Playoff remains a possible plan for NCAA football - eventually

"You either have athletic directors, presidents, coaches and faculty representatives advancing a particular issue," Dempsey said during a luncheon with reporters Saturday as the NCAA began its 93rd annual convention. "But right now there is not one group out there advocating a football playoff."

Dempsey said he was pleased with the Bowl Championships Series, which produced the matchup of No. 1 Tennessee and No. 2 Florida State last week in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.

Tennessee won 23-16, but the debate continued over the need for a playoff system. NCAA Division I-A football is the only sport that does not crown a champion with a playoff system or tournament.

"There were some very positive things to come out of it," Dempsey said of the BCS. "The last couple of weeks (before the pairings were announced) we had as much interest in college football that there has been in a while."

In other business, the NCAA Division I Management Council approved a 12th football game in years in which there are 14 Saturdays from the start of the season until the last weekend in November.

That will occur in the years 2002 and 2003 and happen six times over a 20-year period.

The ruling means the end of such preseason games as the Kickoff and Pigskin Classics beginning with the 2003 season, although they will take place in 2002 because of contractual obligations for television, committee chairman Robert A. Bowlsby said.

Adding a 12th game will give all teams an equal chance for extra play, not just a select few, Bowlsby said.

The management council also approved a proposal that will allow student-athletes with diagnosed learning disabilities - who fail to qualify academically - to receive a fourth year of eligibility if they have completed 75 percent of their degree work in four years.

The action was part of the NCAA's consent degree with the Department of Justice after the department found the NCAA in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act in October 1997. The NCAA disputed the allegations but said it would examine its policies to serve athletes with learning disabilities better.

The Management Council will continue its meeting Monday and could amend Saturday's action before it adjourns. Final approval will go to the Division I Board of Directors on Tuesday.

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