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Non-BCS bowls fight back
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1boisebro Offline
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Post: #1
 
Blue-collar bowls strike back
Matt Hayes /

You've got to admire the fight in these guys. Their Joe Sixpack bowl games are throwaways in the grand scheme, as insignificant as the NIT in that other college sport. Yet every year they're plugging away with postseason games that, for the most part, fill stadiums and remind us there is life after the BCS.

Now those same bowls have a chance to make things very interesting -- and tweak their BCS brethren in the process. Officials from the Citrus, Cotton, Gator and Holiday bowls started talking a couple of years ago about a postseason draft of teams for their games -- or a mini-BCS. That has become more of a reality after the latest kick in the gut from the Bowl Championship Series.

Quick recap: BCS says it will add a fifth bowl; aforementioned bowls believe there is new access to the sport's Mecca; BCS eventually stays status quo. That final condescending condemnation could lead to a revamped bowl structure among the non-BCS games.

"I think we all understand that change isn't part of that (BCS) structure," says Cotton Bowl president Rick Baker. "So now we have to ask ourselves how we make our games more intriguing."

Someone, quick, find a napkin. Give Citrus Bowl president Tom Mickle a pen and some table space and watch him go. This is the same guy who literally drew the concept of the BCS on a dinner napkin in the 1990s, and college football hasn't been the same since. There are plenty of options this time around, and a draft would generate fan interest and give non-BCS games more yearly variety. A draft, which wouldn't begin until current contracts expire after the 2005 season, also would create the cross-region games fans crave. And, of course, it would severely crimp the Big Six BCS conferences.

"That's not something we'd be in favor of," a BCS commissioner says. They might not have a say in the matter. The BCS leagues want their annual bowl tie-ins because they generate consistent revenue, and it's a simple process of sliding teams into selection slots and cashing the checks.

Well, fellas, it might not be that simple anymore. The non-BCS bowls are trying to survive. As with any business, the keys are marketing and selling an attractive product and embracing change when needed.

The concept of the draft is simple. After BCS pairings are announced, the four mini-BCS bowls would draft teams for their games. Instead of being limited to conference tie-ins, the bowls could pick from any team in the nation.

The Citrus could have used the first pick last year to select Texas, a team that just missed out on the BCS. With its next selection in the second round, the Citrus could have grabbed local favorite Florida and would've had its most attractive game in years. The Holiday Bowl could've had an East Coast-West Coast game of Georgia-Washington State; the Gator a Tennessee-Iowa matchup. The possibilities are endless with the bowls changing spots in the draft rotation each year, much like the BCS championship game rotates among the four bowls.

This is Marketing 101, folks. More interesting games mean more financial possibilities. The bowls can pool sponsorship money for payouts and negotiate a television deal with any network that gives them prime spots in the holiday season. You better believe NBC and FOX, which trail ABC and CBS in college football coverage, would jump at the chance to promote the new bowl series and steal a little thunder from the BCS.

Joe Sixpack hasn't given up yet. He has just started rolling up his sleeves.

Staff writer Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News. Email him at mhayes@sportingnews.com and include your name and location.
06-21-2004 04:41 PM
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broncobob Offline
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Post: #2
 
1boisebro Wrote:Blue-collar bowls strike back
Matt Hayes /

You've got to admire the fight in these guys. Their Joe Sixpack bowl games are throwaways in the grand scheme, as insignificant as the NIT in that other college sport. Yet every year they're plugging away with postseason games that, for the most part, fill stadiums and remind us there is life after the BCS.

Now those same bowls have a chance to make things very interesting -- and tweak their BCS brethren in the process. Officials from the Citrus, Cotton, Gator and Holiday bowls started talking a couple of years ago about a postseason draft of teams for their games -- or a mini-BCS. That has become more of a reality after the latest kick in the gut from the Bowl Championship Series.

Quick recap: BCS says it will add a fifth bowl; aforementioned bowls believe there is new access to the sport's Mecca; BCS eventually stays status quo. That final condescending condemnation could lead to a revamped bowl structure among the non-BCS games.

"I think we all understand that change isn't part of that (BCS) structure," says Cotton Bowl president Rick Baker. "So now we have to ask ourselves how we make our games more intriguing."

Someone, quick, find a napkin. Give Citrus Bowl president Tom Mickle a pen and some table space and watch him go. This is the same guy who literally drew the concept of the BCS on a dinner napkin in the 1990s, and college football hasn't been the same since. There are plenty of options this time around, and a draft would generate fan interest and give non-BCS games more yearly variety. A draft, which wouldn't begin until current contracts expire after the 2005 season, also would create the cross-region games fans crave. And, of course, it would severely crimp the Big Six BCS conferences.

"That's not something we'd be in favor of," a BCS commissioner says. They might not have a say in the matter. The BCS leagues want their annual bowl tie-ins because they generate consistent revenue, and it's a simple process of sliding teams into selection slots and cashing the checks.

Well, fellas, it might not be that simple anymore. The non-BCS bowls are trying to survive. As with any business, the keys are marketing and selling an attractive product and embracing change when needed.

The concept of the draft is simple. After BCS pairings are announced, the four mini-BCS bowls would draft teams for their games. Instead of being limited to conference tie-ins, the bowls could pick from any team in the nation.

The Citrus could have used the first pick last year to select Texas, a team that just missed out on the BCS. With its next selection in the second round, the Citrus could have grabbed local favorite Florida and would've had its most attractive game in years. The Holiday Bowl could've had an East Coast-West Coast game of Georgia-Washington State; the Gator a Tennessee-Iowa matchup. The possibilities are endless with the bowls changing spots in the draft rotation each year, much like the BCS championship game rotates among the four bowls.

This is Marketing 101, folks. More interesting games mean more financial possibilities. The bowls can pool sponsorship money for payouts and negotiate a television deal with any network that gives them prime spots in the holiday season. You better believe NBC and FOX, which trail ABC and CBS in college football coverage, would jump at the chance to promote the new bowl series and steal a little thunder from the BCS.

Joe Sixpack hasn't given up yet. He has just started rolling up his sleeves.

Staff writer Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News. Email him at mhayes@sportingnews.com and include your name and location.
We need some more retaliation against the BCS Monopoly! Good Article! We need a playooff system. WAC schools need a bigger share of the pie!
06-22-2004 08:53 AM
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arkstfan Away
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Post: #3
 
New idea?

Jeez am I the only one who remembers that for MOST of the history of college football that
The SEC had one bowl tie. Sugar
The Big 10 had one bowl tie. Rose
The Big 8 had one bowl tie. Orange
The SWC had one bowl tie. Cotton
The Pac 10 had one bowl tie. Rose
The WAC had one bowl tie. Fiesta later replaced by the Holiday.
The MAC had one bowl tie. Tangerine, then none, then California, then Vegas
The Big West had one bowl tie. California, replaced by Vegas, replaced by Humanitarian.
The Southland had one bowl tie. Independence.
The ACC had no bowl tie.
The 30 some odd independents had no bowl tie.

Back in 1980 there were over 140 schools in I-A, there were 15 bowl games (30 slots) and only seven slots were occupied by conference ties and those went to league champs only. The other 23 spots were filled by wheeling and dealing at the last minute to get the best match-ups.
06-22-2004 09:59 AM
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USU78 Offline
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Post: #4
 
You forgot the Sun Bowl -- which preceded the Fiesta as the WAC championship game (it actually was tied to the Border Conference, with the Skyline -- WAC's predecessor -- the designated "lesser conference" playoff bowl). Sun was lost to the "tweeners" shortly after the Border Conference went kersplat, and the Sun went big time. Fiesta was lost to the "tweeners" when the Arizonas went West. Holiday was lost to the "tweeners" when it went big time.

It is the BCS types raiding the "tweener" bowls that's caused all this more than anything else, folks. Our ilk creates something in partnership with our cities, then the BCS-types with their TV $$ turn the city fathers' heads with big payday dreams, and we have to start from scratch.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :snore:
06-22-2004 10:19 AM
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broncobob Offline
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Post: #5
 
arkstfan Wrote:New idea?

Jeez am I the only one who remembers that for MOST of the history of college football that
The SEC had one bowl tie. Sugar
The Big 10 had one bowl tie. Rose
The Big 8 had one bowl tie. Orange
The SWC had one bowl tie. Cotton
The Pac 10 had one bowl tie. Rose
The WAC had one bowl tie. Fiesta later replaced by the Holiday.
The MAC had one bowl tie. Tangerine, then none, then California, then Vegas
The Big West had one bowl tie. California, replaced by Vegas, replaced by Humanitarian.
The Southland had one bowl tie. Independence.
The ACC had no bowl tie.
The 30 some odd independents had no bowl tie.

Back in 1980 there were over 140 schools in I-A, there were 15 bowl games (30 slots) and only seven slots were occupied by conference ties and those went to league champs only. The other 23 spots were filled by wheeling and dealing at the last minute to get the best match-ups.
I remember those days well! ....The Good Old Days... ....College Football Tradition.....
I miss the days when the all mighty dollar did not rule all the decisions in College Football.
06-22-2004 11:01 AM
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