Mini BCS Bowls to Start

[cuseroc]

Blue-collar bowls strike back

Matt Hayes /

Posted: 36 minutes ago

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.

A Texas vs. Florida Citrus Bowl matchup would have drawn a lot of attention last season.

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

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[bulls96go]

the little guy's finally realise there will never be a seat at the table for them

so there is finally a splint in the bowl cartel, now if the non bcs schools add their weight and the NCAA grows a back bone just maybe there is a chance to change this crappy system

also if the other bowls do this ABC may not be willing to fork over the massive bucks so this may leavrage change

this would be great and closer to a playoff

the draft would be great and if nbc or fox picks it up

they may have bigger payoffs and challenge the bcs

they should add th NY bowl to this mix i hope the NCAA see this as a way to take back some power in the football process

the draft idea may create the kind of buzz as selection sunday for NCAA Bball

name:  NIT (why not?)

or national draft or championship draft

[smazza]

great

they should sue bcs,ncaa and the six conferences for anit trust violations

[Apis Bull]

As a new football playing school, this would hurt us initially.  Without the conference tie-in, we may not get selected to play in any of the bowls mentioned.

[BullDoug]

Remember the USFL?  Can you say IBFD or IBCFC as in Invitational Bowl Football Draft/Invitational Bowl College Football Championship?  The best way to challenge the BCS is to match thier $ and the whole thing will crumble.  Create a 8 team/7game play-off where more money could be earned and the BCS will have its rug snatched from beneath its feet.

[Apis Bull]

I remember that the USFL was fine until they tried to directly compete with the NFL by changing their season from the Spring to the Fall.

[smazza]

who is paying money to remaining 59 teams?

playoff idea sounds intriguing but they need ncaa approval and they won't get it but if they break away and don't play 6 conference than maybe they have a chance but non bcs seem to have no backbone