Glen from Sacramento writes: What do you think the likelihood of the Fiesta Bowl losing BCS status to the Cotton Bowl is? That is, the New Cowboys Stadium version.Could this benefit the Pac-12, if the Fiesta were demoted, yet still a high profile (New Years?) bowl? Us Pac-10'rs have long been annoyed by the lack of high profile western region bowls available for our conference. We're stuck watching numerous SEC/Big10 matchups in Florida on New Years day, while a 2nd place, maybe 1 or 2 loss, Pac-10 team often plays in the Holiday Bowl (or now Alamo Bowl) on Dec 30, against a 4th or 5th place Big-12 team.With 12 teams now, can we start pulling some weight with respect to bowl arrangements?
Ted Miller: It's certainly possible that the Fiesta Bowl will get the boot from the BCS. But you know what the Powers That Be in college football want? The story to go away. If you took a magnifying glass to other BCS bowl games -- heck, most bowl games -- you'd almost certainly find similar levels of excess, though maybe not on as grand a scale. Know why there are so many bowls, and why so many fight to maintain the present bowl system? We don't even need a word to answer: $.
Understand: Longtime Fiesta Bowl president and CEO John Junker got away -- allegedly -- with such stunningly excesses because he'd built a stunningly successful enterprise.
If the Fiesta Bowl gets banished from the BCS, the Pac-12 would make sense as a suitor, a topic Bud Withers of the Seattle Times visited on Tuesday. And you really can't count out Larry Scott, the conference's aggressive commissioner, from making any move.
But it's not a slam dunk. For one, the conference's bowl contracts are signed through 2013. So, the Pac-12 can't just swoop in and scoop up the Fiesta Bowl, at least not immediately, or without some complicated legal wrangling.
Further, what would the matchup be? Could the Fiesta Bowl, which presently is aligned with the Big 12 champion, and Pac-12 put together a deal that lures the Big Ten or SEC away from one of their Florida Bowls -- the Capital One Bowl or the Outback Bowl? Or would the game automatically go after the No. 2 team from the Big 12, which presently plays in the Cotton Bowl, if the Cotton Bowl becomes a BCS bowl and gets the Big 12 champion instead of the Fiesta Bowl?
And would the Fiesta Bowl even want the Pac-12? If it could match the No. 3 team from the Big Ten or SEC versus the No. 2 team from the Big 12, it might prefer that matchup. Why? Those conferences offer more big stadium teams with fans who travel in large numbers and fill up hotel rooms and stadiums -- particularly ones trying to escape cold weather.
The present situation is complicated and fluid. My guess is the Fiesta Bowl, after cleaning house, won't get dumped by the BCS. But you never know.
And I'd guess Scott at least has a raised eyebrow over potential opportunities here.
没有评论:
发表评论