HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- College football is on the verge of finally having a playoff, its own version of the final four.
For the first time, all the power brokers who run the highest level of the sport are comfortable with the idea of deciding a championship the way it's done in just about every other sport.
"Yes, we've agreed to use the P word," Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said.
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They want to limit it to four teams. That's for sure. Now they just have to figure out how to pick the teams, where and when to play the games and what to do with the bowls. The new format would go into effect after for the 2014 season.
As for the current Bowl Championship Series, it's on life support. Any chance that it survives past the next two seasons? "I hope not," Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive said Thursday.
"This is a seismic change for college football," BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock said after the 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director wrapped up three days of meetings at a beachside hotel in south Florida.
Now it's up to each conference to determine which option it likes best. The commissioners will get back together in June and try to come up with a final version.
Hancock warned that if no agreement is reached, the fallback could be sticking with an overhauled version of the old system, which aims for a No. 1 vs. No. 2 championship game.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press