"Gator, Sun bowls assured participation for four years..."

[NavyCrimson]

well - needless to say, whatever tactics they'll use to keep the non-bcs-bs bowls out, they'll surely pursue!

needless to say, with our leadership on the sidelines always, always doing nothing to fight back!

they're probably laughing at this stuff wiping their brow wishing the day of athletics is quickly coming to an end @ SMU / you know, the same old battle between academics & athletics & they feel like they're winning now!

then why should we even worry!

if the alums ever got smart, they'd quit giving & hopefully that would be the first wake up call for the heads to start rolling -

i have a feeling our faculty & administration (including all the other non-bcs-bs alledged administrators) are loving this or they would fight this cartel also -

& then they keep 'milking' us so that we'll subsidize their ^%$$-ups & inadequacies as managers & wanna-be leaders -

folks - until 'our' leadership starts to fight back, nothing will ever happen!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2107905

"Gator, Sun bowls assured participation for four years" ...
Associated Press

MIAMI -- The Big East, Big 12 and Notre Dame would alternate bids to the Gator Bowl and the Sun Bowl over a four-year period starting in 2006, according to a new agreement nearing approval.

The four-year deal, which is pending the approval of the Big 12, will give the Jacksonville-based Gator Bowl the option of taking the Big East's No. 2 team or the Big 12's No. 3 team. The agreement is scheduled to begin with the 2007 Gator Bowl, following the 2006 regular season.

The Atlantic Coast Conference will remain as the Gator Bowl's other participant while the Pac 10 will do the same in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

The deal is an effort by the conferences and the two bowls to avoid repetitive matchups in the postseason, Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett said Thursday.

"Texas just finished playing in the Holiday Bowl for the third time in four years and we had West Virginia back-to-back, and it's just nuts to do that," Catlett said. "It's an attempt to put new teams in and to create matchups beneficial to the games and for the fans."

Under the deal, each conference will have two bids each to the Gator Bowl and the Sun Bowl over the next four years, Catlett said.

That means the Gator Bowl could invite two straight Big East teams for the first two years of the deal, but they will then be forced to take Big 12 teams the next two years.

The Sun Bowl takes whichever conference is not invited to the Gator Bowl, thought in the case of the Big 12, the Sun Bowl will have to take that conference's No. 4 team, said Sun Bowl executive director Bernie Olivas.

Notre Dame, an independent in football, would remain a part of the eight-team Big East's bowl pool and could not trump a Big 12 selection in either bowl, Big East spokesman John Paquette said.

"We want to make sure that we've got a home in any year we're not in a BCS game," said John Heisler, Notre Dame's senior associate athletic director. "We want to make sure we have a place to go that makes sense."

The potential Gator Bowl selection will also be influenced by the Cotton Bowl and how many Big 12 teams are invited to the Bowl Championship Series.

If one Big 12 team is selected to the BCS, the Gator Bowl will get the No. 3 pick from that conference. If two Big 12 teams make the BCS, the Cotton Bowl's pick will take precedence.

"It's going to be exciting again. It's going to bring back some intrigue," Catlett said.

[EastStang]

Actually, this hurts the Big East more than anyone else and opens up either the Independence, Houston or Ft. Worth Bowl for a non-BCS conference. The Ft. Worth Bowl may be in limbo anyway because they lost their sponsor and this year TCU can't participate since the deal with CUSA is through 2006. (two of the three are in CUSA cities). Sure it would have been nice to have the Sun or Gator available to us and if the Big XII has a few teams fail to be bowl eligible, and if we have a great season, UTEP does have pull to get teams into the Sun Bowl (they did it for the Frogs several years ago). This move was more about downgrading the Big East. That conference is teetering as far as BCS status is concerned (which is why they focused on building a powerhouse basketball conference). Their only hope is that Louisville stays up there and that West Virginia and Pitt regain their lost lustre.

[Stallion]

as someone who has tried some antitrust cases, let me tell you these multi-leveled agreements between bowls and conferences especially between multiple bowls and multiple conferences like this Gator/Sun Bowl deal and the BCS Bowl Series Deal would have been delicious evidence of a conspiracy to restrain trade among BCS schools and the bowls. Unfortunately when the non-BCS schools jumped in bed with the BCS schools to get a small cut I think it significantly weakened any possible case. Too bad I think the BCS is a real paper tiger that would fall like a house of cards (under the per se analysis) if ever challenged. If you read the Supreme Court case in OU v the NCAA the Court said that the TV rights et al are clearly owned by the schools themselves NOT the NCAA and NOT by analogy to the respective BCS conferences making up the monopoly.