Under the MWC's proposal, a conference would qualify for an automatic bid if its teams have a winning percentage of at least .400 in games against the current automatic qualifying leagues over a two-year period.
Using that standard, the MWC would join the other six leagues as automatic qualifiers starting next season.
Part two of the proposal suggests doing away with the BCS standings and creating a 12-member committee to pick which teams receive at-large bids, and to select and seed the eight teams chosen for the playoff.
The BCS has previously discussed using a selection committee to determine which teams play for the national title and the idea was dismissed.
Under the MWC's proposal, the four current BCS games — the Sugar, Orange, Rose and Fiesta bowls — would host the four first-round playoff games. Another BCS bowl would be awarded to a current non-BCS game and would host the lowest ranked of the 10 teams selected in a game with no championship implications.
The semifinals would be played about a week later, with the current BCS bowls given the opportunity to host those games.
The championship game would be played a week after that, and again the current BCS bowls would be given the opportunity to host.
While bowl organizers from the Fiesta, Sugar and Orange bowl have said they would be open to a playoff format, the Rose Bowl — which has a long-standing and profitable relationship with the Big Ten and Pac-10 — has been resistant to such change.
The final part of the MWC's proposal calls for each of the 11 major conferences and Notre Dame to have equal representation on the BCS presidential oversight committee and for revenues to be distributed equally among all leagues.
Currently, the five non-BCS conferences have one vote when the BCS makes decisions and those leagues receive far less revenue from year to year, unless one of its teams earns a spot in a BCS game.
The BCS agreed to a new, four-year TV deal with ESPN last year that will go into effect in 2010. That deal was negotiated using the current BCS format. While ESPN has said it would not stand in the way if the BCS wanted to change, the new deal allows the BCS to put off making any drastic changes until at least the 2014 season.
The MWC has not signed the new deal with ESPN and has until April 20, 2010, to do so. Thompson said he's not sure how long the conference will hold out.
"Now is the time to have the conversation about change in the current system, because we have a contract in front of us that will extend the status quo for another four years and we want to have the conversation now, not four years from now," Buchanan said.
