“Now there’s a chance for some real hanky panky.”

Well, well, well.  I guess they can feel the heat on occasion.

Concerned in part with continuing attacks on the Bowl Championship Series, BCS officials successfully lobbied the American Football Coaches Association to delay a controversial change in the coaches poll by a year, CBSSports.com has learned.

The BCS boys are serious about this.

The return to a lack of transparency upset BCS officials more than what was originally known. There are indications that the change could be a deal breaker, going forward, in the coaches poll’s inclusion in the BCS. The poll is one of two human components in the BCS. The Harris poll is the other. There are also six computer indexes that are factored in.

And it sounds as if the threat remains an ongoing one.

The BCS also didn’t want to scramble so close to the 2009 regular season to find a replacement poll if it dropped the coaches poll because of the change, one source indicated. Dropping the coaches poll seems to be an ongoing possibility — call it leverage for the BCS — if the AFCA follows through with once again hiding the ballots. The BCS adjusted in 2004 after the Associated Poll dropped out because of ethical concerns. The BCS then assembled the Harris poll to replace AP.

While not outwardly criticizing the change, BCS coordinator John Swofford released a cryptic statement in May: “The commissioners review all aspects of the BCS arrangement — including the BCS standings — at the conclusion of each season, and I know the AFCA’s decision will be on the agenda for that review after the January 2010 games.”

So how much do the coaches want to stay in the mix?  I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Of course, they could render this secret ballot controversy moot by thinking outside the box a little.  (Note:  shameless plug alert!)

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