That would probably require adjusting a contract between the two entities that extends through the 2014 Rose Bowl.

"If the Rose Bowl wanted to do it in the next cycle, we'd find a way to make that happen for them," said Chuck Gerber, ABC/ESPN executive vice president for college sports.

While other conferences are in the discussion stage regarding change in the BCS format, there's no evidence either the Rose Bowl, Pac-10 or Big Ten would participate in a plus-one. That is the model where two winners would advance to a championship game after playing BCS bowls.

Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen said last summer that a plus-one would be grounds for his conference pulling out of the BCS. Ohio State president Gordon Gee said in mid-December that a playoff would have to be "pried out of my cold, dead hands."

"It's not a small challenge," said incoming BCS coordinator John Swofford, who is also the ACC commissioner. "What I am in favor of is a full discussion, play it out and see what the ramifications are."

The next four-year cycle that Gerber spoke of begins with the 2011 BCS games. The Rose Bowl's contract with ABC, the Pac-10 and Big Ten has six more years to run and extends through that 2014 game. The other BCS bowls and conferences have a deal with Fox that expires after the 2010 games. Because the contracts overlap and two networks are involved, it makes it doubly difficult for the bowls and conferences to do things as a group.

Swofford and Gerber spoke at the annual Football Writers Association of America breakfast Monday morning here before the BCS national championship game.

The 11 I-A commissioners will discuss those issues at their annual meeting in April, this year in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. They must present to the rights carrier a BCS format going forward after the 2010 games. Even though the Fox contract has more than two years to run, it's customary to begin renegotiations how. Fox will have an exclusive negotiating window with the BCS later this year. ABC is interested in getting back the rights it lost three years ago, Gerber said.

The plus-one is seen as the next evolution of the BCS, which plays its 10th championship game here Monday night. A plus-one most likely would involve seeding the top four teams in the final BCS standings. The two highest-seeded teams remaining from the bowl games would then play for the championship.

There is another plus-one possibility: The four bowls could each host games of their own liking, with two teams advancing through a rating system and/or a human committee. That traditional setup would allow the Rose to keep the Big Ten and Pac-10 arrangement each season.

The one sticking point would be if the 1-2 teams played in one of the bowls. However, part of the reason the BCS was formed was because 1-2 matchups in bowls were so historically unlikely.

Since the BCS has been in existence, the 1-2 teams in the final BCS standings play for the championship. hat has provided for a championship game, not necessarily the championship game that everyone can agree on. There have been ongoing discussions among some BCS conference commissioners -- notably the SEC, ACC and Big 12 -- about moving toward a plus-one.

A plus-one doesn't necessarily solve the complicated I-A postseason process either. Oddly, if a plus-one existed this season, two of the hottest teams would be excluded if the top four teams were seeded. BCS No. 5 Georgia and No. 7 USC finished out of the top four in the regular season. Virginia Tech finished third and Oklahoma was fourth.

"Is this past season an anomaly," Swofford said of the parity that produced unbeaten Hawaii along with 10 major-college teams with at least one loss in the regular season, "or is it a precursor of seasons to come?"

"I don't think there are any conferences that are ready to change and say, 'We want the plus-one model,'" he added. "I don't think that necessarily closes the discussion. The discussion is needed and appropriate."