“They’d be throwing away 2½ billion dollars—at least.”

The NFL-ization of college football steadily continues.

While ESPN has right of first refusal and an exclusive negotiating window before the bidding process is opened, a BCS source told Sporting Newsthat the goal is to get ESPN, NBC, Fox and CBS to bid on some or all of the package and drive up the price.

The new college football postseason television model could look a lot like the NFL postseason model: the most important game rotated annually among television partners.

Anything that gets Thom Brennaman back into the college football postseason would be awesome.

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UPDATE:  In case you were wondering where that attitude was coming from…

The SEC and Big 12 both wanted the semifinals to be played outside the bowl system, according to a source from the BCS meetings.

Bidding out all three games — the semifinals and championship — would have maximized revenue but relegated bowl games, to use a basketball analogy, to NIT status.

The Big Ten wanted to protect the Rose Bowl, which likely will have a semifinal game every third year. The Pac-12 and ACC also didn’t want to adopt a system that felt so corporate and could be easier to lead to an eight-team playoff.