05-15-2005, 10:33 AM
Bowl scenarios becoming chaotic
By Rob Biertempfel
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Although college football season won't start for another 3 1/2 months, conferences are already scrambling for bowl berths.
Automatic league tie-ins with non-BCS bowls expire after this season. A handful of these second-tier bowls, including two of the three connected with the Big East, might switch their affiliations.
"It's chaotic out there," Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said Thursday. "Everybody is talking to everybody, but no one has made a deal yet.
"We're talking to other people too, in case one of our bowls goes in another direction."
Tranghese would prefer to keep the status quo. Currently, the Big East champion receives a BCS bid and three also-rans go to the Gator, Insight and Meineke Car Care bowls.
The Gator Bowl could be close to junking its 11-year relationship with the Big East. Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett has talked with reps from the Big Ten, Southeastern Conference and the Big 12.
"Renewing the Gator Bowl is our top priority," said Tranghese, who has already met twice with Catlett in Jacksonville, Fla. "We're being quite aggressive with them (in talks)."
The ACC reportedly has a handshake deal with Catlett to keep its spot in the Gator Bowl. The ACC plays its league championship game at Alltell Stadium, which also is the site of the Gator Bowl.
The Gator Bowl, which is the lone New Year's Day game among the Big East's non-BCS tie-ins, has a payout of $1.6 million per team.
The Insight Bowl, which will be played Dec. 27, matches the Big East against the Pac-10. However, the Mountain West, eyeing a postseason matchup in its region, is interested in getting into the game.
Insight Bowl spokesman Shawn Schoeffler said his group has not yet begun in-depth negotiations with any conference. He said the first priority is to determine whether the game will remain at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix or move to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
"We're really at square one with this," Schoeffler said. "We'll want to look at all of our options (with conferences) and see what we have."
The Meineke Car Care (formerly the Continental Tire) Bowl, in Charlotte, N.C., has the last pick among the Big East's affiliated games. It will be played Dec. 31, matching the Big East and the ACC.
Executive director Will Webb said his group is not talking with other conferences -- yet.
"We're happy with the Big East," Webb said. "But we'd love to move up one spot with our pick. If we can't move up, then we would entertain other offers."
Webb said he would be willing to increase the payout in order to move up in the pecking order. Last year, the game paid $1.27 million per team.
"They are not going to move ahead of the Gator, and we've told them that," Tranghese said.
But he left open the possibility that the Meineke could leapfrog the Insight in the selection process.
"We're being open-minded," Tranghese said.
The Insight Bowl pays out the minimum of $750,000 per team. However, that is likely to change.
"The days of $750,000 bowl payouts are just about over," Schoeffler said. "We realize we'll probably have to increase our payout, regardless of who we're with or where we go."
Being situated in the northeast, with its large television markets, helped the Big East hang on to its automatic BCS bid. That also will factor into negotiations with second-tier bowls.
Schoeffler said TV exposure on the East Coast has been important to the Insight Bowl's corporate title sponsor. For the Meineke Bowl, which has sold out two of the past three years, it's more about location and attendance.
"The Big East is a good TV market for us," Webb said. "They've got some potential. But we're still interested in team that can help us with ticket sales."
"We're not far from Louisville, Pitt, West Virginia and Cincinnati," Webb said. "The big challenge is UConn. They've got to get their alums thinking about a bowl instead of going to the islands after Christmas."
Notre Dame shares in the Big East's bids, even though it is not a football member. That arrangement is up after this season, although Tranghese believes it will be renewed.
"That's what we've represented in our talks with the Gator Bowl," Tranghese said. "NBC (which televises the Gator) wants Notre Dame included. This is a deal that, without Notre Dame, we couldn't make."
Overall, the severity of the shakeup on the bowl landscape could hinge on an attempt to link the Capital One, Cotton and Champs Sports bowls to an agreement with ABC.
Under the plan proposed by Capital One executive director Tom Mickle, the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and ACC would provide the six teams for those three bowls. Mickle has given ABC until July 1 to sign off on the deal.
Big East Bowl tie-ins
In addition to the Bowl Championship Series bid which goes to its champion, the Big East Conference has three other bowl tie-ins:
Bowl game, date, site Matchup Payout Last season
Insight, Dec. 27, Phoenix Pac-10 vs. Big East $750,000 Oregon State 38, x-Notre Dame 21
Meineke Car Care, Dec. 31, Cahrlotte, NC ACC vs. Big East $1.27 million y-Boston College 37, North Carolina 24
Gator, Jan. 2, 2006, Jacksonville, FL ACC vs. Big East $1.6 million Florida State 30, West Virginia 18
x-Notre Dame is not a football member of the Big East, but can be offered one of the league's postseason bids when it is bowl-eligible
y-Boston College joined the ACC this season
Rob Biertempfel can be reached at rbiertempfel@tribweb.com or (724) 853-2110
By Rob Biertempfel
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Although college football season won't start for another 3 1/2 months, conferences are already scrambling for bowl berths.
Automatic league tie-ins with non-BCS bowls expire after this season. A handful of these second-tier bowls, including two of the three connected with the Big East, might switch their affiliations.
"It's chaotic out there," Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said Thursday. "Everybody is talking to everybody, but no one has made a deal yet.
"We're talking to other people too, in case one of our bowls goes in another direction."
Tranghese would prefer to keep the status quo. Currently, the Big East champion receives a BCS bid and three also-rans go to the Gator, Insight and Meineke Car Care bowls.
The Gator Bowl could be close to junking its 11-year relationship with the Big East. Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett has talked with reps from the Big Ten, Southeastern Conference and the Big 12.
"Renewing the Gator Bowl is our top priority," said Tranghese, who has already met twice with Catlett in Jacksonville, Fla. "We're being quite aggressive with them (in talks)."
The ACC reportedly has a handshake deal with Catlett to keep its spot in the Gator Bowl. The ACC plays its league championship game at Alltell Stadium, which also is the site of the Gator Bowl.
The Gator Bowl, which is the lone New Year's Day game among the Big East's non-BCS tie-ins, has a payout of $1.6 million per team.
The Insight Bowl, which will be played Dec. 27, matches the Big East against the Pac-10. However, the Mountain West, eyeing a postseason matchup in its region, is interested in getting into the game.
Insight Bowl spokesman Shawn Schoeffler said his group has not yet begun in-depth negotiations with any conference. He said the first priority is to determine whether the game will remain at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix or move to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
"We're really at square one with this," Schoeffler said. "We'll want to look at all of our options (with conferences) and see what we have."
The Meineke Car Care (formerly the Continental Tire) Bowl, in Charlotte, N.C., has the last pick among the Big East's affiliated games. It will be played Dec. 31, matching the Big East and the ACC.
Executive director Will Webb said his group is not talking with other conferences -- yet.
"We're happy with the Big East," Webb said. "But we'd love to move up one spot with our pick. If we can't move up, then we would entertain other offers."
Webb said he would be willing to increase the payout in order to move up in the pecking order. Last year, the game paid $1.27 million per team.
"They are not going to move ahead of the Gator, and we've told them that," Tranghese said.
But he left open the possibility that the Meineke could leapfrog the Insight in the selection process.
"We're being open-minded," Tranghese said.
The Insight Bowl pays out the minimum of $750,000 per team. However, that is likely to change.
"The days of $750,000 bowl payouts are just about over," Schoeffler said. "We realize we'll probably have to increase our payout, regardless of who we're with or where we go."
Being situated in the northeast, with its large television markets, helped the Big East hang on to its automatic BCS bid. That also will factor into negotiations with second-tier bowls.
Schoeffler said TV exposure on the East Coast has been important to the Insight Bowl's corporate title sponsor. For the Meineke Bowl, which has sold out two of the past three years, it's more about location and attendance.
"The Big East is a good TV market for us," Webb said. "They've got some potential. But we're still interested in team that can help us with ticket sales."
"We're not far from Louisville, Pitt, West Virginia and Cincinnati," Webb said. "The big challenge is UConn. They've got to get their alums thinking about a bowl instead of going to the islands after Christmas."
Notre Dame shares in the Big East's bids, even though it is not a football member. That arrangement is up after this season, although Tranghese believes it will be renewed.
"That's what we've represented in our talks with the Gator Bowl," Tranghese said. "NBC (which televises the Gator) wants Notre Dame included. This is a deal that, without Notre Dame, we couldn't make."
Overall, the severity of the shakeup on the bowl landscape could hinge on an attempt to link the Capital One, Cotton and Champs Sports bowls to an agreement with ABC.
Under the plan proposed by Capital One executive director Tom Mickle, the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and ACC would provide the six teams for those three bowls. Mickle has given ABC until July 1 to sign off on the deal.
Big East Bowl tie-ins
In addition to the Bowl Championship Series bid which goes to its champion, the Big East Conference has three other bowl tie-ins:
Bowl game, date, site Matchup Payout Last season
Insight, Dec. 27, Phoenix Pac-10 vs. Big East $750,000 Oregon State 38, x-Notre Dame 21
Meineke Car Care, Dec. 31, Cahrlotte, NC ACC vs. Big East $1.27 million y-Boston College 37, North Carolina 24
Gator, Jan. 2, 2006, Jacksonville, FL ACC vs. Big East $1.6 million Florida State 30, West Virginia 18
x-Notre Dame is not a football member of the Big East, but can be offered one of the league's postseason bids when it is bowl-eligible
y-Boston College joined the ACC this season
Rob Biertempfel can be reached at rbiertempfel@tribweb.com or (724) 853-2110
