Dennis Dodd’s notebook column is just chock full of goodies. Well worth reading it all. I’m going to pick out some that I feel like adding comments.
In some people’s eyes, Notre Dame’s new BCS status might be matching its football status.
Second tier.
Beginning in 2006, the maximum Notre Dame can earn from a BCS appearance is $4.5 million. That’s the same amount currently earned by second teams from conferences in BCS bowls.
BCS coordinator Kevin Weiberg made the announcement as the annual BCS meetings wrapped up on Wednesday.
The $4.5 million represents a decrease of approximately $10 million per appearance Notre Dame earned under the old BCS agreement that expires after the 2005 season. The school essentially traded an all-or-nothing shot at a $14 million pot of gold for guaranteed income each year.
In years that Notre Dame does not play in a BCS game, it will earn approximately $1 million, essentially equal to a minimum share received by each BCS conference school.
That means beginning in 2006, Notre Dame could play in a BCS bowl once every 10 years and not make as much money it did in 2001 for its one Fiesta Bowl appearance under the current parameters ($14 million vs. $13.5 million). That 2001 Fiesta Bowl remains Notre Dame’s only BCS game in the seven years the system has been used.
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The changes seem to be a net loss for Notre Dame, but given its recent football fortunes, it doesn’t have much leverage.“They’ve accepted that, it’s something we agreed to,” Weiberg said.
They also made the standards for ND to qualify for a BCS bowl a little tougher. They will not be sharing the BE’s BCS berth.
My first reaction was: Heh. On reflection, though, it strengthens ND’s football independence. Taking the guaranteed money reduces some of the pressure on them financially. Most importantly, it gives ND time. I think they were building to a point where, for finances, they had to really consider a full conference affiliation — the alumni and boosters be damned. This relieves that issue. Much like the BE affiliation in all other sports did for the basketball program.
Now on the subject of the future BCS telecasts by Fox Sports:
Fox will begin televising the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls (as well as BCS title games) beginning in January 2007. Current BCS rights-holder ABC retained the Rose Bowl.
“Sometimes it’s been one of our most frustrating areas,” Weiberg said, referring also to ABC. “We felt like at times the self-promotion within the telecast … is a real problem. … We’re frustrated about the amount of time it takes to put the ball back in play. Fox wants to bring to the BCS its unique approach to production. … We’re excited about the energy they’ve already brought to these discussions.”
ABC’s self-promotion within the telecast was a problem? Have they ever watched Fox Sports televise games?
Then the subject of keeping automatic BCS bids:
In 2008 and 2009, the number of conferences getting automatic BCS berths will be capped at seven. Conferences will be judged BCS worthy at that time based on average rank of their champion and other criteria from 2004 through 2007.
However, Weiberg said that a conference could qualify based on “market size”. That seems to give the benefit of the doubt to the Big East remaining in the BCS despite losing Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech. The league still has a sizable demographic on the East Coast.
That’s bad new for the Mountain West, which has been campaigning heavily for BCS status coming off the great the season by Utah.
The BCS system is doing everything they can to keep the BE in and the Mountain West out. They counted Louisville’s finish in the BCS standings this past season for the BE. They are going to include “market size,” which kills the Mountain West and clearly benefits the BE just based on Syracuse and Rutgers covering NY and NJ
At this point, the only thing that can screw the BE out of the BCS is the BE teams not performing. It’s all on the programs in the conference.
