It was announced yesterday that the Big East relationship with the Gator Bowl has come to an end. And that the Champs Sports Bowl is its replacement for 1st pick out of the Big East as one of its participants. It appears from the mutual admiration of John Marianato, Big East Commissioner and Steve Hogan of Florida Citrus Sports that this is a marriage made in heaven. Time shall tell.
"We are thrilled to be a partner with the Champs Sports Bowl, said BIG EAST Commissioner John Marinatto. “I know our schools are very excited about the agreement. Orlando is an outstanding destination for our teams and fans. It’s going to be a great experience for everyone. The Champs Sports Bowl is an outstanding addition to the BIG EAST bowl lineup."
“We are very excited about gaining another top pick through the BIG EAST and Notre Dame,” said Steve Hogan, CEO of Florida Citrus Sports. “If we are successful in signing our other planned selections, it will be tough to argue that Orlando doesn’t deliver the best week of the college football postseason.” ---BigEast.orgI am curious to see the readers and posters reactions to this change. I will give my premature thoughts on this event. Here are my two considerations:
1. What else could the new Big East commissioner do?
a. He could have let the Gator Bowl dictate terms that would have all but eliminated us from selection from now on. The last deal was a hybrid with the Sun Bowl where in Notre Dame could be selected 2 times in four years which in essence meant that the Gator only had to select a Big East team once. As it worked out the Gator selected WVU for the 2007 incarnation. And it is either Notre Dame or the Big East rep this year in the Gator. So if the Golden Domers don't get it done, with that sissy schedule this year and go to the BCS, be assured, the Gator is salivating to take them. My point is that it is not the best deal for the Big East. And WVU has been there six times so maybe a change is not such a bad thing. While I lament losing the New Years Day Bowl prestige, I am not sure that this relationship is a good one. Thus the time has come to move on.
b. He could have wooed other bowl sites, aka a New York Bowl. As it turns out this may happen anyway and be a lower tier bowl. I think that of the remaining "open bowl slots" Champs may have been best option.
c. I for one am glad that the Commish has taken the proactive position to acquire some new bowl games. I don't know if the Champs is an upgrade but it is at least new. As I understand it, it appears the Big East is about to ink a deal with the Sun to be the second selection out of the Big East after the BCS. If this is the case I would say that the lineup is improving. We shall see how it all shakes out once all the Bowl affiliations are completed.
2. What are the upsides to Champs Sports Bowl?
a. Well an obvious answer would be the location. It is hard to argue that Orlando in late December would be a bad place to visit. Christmas at the Magic Kingdom sounds pretty darned fun. But I digress it is a warmer location than Jacksonville. It has more to do outside of football and it has direct flights from West Virginia. I would say that from a novelty standpoint this bowl game could prove to be a fun one.
b. Payout is negligible. It appears that Champs Sports is going to pay 2.4 the Gator is 2.5. I wish we were able to garner more money but from that standpoint it is almost a wash.
c. A major upside is that it is a night game with exclusive viewership. It shall be shown on ESPN as a part of their bowl week. It will be only game on at that time and thus the exposure for the two teams competing will not be shared.
d. While we are still tied to the Golden Domers in this contract it is only impacting a Big East team 1 time in the four year deal. Thus a Big East Team shall be taken 3 times. An improvement to say the least over relationship with Gator Bowl.
e. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge novelty as a plus. It is a place we haven't been associated with and that is a major plus. This would be even more true if we don't have to play the ACC. I am hopeful that we will pick up another conference opponent for this game. We shall see.
Anyway this is a post that is crying out for the input of the reader. Please let me know what each of you think.
DaGeek
2 comments:
The Sun says no to !Big East. This changes the analysis. I am hopeful the Commish has something else up his sleeve.
It is time for the BE to make their stand. With our outstanding successes as a conference in the bowl season the last several years, it may be time to stop accepting second fiddle deals with the corporate media outlets. The so-called prestige of being on New Year's day is all that's really lost. Every year, there are a couple bowl games played in December where both teams are ranked higher than both teams of several New Year's Day bowls, so the actual prestige of playing in Jan is really a myth. Better success in cross conference matchups in the regular season will be the key to enticing better bowl matchups for the future. (along w/ continued successes in the bowls we are given) But for now, it's time to separate ourselves as much as possible from Notre Dame and let our conferences' play on the field speak the message.
Until the league grows, (We really need to add another football team), the Champ Sports bowl isn't a terrible result for 1st pick from the BE. The most disappointing result is that Notre Dame is still involved. Bowl selections will be a real farce when ND goes to the Champ Sports Bowl once every 4 years and the 2nd place team in the BE is relegated to the Car Care Bowl or something similar.
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