Colleges

Meet SEC commissioner Mike Slive, coordinator of the BCS

By Times staff
Published October 15, 2007

If USF goes undefeated and doesn't play for the national championship, Mike Slive is likely to be in fans' crosshairs.

Slive, 67, is the commissioner of the SEC and in his second year of a two-year stint as coordinator of the BCS. As coordinator, he explains how the BCS works. He found himself in a bit of an awkward position last year when his role as commissioner and advocate for Florida's hopes of making the BCS title game conflicted with his coordinator role.

"I think you advocate as a commissioner, and as a BCS coordinator, my roles is to make sure that the system works properly, fairly and equitably," Slive said at the time.

Before joining the SEC, Slive was the first commissioner of Conference USA and the Great Midwest Conference. He has an extensive legal background and served on the board of directors of the Sports Lawyers Association.

Originally from Utica, N.Y., Slive graduated from Dartmouth, with law degrees from Virginia and Georgetown.

He has said there would be no major changes to the BCS until the current contract runs out after the January 2010 bowl games but that he is open to the so-called "plus-one" model. In that scenario the top four teams would play semifinals in bowl games and the winners would advance to the title game.

"I think we need to take a very hard look at that," he said.

[Last modified October 14, 2007, 22:48:40]