Pac-10 Threatens to Pull Out
L O S A N G E L E S, Nov. 30 -- The Pac-10 Conference could withdraw from theBowl Championship Series if No. 5 Oregon State isn’t picked for theFiesta Bowl.
“I think the BCS has been very good for college football, butit has to be good for all the participants,” commissioner TomHansen told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday.
The Fiesta Bowl is preparing for Sunday’s pick of teams to playin one of the BCS’s four major bowls.
Fiesta Bowl Burden
No. 2 Miami and No. 11 Notre Dame are the leading teams for theFiesta Bowl. Oregon State (10-1), whose only loss was by threepoints at Pac-10 champion Washington, could lose out on the bigpayoff of a BCS bowl. Relegating the Beavers to the Holiday Bowlwould cost the Pac-10, which shares bowl revenues, about $4million.
The Pac-10 contract to take part in the BCS expires in 2006.
“There is an extra burden on the Fiesta Bowl this year. I hopethey feel that,” Hansen said of the possibility that Fiestaofficials could ignore Oregon State’s higher BCS standing and gofor a Notre Dame-Miami matchup.
Another scenario has No. 8 Kansas State getting an automaticFiesta berth if it beats current No. 1 Oklahoma in the Big-12 titlegame. That would give the Fiesta selectors just one at-large choicefor their game, which has a $13.5 million payout.
The Rose Bowl is in the BCS rotation to have a No. 1-2 game onceevery four years. But the No. 2 team in the Pac-10 has regularlybeen shut out of the other premier bowls in the BCS. Arizona wasthe only at-large selection for a major bowl in recent years, goingto the 1994 Fiesta Bowl.
Forget the Rest
In 1997, No. 5 UCLA was bypassed by the Sugar Bowl in favor ofNo. 9 Ohio State. UCLA instead went to the Cotton Bowl.
“The Pac-10 may be better off going back to the Rose Bowl andforgetting the rest,” Hansen said. “I wouldn’t want tocontinually subject our teams to the anticipation of being selectedand fairly considered when it just doesn’t happen.”
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