BCS takes big step toward college playoff

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 from pee- wees to pros. And the way fans have been hoping they would for years.

“Yes, we’ve agreed to use the P word,” Pac- 12 Commissioner Larry Scott said Thursday.

They want to limit it to four teams. That’s for sure. Now they have to figure out how to pick the teams, where and when to play the games and how the bowls do or do not fit in. The new postseason format would go into effect after for the 2014 season.

As for the 14- year- old Bowl Championship Series, it’s on life support. Any chance that it survives past the next two seasons? “I hope not,” said Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive, who pitched a four- team playoff four years ago but was shot down at this same hotel beachside hotel.

“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 in south Florida.

That Hancock actually used the word playoff when describing what was being considered alone signaled a shift in thinking for the BCS. In a memo leading up to these meetings, the term “four- team event” was used to describe creating two national semifinals and a championship game.

Hancock said the commis- sioners will present a “small number” of options for a fourteam playoff to their leagues over the next month or so at conference meetings. He estimated that between two and seven configurations are being considered.

It’ll be up to each conference to determine which plan it likes best. The commissioners will get back together in June and try to come up with a final version, and eventually the university presidents will have to sign off on it. Hancock has said they’d like a new format ready for approval by July 4.

And he 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. But that’s a longshot. “It’s great to get to a point where there seems to be general consensus that a four- team, three- game playoff is the best route to go,” Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford said. “The next challenge obviously is figuring out a format that brings consensus where we can truly make that work. The more this narrows, the more challenging it gets.”

The first step is figuring out the where and when. The when should be easy.

The commissioners all agree the college football season needs to wrap up as close to Jan. 1 as possible. That would mean semifinals soon after Christmas and the title game within a few days of the calendar flipping.

“One of the goals is to make the postseason a celebration of college football,” Slive said. “And to focus in on a reasonable time frame that is consistent with a reasonable bowl season. And then be able to

have a championship game and semifinals at a time and a place that would allow us to really celebrate college football at a time when people are thinking about college football, which is in and around the end of December and early January.”

Where is the best place to celebrate college football? That figures to be a heated debate.

Slive has made it clear he’s not a fan of playing semifinals on campus, a plan the Big Ten has presented and the Pac- 12 supports.

“I’m a big proponent of it,” Scott said. “That was the choice we made in our conference with our championship game. Collegiate atmosphere. Guaranteed sellout. We’ve said all along preserving the regular season is important. What better way to emphasize the importance of the regular season then having a chance to earn a home game? It’s a proven NFL model.”

Slive prefers playing the games at neutral sites, the way the NCAA basketball tournament does.

That leads to the question: How do the bowls fit in?

The national championship game has shifted between the Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and Rose bowl sites during the 14 years the BCS has been in existence. First, the bowl itself was the championship game. Then the BCS moved to a five- game model in which the championship was played after the bowls but at one of those four stadiums.

The commissioners are considering allowing the bowls to be involved, but not necessarily calling the three playoff games “bowls.”

Lake Catherine: Shane Goodner, Catch’em All Guide Service, said rainbow trout are hot with clear weather allowing a favorable generation schedule. Live- bait presentations ( waxworms, meal worms, night crawlers and red worms fished with a marshmallow bobber) have taken good numbers. Live minnows cast under a bobber or tight- lined over deeper water have caught limits of fish, many 14 to 17 inches long. Fly fishermen casting egg patterns with a strike indicator have extended the season by wading to areas that hold trout feeding on fish eggs. San Juan Worms in hot pink are also working well over sandbars and exposed rock.

Crappie are migrating out of the tailrace with small numbers resting and feeding after the spawn. White bass are finishing the spawn but will remain in good quantity around the dam for the next month. White or gray jigs retrieved slowly around rock piles during periods of current will attract crappie and white bass preying on shad. Walleye have been caught in deep water with silver spoons and Carolina rigs hooked with night crawlers. Striper activity is a hit- and- miss proposition, some taking place in late evening below the bridge on quarter- ounce white jigs. Freshwater drum are everywhere in the tailrace spawning and feeding on crayfish and shad. Many are in the 15- to 25- pound range and are being caught in good numbers. Heavy tackle and lines are recommended for these fierce fighters, capable of breaking rods with ease.

Lake conditions: 56 degrees below Carpenter Dam, clear in tailrace.

Degray Lake: Local angler George Graves said bass are fair with plenty of slot fish ( 13- 16 inches) reported but larger varieties scarce. Fish worms and lizards on the deep side of main or secondary lake points in 5- 20 feet of water. Also, medium- running crankbaits thrown across points are producing some fish. With the cold fronts and bright sky, morning and evening are best and sometimes the only time for a bite. With fish not schooling, there’s not much doing on the Alabama rig. Look for bass between the state park and Shouse Ford.

Crappie are fair with most in postspawn and holding on the brush attractors. Look for brush piles outside the spawning coves in 20- 25 feet of water and work a 2- inch Tennessee shad grub or tube on a 16thounce jig head over the thickest part of the brush. Move slowly around the attractor with little to no jigging action, paying attention to any line movement because the bites will be subtle. A few spawning crappie remain in the lower part of the lake along the south side; look between Iron Mountain and the mouth of Brushy Creek for any wood stick- ups and throw a jig and grub or minnow close to the cover. Best areas for attractors are between Edgewood and Shouse Ford and also around brush cover in Big Hill Creek.

Hybrid fishing is still good in Shouse Ford with the fivearm umbrella rig producing the most fish. Load it with 3inch white Curly Tail grubs on quarter- ounce jig heads and troll 2- 3 mph. Be sure to run the rig at least 100 feet back because these fish are boatshy. Schools will be suspended 10- 15 feet down off humps and submerged islands in 20- 30 feet of water. Morning and late evening are the best times.

Bream fishing is good along most any shoreline cover. The fish are shallow so use a float and in 5- 8 feet of water. Red worms and crickets are best baits; also try crappie nibbles.

Lake conditions: clear, low 70s.

Lake Greeson: Lakeside Grocery and Bait said bream are biting well, mainly on crickets, although worms are working. Crappie, catfish and bass are poor.

Lake conditions: clear to murky, 66 degrees, near normal level, 546.41 feet MSL.