.

Michigan's nearly reaching the title game brought about renewed calls for the BCS to make only conference champs eligible to play for the national championship.

Bloom said the topic came up during the meetings, but there was no support for banning non-conference champions from the title game.

Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema recently called for the BCS to change its rule allowing a maximum of two teams per conference in the five big-money bowl games. The Badgers finished 12-1 and ranked No. 7 in the nation last season, but could not play in the BCS because Ohio State and Michigan qualified.

Bloom said removing the two-team cap was talked about during the meetings, but there was no support.