but ACC officials are not cooperating.
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">
Peach Bowl wants ACC's No. 2 team
By TONY BARNHART
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
Pinehurst, N.C. -- Gary Stokan, president of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, brought his staff to the ACC Football Kickoff as a reward for another good year. The Peach had its fifth consecutive sellout last December and paid a record $1.9 million to each of the participating teams.
But the Peach Bowl folks were not entirely happy as they headed back to Atlanta today. Everyone put on the proper PR face, but in fact they are a bit miffed at the ACC.
The issue is simple. Last year the Peach paid out $200,000 more than the Gator Bowl. In fact, over the past five years the Peach has paid out almost $1 million more than the New Year's Day game in Jacksonville.
Yet the Gator Bowl gets the No. 2 team from the ACC each year while the Peach gets No. 3. In meetings in May and this week, Stokan has tried to plead the case that the Peach has outperformed the Gator and has at least earned a shot at the ACC's No. 2 team. Even the heavy hitters at Chick-fil-A have tried to exert some influence. The ACC will not budge.
Here's why:
--The ACC knows the Peach will probably continue to be a sellout with the No. 3 team because of the popularity of the matchup with the SEC's No. 4 team. The Gator matches the ACC with Big East No. 2, a harder sell.
--The Gator has the magical Jan. 1 date, even though it goes head to head with three other games in its time slot.
--Politically, the ACC cannot put itself in a position where its No. 2 team is playing -- and potentially losing to -- the SEC's No. 4 or 5 team.
Stokan will not talk extensively about the subject because he doesn't want to offend the ACC.
"The ACC has been good to us, but we're like anybody else," said Stokan. "You just want hard work and success to be rewarded."
Commissioner John Swofford also is careful in choosing his words when asked about the plight of the Peach.
"The Peach Bowl has had tremendous success, and I don't blame them for feeling that way," said Swofford. "It's simply a situation of doing what's best for all our bowls."</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Discuss.
