Interesting Article on a Automatic Conf. Qualifying

[Water Pony]

This article suggests a method for automatic Bowl selection for conferences based on a conference performance, e.g. MWC/CUSA potentially replacing an under-performing Big East.

Change good, especially in access for the non-BCS

By Kevin Acee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 31, 2004

There are teams in new conferences and a process to decide the national champion that has been altered again.

Those have been the big topics through the winter and spring. But those changes do not comprise the real news for fans of fairness and fans of any school not fortunate enough to be in a Bowl Championship Series conference.


College football has been in a state of flux before, but perhaps never in a way that has sparked this much excitement. The winds of change blowing through the game currently have fanned optimism those at non-BCS schools have heretofore been afraid to embrace.

"There are lots of winds," agreed San Diego State President Stephen Weber, now a major player on the Bowl Championship Series front. "I think we're making very good progress. There's a lot of goodwill out there."
Weber was recently appointed to the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, the first and only person on the seven-person committee who is not the president of a BCS school. As the lone representative of the "Coalition" schools, he has a great responsibility in shaping future access to the BCS and its millions.

"It's not just money-grubbing," Weber said. "There is a lot of money, so I don't want to be Pollyanna about it. But it's about equity and access. We had a fundamental injustice in college athletics. First-rate athletes at schools like San Diego State did not have a realistic chance to play for a national championship (in football), unlike all our other teams."

Perhaps the biggest news for 2004, though it has not received much attention, is that the clock begins ticking this season on schools maintaining and gaining BCS eligibility, which means that by 2008 a conference such as the Mountain West could conceivably be in the BCS.

"Everyone is in agreement there should be a process to earn or lose automatic entrance," Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson said.

Yes, everyone does agree. Even the good BCS people, certainly protective of their millions, believe there has to be justice.

"I'm not going to single out anyone like the Big East," Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen said. "But let's say (non-BCS league) Conference USA or the Mountain West increases its football excellence at the same time as one of the original BCS conferences possibly slips in excellence, there's got to be a measuring system to decide who is in the BCS."
Those involved – the oversight committee and commissioners of all 11 I-A football conferences – hope to decide on such a system by the time the oversight committee meets as a group again in November in San Diego.

"We must have a system to measure that you're going to have to produce some depth and quality in the conference over a four-year period," Hansen said. "We're going to look and see what the best conference is, and anybody within a certain relationship to the best conference over four years will automatically qualify."

All that seems to have been decided for sure is that conferences will be measured over a four-year period. What they will be measured on has only begun to be formulated. It will certainly include on-field performance of every team in a conference and it could expand to include such things as attendance, national TV exposure and strength of schedule. It is believed any formula would be based on where a conference's teams consistently finish in the BCS rankings. Another uncertainty is where Notre Dame fits into the new BCS structure.

It is believed that, depending on how many teams meet the new requirements, there could be as few as four BCS conferenc

[Water Pony]

It is believed that, depending on how many teams meet the new requirements, there could be as few as four BCS conferences by 2008, or as many as seven. There has to be a maximum of seven automatic berths because of the limited number of spots (10) available in BCS bowls. There are two at-large berths available for BCS teams, and beginning in 2006 a non-BCS team is guaranteed a spot by finishing in the top 12 in the BCS standings.

"There's a long way to go," Weber said. "There's some good back and forth happening. This is a good first step."

Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/co ... lfoot.html

[The PonyGrad]

So the MWC sees TCU as getting them over the hump?

Another thought, this could just be a way of dumping the BE and keeping more of the money. Depends on how you look at it. With all the pressure the BCS knew they could not just dump the BE right away.

This is a good recruiting message in any case. C-USA could get there.

[MustangStealth]

It is believed that, depending on how many teams meet the new requirements, there could be as few as four BCS conferences by 2008, or as many as seven.

Just curious... What 4 conferences would it be? Who do you see being left out of the BCS? Or were you just quoting the author? Anybody have an idea?

[Water Pony]

That is a quote from the article.

The four conference example won't happen with the PAC 10, Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big Ten locked in as fixtures. Can't imagine these five at risk at all. ACC might have been, but with the addition of Miami, VT and BC, they are now immune.