Bowl Games
Apparently, if BCS teams have their way, 6-6 BCS teams will have equal footing with a non-BCS schools with a winning record (note the example of a 6-6 Notre Dame vs. a 9-3 Troy). So, UL could conceivably get its proverbial 7th or 8th win this year and still not get a bowl bid.
Bowl game playbook to change
By Brent Schrotenboer, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 1:56 a.m.
BOWL BONANZA
Two new bowl games, in Dallas and New York, are expected to be approved by the NCAA on April 22. The International Bowl in Toronto folded. So that could mean 35 bowl games for 2010, an all-time high. Number of bowl games through the years:
2010-11: 35?
2009-10: 34
2006-07: 32
2001-02: 25
1996-97: 18
1976-77: 12
1966-67: 8
1901-02: 1 (the Rose Bowl)
President Barack Obama wants to see a major college football playoff. So do a majority of fans, according a recent poll.
Yet the NCAA has other ideas — more bowl games and easier access to them for teams with 6-6 records.
Critics call it a “power grab” and a dilution of an already meaningless postseason system. On the other hand, supporters say the demand for more bowl games shows that the current system “works.”
Either way, on April 22 the NCAA is expected to approve two new lower-tier bowl games, in New York City and Dallas. That could bring the number of bowl games to an all-time high of 35, up from 18 in 1996-97.
Also this month, the NCAA is expected to approve legislation that will make it easier for teams with mediocre records to play in bowl games. Under the proposed new rule, teams with 6-6 records — the minimum record needed to be bowl-eligible — will be considered just as eligible to play in bowls as teams with winning records. Under current rules, the NCAA requires bowls to give priority to teams with winning records.
The new bowl eligibility rule “is a naked power grab,” said Matt Sanderson, co-founder of Playoff PAC, a federal political committee pushing for a playoff system.
Sanderson said he fears that the effect of the new rule will be that some bowls with open slots for at-large teams will select power-conference teams with 6-6 records over smaller-conference teams with winning records. For example, if the proposed rule had been in effect last year, the GMAC Bowl could have taken Notre Dame (6-6) over Troy (9-3) — if Notre Dame had wanted to play in it.
“The bowl system is already for the big schools and by the big schools,” Sanderson said. “This is just another slap in the face.”
The new eligibility rule was proposed by Big 12 Conference Commissioner Dan Beebe. The reason behind the proposal was that some 6-6 teams arguably are more deserving of bowl berths than teams with winning records, particularly if they played a tougher schedule. The rule would create “greater flexibility by allowing the marketplace to play a more significant role in determining whether a team is offered the opportunity” to play in a bowl, according to the proposal.
The proposed changes continue the NCAA’s free-market approach to the bowl system, which differs from its former mission of rewarding only excellent teams with postseason berths. Because so many powerful interests can make money from more bowl games (television networks, cities, conferences, universities, coaches), there’s been a push for creating more of them and getting more teams access.
“I think every bowl has a place, and we provide a service to the student-athlete and our communities,” said Bruce Binkowski, executive director of San Diego’s Holiday and Poinsettia Bowls. “As long we (have enough eligible) teams, it’s good.”
The only thing that seems to be stopping the bowl system from expanding even further is the limited pool of eligible teams. For at least the past three seasons, there were 71 teams with at least six wins — just enough for 35 games. In 2003, there were 67, but that was before the NCAA loosened the six-win requirement by allowing teams to count one win per year against opponents from the lesser-resourced Division I-AA.
The NCAA committee that licenses potential new bowl games only will do so if the bowl operators show they are contracted with two conferences that historically have produced enough bowl-eligible teams to play in their games. Asked how many bowl games there could be, Nick Carparelli, the chairman of the NCAA’s bowl licensing committee, said, “As many games as the system can handle.”
Carparelli cited attendance figures and television ratings that show bowls are as popular as ever. However, many participating schools lose money from attending bowl games, especially those who attend the lower-level games.
The New York bowl, called the Pinstripe Bowl, has contracted to get the No. 6 team from the Big 12 Conference and the No. 3 team from the Big East. The Dallas Football Classic has deals with the Big 12, Big Ten and Conference USA.
The two games’ organizers will make presentations April 22 to the bowl licensing committee. Both contests are expected to be approved, replacing the International Bowl in Toronto, which folded.
Brent Schrotenboer: (619) 293-1368; brent.schrotenboer@uniontrib.com
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Originally Posted by HoustonCajun
Re: Bowl Games
