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Mike Slive, the Southeastern Conference commissioner and Bowl Championship Series coordinator, held a conference call to discuss the BCS. As you might imagine, he got plenty of questions surrounding the possibility of a college football playoff or a plus-1 format, in which another game is played after the BCS bowls to serve as the national championship.

The next day, I had lunch with a friend who has developed a playoff proposal that includes using the current bowls, even the lower ones, as sites for the early-round games and playing rounds two weeks apart.

And so, after spending a week thinking and talking plenty about the BCS and college football's method to determine a national champion, the situation seems more confusing than ever. But one thing is clear in my mind: the unlikely host of characters at the top of the polls through this season — including South Florida, California and Missouri — proves that the nontraditional powers can compete if given the chance, which a playoff could do.

Slive underlined that the current television agreement between the BCS and Fox lasts until 2010, so no changes would happen before then.

He seemed more positive about a plus-1 format than a playoff but, like most people, seemed to acknowledge that the public would enjoy a bracketed national championship race.

"We are looking at that as a potential option for modification," Slive said. "I don't' see anything beyond that. I'm not saying that can't happen, and I'm open-minded."