The Bowl Championship Series gets yet another face-lift this season with the creation of a fifth game, the implementation of the so-called "double-hosting model" and a new television network.
Count the number of times the formula has been massaged, tweaked or outright overhauled, and you'll run out of appendages.
There are big changes ahead again this season, including the creation of a true national championship game. But BCS officials are understandably worried.
Fans may not grasp the format, and officials aren't sure how Fox will present its multimillion-dollar product.
Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg spent the last two years as the BCS coordinator, a role he was relieved to relinquish. Last week, he agreed that Joe Fan may not know the new BCS national title game is Jan. 8, after the four other BCS games have been played.
Here's how it works. The top two teams in the BCS standings on Dec. 3 will meet in the national title game in Glendale, Ariz., home of the Arizona Cardinals' new stadium. Eight more teams will be selected to play in the Fiesta, Sugar, Orange and Rose bowls.
Once the bowl lineup is set, that's it. The winners of any of the other BCS games do not advance to the championship game.
The title game will still rotate among the four BCS sites. The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was first in the rotation. So Fiesta Bowl organizers will host their game Jan. 1, then turn around seven days later and host this new game - thus, the "double-hosting" moniker.
Fiesta Bowl president John Junker and his organization annually host a parade and a massive block party while also spending lavishly on other bowl functions. He wants the Fiesta Bowl to be as big as ever, even though a bigger, more important game will follow.
"The reward aspect of what a bowl experience is supposed to be is a big deal to players," he said. "We want it to remain a reward."
Fortunately for Junker, BCS officials are handling a lot of the details for the second game. But how big and lavish will that game be?
New BCS administrator Bill Hancock is an Oklahoma grad who spent years as the director of the NCAA Tournament. Although the tournament is a big deal, the on-site event is rather low-key. Most arena signage is covered, no loud music blares on the speakers and teams have specific rules about what they can and can't do. Between games, it's kind of dull.
With Hancock at the helm, the title game may have the same feel.
"I don't think it will have a Super Bowl-type of atmosphere," Hancock said. "There will be more emphasis on the game itself."
Still, Fox might turn it into a spectacle. The network that broad-casts few college football games is responsible for the biggest game of all. And Hancock said Fox officials are "passionate" about the BCS.
"But they haven't asked for a pylon cam," he said.
Fox already made one change. The network will unveil the weekly BCS standings during its Sunday NFL programming instead of Monday, as in previous years. That sounds good, but what happens on a big news day in the NFL? Will the BCS standings get short shrift?
Said Hancock: "What they have told us is they are committed to this."
We'll see. Everyone else seems to be committed to this new BCS format, too. This year, anyway.
