COLLEGE FOOTBALL BCS reps have initial discussions to change

No agreements were reached, but both sides were optimistic.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Saying they made "significant progress" but reached no agreements, BCS representatives met with presidents from the five football conferences who feel they have been shut out of the system.
The two sides met for four hours Monday in a conference room near O'Hare International Airport to discuss possible changes to the postseason format.
They emerged from the closed-door session optimistic that a resolution could be reached in the coming months -- but declined to offer any specifics.
Recently, presidents from the five Division I-A conferences not represented by the BCS have called for an overhaul to the system.
They say it's unfair to smaller schools -- who have little chance at reaching the national championship game -- and severely limits their opportunities at playing in a big-money bowl game.
Willing to consider changes
Tulane President Scott Cowen, one of the most vocal critics of the current format, said BCS representatives seemed willing to at least consider proposed changes to the postseason system.
"I think they're very open to possible change, I really do," Cowen said. "Have they made commitments today? No. And I wouldn't if I were on their side. But that willingness is there."
The BCS was created in 1998 by the six largest football conferences -- the Pacific-10, Big 12, Big Ten, Atlantic Coast, Southeastern and Big East. It guarantees the champions of those conferences will play in one of the four most lucrative postseason bowl games, leaving two at-large berths for schools like Tulane.
Money, exposure and a shot at the national championship are the biggest issues. The BCS bowls generate more than $100 million a year for the big conferences. The BCS gives about $8 million a year to the schools from the other five conferences.
"If we can make some marginal improvements that will help them a little bit, I think we're interested in doing that," Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman said. "I think everyone is realistic that there isn't anything we can do ... that is going to solve all the problems of the world. I think they are realistic about that as we are."
Some possibilities
One possibility is adding a championship game after the four BCS games, and adding another game to the system to give schools from smaller conferences a better chance to get into major bowls.
The sides meet again on Nov. 16 in New Orleans.
"We didn't get all the way there today," said Oregon president David Frohnmayer, a committee member. "We'll see this play out when we actually try to move from the level of exalted principles and important values, which is a process we need to go through, down to saying, 'Now how do the pieces really move?'
"And we're not there yet."