Dec. 10, 2002
Columbia, Mo. - There was a small story that came out on December 3rd. Perhaps it made your local paper, perhaps not.
In the story reported by ESPN.com, it was noted that the NCAA Division I Football Certification Subcommittee, of which I am a member, accepted letters of intent from two banks, both affirming that they plan to issue $1.5 million letters of credit to the Seattle Bowl and the Silicon Valley Football Classic. This was necessary because each of those bowls were in danger of not being able to make their financial payouts to participating teams this year. These so-called 'lower-tier' bowls were unable to secure title sponsorships, and without that, they needed the lines of credit to ensure payouts of $750,000 to participating teams.
The NCAA requires advance documentation from each bowl game that guarantees participating teams will receive the financial benefits they are promised ahead of time. Since November 1, the NCAA has extended the deadlines to these two bowls twice. Our committee considered a possible decertification of these games, due to the fact that they were financially unstable. I went on record as the only member of the 10-person committee who did not want to allow the deadline extension. I was just not comfortable allowing the uncertainty to continue.
What wasn't reported in the story was the fact that if these bowls don't meet a December 6 deadline with the financial guarantees, they will likely be decertified, which means the bowls will not take place. This is a troubling situation to me, but one that frankly does not surprise me at all.
Do you realize that there are 28 bowl games scheduled for this season? That means as many as 56 teams will be playing in bowl games this year - just under half of the 117 members in I-A. In my opinion, we have reached the saturation point for bowl games. There are simply too many games vying for the same corporate dollar. It really is no wonder that the Seattle Bowl and the Silicon Valley Football Classic have had trouble securing money. It makes complete fiscal sense to decrease the number of bowl games, allowing those that survive to become stronger financially. This will not only benefit the bowls, but certainly the schools that play in them.
With this year's new 12-game schedule, teams needed just six Division I wins to become bowl eligible. The Big 12 Conference has an affiliation with eight different bowls. We have nine teams that are eligible to go. If Missouri had beaten Kansas State, the Tigers would have become the 10th. This is certainly wonderful for the conference, but does it make sense to send a .500 team to post season? In our case, the three weeks of practice time would have really helped as Gary Pinkel continues to build this program. There is also a benefit on the recruiting front.
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was designed to match the two best teams for the national championship. This season, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz. will decide the title on January 3rd. We know Big 10 champion Ohio State is in, and that Miami, Fla. can secure its ticket with a win over Virginia Tech.
Only ranked teams in the BCS's top-12 are eligible for the four top bowl games - the Fiesta, Sugar, Rose and Orange. With the Fiesta virtually wrapped up, you have Iowa, Notre Dame, Southern California, Kansas State, Georgia and Oklahoma all hoping for an at-large appearance.
What has taken place this year is the back room lobbying that used to be the standard operating procedure with the bowls. After a conference call earlier this week between conference commissioners, bowl game executives and BCS officials, the Big 10 announced that Iowa has secured a BCS berth. How will this impact the others? Officials from Kansas State, including the school's President, traveled to Miami to try and lobby its way into the Orange Bowl. The school will guarantee the sale of at least 25,000 tickets. In a similar position, I would try and lay out the strongest possible case for my institution and football program.
Perhaps it is time that we in Division I college football strongly consider a playoff system to decide our national champion. The concept has worked very well in Divisions II & III, as well as in I-AA. If this happens, I would like to see a playoff system take place within the current bowl structure.
It has been suggested that we take the top eight teams in the BCS rankings and begin play the weekend following the conclusion of the regular season. Four quarterfinal games could be played the second week in December, followed by the semi-finals the next week, then take two weeks before playing the national championship game.
I would be in favor of utilizing the seven strongest bowls (including the Fiesta, Rose, Sugar & Orange) as sites for these contests. The title game each year could be rotated between the big four, as is done currently.
There is also a lot of support for a four-team playoff, which would utilize three of the bowls in a scenario similar to the very popular "Final Four" in men's basketball.
In either scenario, we would not be adding to our student-athletes' time away from school, because most schools will be on semester break. I believe that the quality of play would potentially increase, because there wouldn't be anywhere from 25 to 40 days between games. Finally, with two weeks between the semi-finals and the championship game, college football would benefit from even more publicity, and move to top segment of every sportscast across the country. The viewing public would truly have an undisputed national champion, and the financial reward for the schools involved would be greater than any we have seen to this point. Just look at what CBS has pledged to the NCAA for rights to the basketball tournament.
Regardless, it is my opinion that we have to looking at doing something; under the current system we are losing advertisers and ratings. Why not take a bold step?
As always, I thank-you for taking the time to read this column. If you have any comments or questions about this topic, or anything else regarding Mizzou Athletics, or collegiate athletics in general, please feel free to contact me by e-mail at aldenm@missouri.edu.