ATHENS — University of Georgia president Michael Adams expects a college football playoff to be a reality within two years.
“My best guess is we’re going to end up with either a four- or eight-team playoff by the time we get to ’14,” he told the executive committee of the UGA Athletic Association’s board of directors Wednesday.
Adams’ assessment came during the regularly scheduled winter meeting of the board, which also received an update in closed session on contract-extension negotiations with football coach Mark Richt.
“There’s some lawyering to be done yet,” Adams said after the meeting, referring to Richt’s contract. “But we’re in 98 percent agreement, and the other 2 percent is just minor details.”
A college football playoff is not nearly so close, but Adams believes the sport is moving inexorably in that direction.
He cited reports this week that the Big Ten, long opposed to a playoff, has warmed to exploring the possibility.
“That’s a very significant development,” Adams said.
Adams has advocated some form of playoff since early 2008, when he proposed an eight-team model that he said was “killed” by the Big Ten and Pac-10 (now Pac-12).
“I don’t say this about very much, but I think we were actually at the front of the train on that issue,” Adams said in an interview Wednesday night. “I could see it coming down the track, and I think we will end up with something that the fans feel better about [than the current BCS system].
“We may never get anything that the fans feel perfectly happy about, but one of my major concerns all along has been that I didn’t think we were paying enough attention to the fans who foot the bill for all this, and I think that realization is beginning to come home.”
The BCS’ television contracts expire after the January 2014 bowl games, and conference commissioners are looking at a wide range of possible changes, including various playoff models, that could take effect as soon as the ’14 season.
Many fans have clamored for a playoff for years, and Adams senses an emerging consensus.
“The conference commissioners are finally coming together on that point,” he said. “There has been great division among the commissioners the last six or eight years. ... The conference realignments [and] the fact most of the media contracts are up in either ’13 or ’14 are creating a situation where, if there is going to be a change, this is probably the natural time to do it. “
Meanwhile, on the matter of a new contract for Richt, a deal wasn’t ready to be submitted for board approval Wednesday, but Adams and athletic director Greg McGarity updated the group on progress in those talks.
“We needed to tell the board where we are,” Adams said. “It’s an important matter that we believe in our football coach, and we think he’s going to be here a good while.”
Adams would not disclose details of the proposed contract, which is expected to add several years to the two remaining on Richt’s current deal.
McGarity said contract extensions with Richt and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham could be completed in a couple of weeks, but added that there is no sense of urgency.
The Athletic Board took action on several matters Wednesday, approving expenditures of $2.6 million for a new video-board control room at Sanford Stadium, $480,000 for new furniture for the “sky suites” on the stadium’s south side and $750,000 for renovations at the Rankin Smith student-athlete academic center.
The board was told that the athletic association is on track for a profitable fiscal year, which ends June 30, and can expect to have a surplus to add to reserve funds.
About the Author
