NIU president John Peters met with 11 other collegiate presidents in Chicago on Monday to discuss how the Bowl Championship Series can be made more fair for every Division-I school.

The meeting, Peters said, was made up of six presidents representing BCS conferences, five presidents representing D-I schools whose chances are slim at a berth in a BCS bowl and Notre Dame’s president.

“Our first meeting discussions were about the student athletes and how we can move towards a more fair system,” Peters said. “The BCS contracts for the leagues participating [ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC and Notre Dame] are up for renewal in January, so Monday was the first meeting.”

NIU found some have posted winning records in the past three years. Last season, the Huskies lost their chance at a Bowl game by losing their final contest to Toledo 33-30 and had to settle for a tie for the MAC West title.

This season, the Huskies are ranked No. 28 in the AP poll with a game at No. 26 Alabama looming on Sept. 20. The Huskies are 2-0 with a victory over former No. 14 Maryland of the ACC.

President Peters knows how tough it is for non-BCS schools to get recognition, but isn’t upset that the likes of Notre Dame, Miami (Fla.) and Oklahoma are getting more money from these bowl contracts.

“I don’t think of us as a mid-major,” Peters said. “I don’t like that term. We can compete with anyone on any given day. I was at Nebraska and Tennessee for many years, so I know what its like to be on the other end of it, where filling a 107,000 seat stadium every game is a must.”

Peters also said that a good example of how tough it is for teams not in the six conferences mentioned to make a BCS bowl is when Tulane went undefeated and was ranked No. 7 in both polls, higher than some BCS teams that year. They made the Liberty Bowl, which they won on Dec. 31, 1998 41-27 over Brigham Young.

The next meeting to discuss the BCS improvements is scheduled for November in New Orleans.