If this were Hollywood, then Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson would have swooped into town, given his "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" speech, and then watched as college football's conscience-stricken power brokers changed their minds and voted for a playoff.
However, this is Pasadena, home of the Rose Bowl, 15 miles and five BCS games away from Hollywood. Thompson's fellow BCS commissioners listened Tuesday morning to his proposal for an eight-team playoff and other changes to the current system. They agreed to take the proposal back to their respective memberships for their spring meetings. They will reconvene in June in Colorado Springs.
And no one expects much to change.
After all, the BCS already has agreed to continue the current format through the 2013 season. ACC commissioner John Swofford, the BCS coordinator, described the BCS's relationship with its two television networks and four bowls as "very, very stable and in excellent shape." Yet out of a sense of collegiality, the commissioners agreed to take the MWC proposal back to their schools. Thompson's presentation, and the subsequent discussion, lasted approximately 90 minutes.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4087617
