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First teams chosen are 10 BCS teams
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
Published on Thursday, Nov 20, 2008
My friend Zac Jackson sauntered by at the press box Monday night in Buffalo and mentioned that the University of Akron football team could go to a bowl game.
It was about 1:30 in the morning after the Browns game, so I said something insightful and pertinent, like: ''What?''
He responded it was very possible if UA won its last two games against Ohio University and Temple. Combined record of those teams: 5-15.
Jackson does a stellar job on the Browns Web site, so I figured it was worth looking into his claim.
Lo and behold, he's right.
Always trust a Manchester guy.
In truth, there's very few people outside Manchester who can wade into the maze that is the NCAA's bowl structure and come out alive.
What's in a name?
There are 34 bowls in college football, which is more than there are coherent thoughts about a playoff.
These include the EagleBank Bowl (the name will change when the government gives another bank money to buy EagleBank), the Chick-fil-A Bowl (not open on Sunday) and the Meineke Car Care Bowl (no one can fly to that one). And let's not forget the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. And no, you can't make this stuff up.
Oh . . . there's also the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, the bowl that makes schools cringe. The idea of going to paradise is certainly enticing, but not when the $750,000 cost in difficult economic times is considered.
This bowl could be the answer to a question: What if somebody threw a bowl game and only one team played?
At any rate, 68 teams play in all these absurdly named bowls, and all of these teams must have six wins or more.
At this moment, one team has accepted a bowl bid. Navy, in beautiful Annapolis, Md., will play in the EagleBank Bowl, in beautiful Washington, D.C.
Interesting fact about the EagleBank Bowl: It originally was named the Congressional Bowl; apparently being affiliated with a bank was better than the smear of being affiliated with Congress.
The Middies' commitment leaves only 67 bowl teams to go. And yes, finding the Northwest
Passage was a simpler task.
Most of these games have conference tie-ins that go way deep into the standings. The Papajohns.com Bowl (not a joke), for instance, takes the ninth team from the Southeastern Conference. The EagleBank Bowl could take the ninth team from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Contractually, these bowl game guys — who all wear funny-colored sport coats to games — have to honor the conference tie.
Unless, that is, those teams do not have six wins.
If they don't, then they take at-large teams, and the NCAA has decreed that these guys wearing these funny colored sport coats must take a 7-5 team over a 6-6 team.
It's an NCAA rule, and it might be the simplest of all the thousands of NCAA rules to understand.
So . . . the top-heavy nature of some conferences combined with the mediocre records overall could open up more spots for teams like the Zips — provided they win seven games.
The first teams chosen are the 10 BCS teams.
The Big 12 will have two, so will the SEC. And if Oregon State wins out and wins the Pac-10, that opens up another spot for USC as an at-large. Which leaves the ACC, Big East and Big Ten champs and one more at-large, likely Utah, to round out the BCS.
But once BCS teams are picked, the major conferences might not have enough six-win teams to fill their commitments, or to garner at-large bids.
What it means for UA
UA Athletic Director Mack Rhoades is well aware of the scenarios.
''If we can take care of business — and we don't want to put the cart before horse — if we can beat Ohio and Temple, then we put ourselves in position for an open bowl spot,'' Rhoades said.
The MAC has three bowl commitments — the International, the GMAC and the Motor City Bowl. Ball State, the East winner (Buffalo or Bowling Green or even UA) and either Central or Western Michigan will take those three spots.
If WMU doesn't get an automatic bid, it will certainly get an at-large bid.
But if UA is 7-5, and there aren't enough teams to fill the other spots, the Zips might have forced the issue.
One other factor to consider: If there aren't enough bowl-eligible teams, MAC teams could jump to other bowls and other MAC schools could fill in the three bowls that are committed to the conference.
So an unbeaten Ball State could move ''up,'' which might open up a spot for UA.
If Buffalo wins the East, it would be a natural in the International Bowl in Toronto. But if Buffalo doesn't go there for whatever reason, UA could slide in. The Zips did bring 15,000 fans to the Motor City Bowl in 2005.
If it all seems complicated . . . well . . . it's because it is.
And if it seems too much to deal with right now, well thank that Manchester guy. Apparently folks from that neck of the woods like to figure these things out.
The simplest way to look at the situation is the way Rhoades is looking at it.
''We have to do our job,'' he said.
Which means win the final two games.
Doing that could make for a most interesting scenario.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/.
My friend Zac Jackson sauntered by at the press box Monday night in Buffalo and mentioned that the University of Akron football team could go to a bowl game.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Perrysburg, OH
Posted 07:37 AM, 11/20/2008
Since the Raiders no longer use the saying, the Zips should adopt "Win, baby, win"
Posted 09:05 AM, 11/20/2008
If you consider how much money Ohio University lost in going to bowl games in the past few years (well up in 6 figures), can the Zips afford the honor of going bowling?
Posted 09:31 AM, 11/20/2008
Akron brought 15,000 to the Motor City Bowl, but didn't the university buy the tickets for the students to attend? How much money did they lose on going to the bowl game?
Posted 10:44 AM, 11/20/2008
The students had to pay something for those tickets if im not mistaken. Sadly i cannot even remember if i did pay for that student ticket lol. Either way, the national exposure and the football exposure are WELL WORTH IT for a school like akron. We need to get some publicity going into a big year next year with the new stadium. The Zips will win their final two games and they will go to a bowl that i will attend, i guarantee that.
Posted 11:46 AM, 11/20/2008
Akron is responsible for purchasing a large share of the unsold tickets to whatever bowl game they could potentially get. Since there is no chance they would sell many of these tickets, this will only put Akron deeper in the red...the last place they need to be with the growing debts of the new "Field, err, Stadium of Dreams."
Heck, even WVU ended up over $1 million in the red with their BCS bowl game because they couldn't sell enough tickets to make up for the huge payout they received after upsetting Oklahoma.
Posted 11:47 AM, 11/20/2008
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1492142
Ravenna, OH
Posted 12:55 PM, 11/20/2008
No team with their record should go a bowl. It make the MAC look weak.
