Photo courtesy of Alabama Athletics
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Sports Network) - The BCS presidential oversight committee has approved a four-team playoff to determine a champion in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
The BCS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick reached a consensus on a model for a four-team, seeded playoff system last week, and the oversight committee announced their approval of the 12-year deal on Tuesday.
The new playoff will become effective in 2014.
Some details have yet to be announced, but the four teams will be chosen by a selection committee, and the semifinals will be held at current bowl sites on a rotating basis.
The national title game will be awarded to the highest bidder.
"A four-team playoff doesn't go too far, it goes just the right amount," said Charles W. Steger, the president of Virginia Tech and the chairman of the oversight committee. "We are very pleased with this arrangement even though some issues remain to be finalized."
Since 1998, the BCS system pitted the top two teams in the national title game based on a convoluted formula that averaged the percentage totals of the Harris Interactive poll, USA Today poll and computer rankings.
The national champion will still be determined by the same method for the next two years.