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December 29, 2004Apparently and sadly, not enough within the world of college football saw it that way.”We didn’t look at it as a whole, as disruptive,” WAC commissioner Karl Benson said. “(The) Big 12 doesn’t have to worry about stability.” ”We voted no like a lot of people voted no because it was like why tinker with a rule when we’re not sure about it anyway,” Boeh said. ”How many football games to be played is just one small component,” Boeh continued. “You’ll probably continue to see some tinkering with the 1-A status, BCS conference as well as this BCS championship game.” And a traditional conference like the Pac-10 might feel threatened with new rules that would invite more games and threaten the order of things. “There’s a lot of feeling too many games, it’s gotten to too many leagues,” a spokesperson for the Pac-10 said. “There’s a real feeling that things have escalated. A real thought that lets make this real difficult. ”The pressure on the Pac-10 to have a championship game gets stronger every year. There’s a feeling there that we’ve got enough games,” the spokesperson said. So what about the Western Athletic Conference. Why would they vote “no”? Why would they even care if the key number was lowered to 10 instead of 12? Gene Bleymaier, athletic director at Boise State, held the lone vote for the WAC after all conference members were polled. ”I don’t think it was a hotly debated issue at the conference level,” Bleymaier said. “I don’t know if football coaches were in favor of an extra game.” Commissioner Benson agreed. “I think a 12-team league is a sound model. A 10-team model I just don’t believe is structurally sound. ”A 12-team model has shown that it can work and…in various conferences. Ten teams doesn’t allow itself to, you know, to have a divisional structure that I think you can defend,” Benson said. ”The only reason you want to have a conference championship game is for the revenue that comes with it. If you’re going to take that argument, why 10, why not seven, eight team league and have two divisions of four and have a conference championship?” After the calamity that was the ACC raid on the Big East, one wonders if there is any good intentions left within college athletics in the face of financial tunnel vision. "I think there’s a general consensus among folks, and intercollegiate athletics in general…I think that folks wanted to make things reasonable and they want to make sure to consider their student athletes but I also think that they serve as custodians of the sport," Beoh said. "So, if you protect the student athletes and help advance the sport, that’s always a good thing. So, I don’t know what would have happened with the BE (in proposing first), it would have been interesting. They have to look at their football and be concerned with where their status is in 1-A in the coming years." Who knows. That status wouldn't have been looking too poorly with a more aggressive mindset by attacking the 12-member rule right after losing Miami, Fla. Keeping Virginia Tech and Boston College, while adding Louisville and all of a sudden, BCS status isn't a question. One thing is for sure, the Big East will have to protect itself from further destruction by being more proactive instead of waiting around for the reaction of others. The cost of the lawsuit is well into the millions and one wonders if an attack on the 12-member rule would have been the smarter move. No doubt, it certainly would have been cheaper. |
TSR Columns
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Conf.
Votes#
| ACC
Yes
3
| BIG 12
Yes
3
| BIG EAST
No
3
| BIG TEN
No
3
| C-USA*
No
3
| MAC#
No
1
| MTN WEST
Yes
1
| PAC-10
No
3
| SEC
No
3
| WAC#
No
1 |