|
Notes, Quotes and Slants
-----
|
College
Notebook No. 5
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
By Denny O'Brien |
 |
Football profile largely
intact for C-USA
©2005 Bonesville.net
Conference USA won't produce
the next national champion in college football. Hades might receive a heavy
snowfall before that occurs.
The exclusive nature of the
Bowl Championship Series, along with Louisville's exodus to the Big East,
has all but eliminated the slightest shot at a title for a C-USA program.
Not that any league school
has ever been considered a legitimate contender for the football throne.
But Louisville at least showed that it was worthy of socializing with the
aristocrats despite its residence among the working class.
With the Cardinals now
nesting in new surroundings, C-USA is less likely to slide its foot inside
the BCS door. Nothing short of an undefeated season filled with resounding
blowouts against a schedule stacked with non-conference bullies would
produce that outcome.
Even so, the makeover the
league received during the expansion process shouldn't damage its overall
position in the national pecking order.
"It does tilt the geography,
without a doubt," East Carolina Senior Associate Athletics Director Nick
Floyd said last week. "But we think from a football standpoint, it is going
to be not only maybe as strong, but possibly stronger in the future than it
has been."
That could be the case
indeed.
Though C-USA may have lost
its most respected program in Louisville, the losses of Cincinnati and South
Florida will have minimal impact in football. The Bearcats and Bulls have
modest traditions at best and are easily replaced by the six that will enter
the league this fall.
Marshall alone has more clout
than Cincy and USF combined. The Herd has a long history of gridiron
success, a fan base that would caravan to Timbuktu, a national cult
following, and prime time television appeal.
That goes without mentioning
an impressive quarterback lineage over the past decade that is second to
few.
In terms of raw potential,
Texas-El Paso and Central Florida both rank ahead of Cincinnati and South Florida.
As long as Mike Price and George O'Leary stay put, the Miners and Knights
should see their stock rise faster than the price of petro.
"I personally think we're
going to be stronger," Memphis coach Tommy West said last August. "I'm
optimistic now. I was pretty pessimistic at first.
"I competed against George
(O'Leary) when he was at Georgia Tech and I know how fierce a competitor he
is and his teams are. Mike Price won two Rose Bowls at Washington State.
(Rice coach) Ken Hatfield has been at Clemson, he's been at Arkansas."
The common misconception
about C-USA is that it was completely decimated by conference expansion. In
basketball, that statement is as accurate as an uncontested lay-up.
However, in the sport that
pays the bills, C-USA should see its status largely unchanged, if not
improved. With strength in numbers, the television profile already is
enhanced and more bowl opportunities should present themselves in the
future.
The biggest challenge C-USA
faces isn't as a whole, rather within the individual parts that comprise
it. The travel and budgetary demands on schools like Marshall and East
Carolina could far exceed the available cash flow if their administrators
are unable to strategically schedule regional opponents capable of filling the
seats.
But the level of play within
C-USA is the one thing that shouldn't suffer.
Opinion
polls heavily taint BCS
Another year, another
change. Make that another round of par for the BCS.
With the Associated Press
pulling its poll from the equation that decides who attends the big-money
bowls, the BCS again must tweak a formula that has been under constant
revision since it was unveiled in 1998.
That is the big challenge at
the annual BCS meetings this week in Scottsdale, Arizona. And according to
Kevin Weiberg, who is the coordinator of the BCS, the focus will be on
replacing the AP poll with another, possibly one in which 70 former coaches
and athletic administrators would vote.
Bad idea.
The last thing the BCS needs
is another element of subjectivity thrown into its messy mix. The BCS has
been a huge source of controversy since its inception, with opinion polls at
the center of much of the hullabaloo.
Remember last year when Mack
Brown Longhorned his way into the Rose Bowl? Or how about the unbelievable
odds undefeated Auburn faced because of its modest preseason ranking?
The BCS would serve the
nation a big favor by seriously considering the one thing it appears ready
to brush aside — a selection committee akin to what is used for the NCAA
Tournament in basketball.
Just as long as that
committee is represented fairly by all conferences — and BCS slots are open
to all leagues.
Too much tube?
First ESPN gave us Thursday
night college football. Then it added Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to
the boob tube calendar.
Now with the launching of
ESPNU, spring games could become a part of the regular programming lineup
next April.
Mississippi State and South
Carolina already have had their spring games aired on ESPNU this year.
College Sports Television (CSTV) will do the same this week for Rutgers,
Ohio State, and Penn State.
The growing trend for
broadcasting college football is an emphasis on quantity, not quality. More
evidently is better, even if that means delivering a sub-par product to a
disinterested audience.
Spring games fit that
description like a glove.
 Send an e-mail message to Denny O'Brien.
Click here to dig into Denny O'Brien's Bonesville
archives.
02/23/2007 01:59:49 AM |
