BCS change will be good news for Big East

[Apis Bull]

BCS change will be good news for Big East

Dave Hickman

BCS change will be good news for Big East

ODDS AND ENDS and a few things I think I think while wondering what to call the “new’’ BCS games ... the Fiesta Siesta? ... Sugar, Too, Please? ... A Rose by Another Name?

So the Bowl Championship Series is going to ditch the wannabe bowls (Gator, Peach, etc.) in favor of letting the rich get richer, huh? Instead of adding a bowl to the mix as a fifth BCS game, we’re going to give the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose a second game each year, that one for the national championship.

That’s probably good news for the new Big East, which now has a much better chance to keep its spot in the Gator Bowl.

Rick Catlett, the Gator’s executive director, said a few weeks ago that if his bowl wasn’t the BCS’s choice for a fifth game that the Big East “has just as good a chance as any other conference’’ to be the opponent for the ACC’s No. 2 team in the Jan. 1 game. But given that the SEC, the Big Ten and the Big 12 already have strong tie-ins that they like  for not only their No. 2 teams but also their Nos. 3 and 4 (and beyond)  does it really make sense for the Gator Bowl to pass on the Big East-Notre Dame deal?

Probably not.

ESPN2 has picked up the West Virginia-Maryland football game, to the surprise of no one. Kickoff is noon on Sept. 18.

If you’re counting, that means the official count of nationally televised games is up to four (Connecticut, Pitt and Syracuse are the others). Expect at least two or three others.

Back to the BCS.

The Rose Bowl is balking at the prospect of having to take a non-BCS school. Hey, no kidding. The Orange, Sugar and Fiesta bowls will complain about it, too. But those three don’t have a separate contract with ABC, as the Rose, Big 10 and Pac 10 do. If they did, they would have the same sort of leverage and be just as vocal in their opposition.

Face it, everyone understands that, every once in a while, a TCU or a Toledo is going to be in a position to grab one of those extra BCS spots, the ones that are there specifically to appease them. They have no choice but to agree to add those teams to the mix, but they are all hopeful that they aren’t the low bowl on the totem pole in those years that a non-BCS school qualifies.

So don’t blame the Rose Bowl for expressing concern. Those folks are simply the only ones in a position to do so. They understand that their games are already second string in the years they don’t have the title game. Play host to the first of two games at the same site will be like having a jayvee bowl game, regardless of what teams are involved.

To contact staff writer Dave Hickman, call 348-1734 or send e-mail to dphickman1@aol.com.

[bulls96go]

fall fall fall under your own weight, cursed B'c'S,non championship system

[smazza]

i was with a wv and uconn alums yesterday and they love usf in conference