NCAA Considering Playoff to Decide No. 1 in Football

The National Collegiate Athletic Assn. is considering a one-game playoff between selected winners of postseason bowls to decide a college football champion as early as 1990, according to a draft of an NCAA report obtained Thursday by United Press International.

Athletic Director John Swofford of North Carolina, a member of an NCAA subcommittee studying the feasibility of a Division I football playoff, made the draft available while discussing some of the possible ways such a playoff could be formed.

The subcommittee’s report will be reviewed by the NCAA’s football committee in August, Swofford said.

Other features of the report include:

--Schools would declare their intent to participate in the playoff by a set date. Dec. 1 is recommended.

--A selection committee would choose the finalists by drawing on statistical information--national polls, NCAA data and media sources. The committee would also take suggestions from regional advisory panels.

--The game site would be selected five years in advance, with cities bidding for the rights. A seating capacity of at least 70,000 is preferred.

--A $50 ticket price is suggested.

--Each school chosen would get 15,000 tickets. Remaining tickets would be distributed by lottery.

“If it happens, it happens,” Swofford said of the proposed playoff. “If it were voted on today, it wouldn’t have a chance. There are too many important issues before the NCAA for this to be considered a high-priority item.”

The plan could be implemented as early as 1990 or ’91 because several bowl contracts are up for renegotiation then, according to the report.