MWC Not Helping the Non-BCS

[mathman]

Looks like some of the other Non-BCS conferences are starting to speak out.
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/others/0-4-7 ... n-BCS.html

There is also a poll on the bottom left of this link about whether the MWC should be admitted into the BCS. Also shows how each state is voting on it.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/

[EastStang]

Unless or until there is a playoff involving all Division 1-A conference champions and some at-large teams (even if on a play-in basis), I'm not in favor of any change in the system. Any band aid will only defer that goal. There will be a price to the playoff system. Many bowl games will be sucked into the playoff format, and thus bowl opportunities for six CUSA teams and three WAC teams, and 3 MAC teams and 4 MWC teams goes out the window. But that would be worth (in my opinion) being able to tell kids be told that they have a chance to play for a National Championship at SMU, TCU, UNT, Bowling Green or Boise State. Right now the Big XII, BE, Big Ten, Pac-10, ACC and SEC have that argument.

[Stallion]

Please note that the MWC is the only conference in Division 1A that has not signed the new BCS contract that runs through about 2014. Everybody else signed months ago. Note that I've often mentioned that an antitrust lawsuit would likely be unsuccessful if the MWC was found to be conspiring with themselves. Is the MWC preparing a lawsuit or perhaps is this a negotiating delay. I think there is little doubt the reason is one or the other.

[The PonyGrad]

Unless or until there is a playoff involving all Division 1-A conference champions and some at-large teams (even if on a play-in basis), I'm not in favor of any change in the system. Any band aid will only defer that goal. There will be a price to the playoff system. Many bowl games will be sucked into the playoff format, and thus bowl opportunities for six CUSA teams and three WAC teams, and 3 MAC teams and 4 MWC teams goes out the window. But that would be worth (in my opinion) being able to tell kids be told that they have a chance to play for a National Championship at SMU, TCU, UNT, Bowling Green or Boise State. Right now the Big XII, BE, Big Ten, Pac-10, ACC and SEC have that argument.

Not sure how that would shake out. The NCAA expanded the basketball field to 64 and they said that would be the death of the NIT, but it seems to go along just fine.

[StallionsModelT]

What a waste of time by the MWC. Its about money you idiots. MWC doesn't have enough television sets to make a dent. Utah could go undefeated for 5 straight years and still no one will care.

[Stallion]

that's not the proper analysis under the BCS Contract. In order to protect themselves from an arbitrary and capricious argument, the BCS Contract includes performance standards and periods of review and rereview to see if a particular conference has earned inclusion in the BCS. In fact the exclusion of the MWC Conference as a BCS conference is NOT based on mere discretion of the BCS conferences or the number of TV sets. The MWC is claiming that under the BCS's own standards they should be reviewed to determine whether they qualify as a BCS conference. For example, they have 2 BCS victories in recent years, last year 3 teams were in the top 15 or so, they had a No. 2 and No. 6 or 7 team. the worst Top 20 finish by the highest rated MWC team is 16th or so in the last 5 years and they have multiple Top 5, Top 10 and Top 20 finishes over that period. Hell in the 2007-2008 bowl season I think they won the Bowl Championship series. The rules that the BCS created may come back to bite them in the butt if the MWC can show they have had a better national showing under the BCS's own performance standards than say the Big Least. That's a lawsuit and those are potentially multi-Million Dollar damages if the BCS conferences still refuse to accept the MWC under that type of scenario.

[deepellumfrog]

What a waste of time by the MWC. Its about money you idiots. MWC doesn't have enough television sets to make a dent. Utah could go undefeated for 5 straight years and still no one will care.

If it keeps the whole inequity argument in the public eye for a while longer, it will be worth it for all the non BCS teams. And it would be even better if CUSA or the WAC had a great non-conference season as well, that way we could lean on those accomplishments too.

[EastStang]

If there was say a 16 or 24 team playoff, they would need stadiums to play in. One solution suggested was to have some of the lesser bowl sites, host the early round match-ups since you would need either 15 or 23 sites. Thus the Liberty Bowl might since its one of the older bowl games in a decent market might get a 1-16 or a 7-8 matchup. Sure there would be 15-20 bowls left out of the mix, but that would mean fewer opportunities for mid-major bowl games. The New Orleans Bowl might become a game between SEC#6 and Big XII #6 instead of SBC Champion vs. CUSA #6. The other playoff option of course would be to leave the bowls as is and have higher seeds host playoff games and have bowls host the later rounds such as the semi-finals and finals. Thus, the Rose, Orange and Sugar would likely be chosen as the sites for those three games on a rotating basis.

[StallionsModelT]

Yeah knock yourself out MWC. Let me know how that works out for you.

[rooster]

Yeah knock yourself out MWC. Let me know how that works out for you.

You would do the same thing if SMU and CUSA were in Utah and the MWC's shoes.

[mathman]

Didn't realize you knew StallionsModelT that well.

Here's some more wonderful PR for the MWC.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29370614/ The part below is 4th down.

Four Downs: The circus surrounding Miami and more

Each week, Sporting News college football columnists Matt Hayes and Dave Curtis answer the hot topics of the week.

...

FOURTH DOWN: The Mountain West Conference is lobbying Congress for changes in the BCS. Is this really an issue deserving of the federal government's attention?

Hayes: Let's see -- the economy, wars on two fronts, the economy, Middle East upheaval, the economy, the nationalization of banks, the economy.
And, of course, the Mountain West's temper tantrum.
There already is a formula in place for a non-BCS conference to be awarded an automatic BCS bid. It's comical that the MWC is pursuing this with Congress. And it would be more ridiculous if Congress actually holds hearings.

It's a game, people. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you go home.
Curtis: No chance. Even commish Craig Thompson concedes that Congress has about 534 more important things with which to deal.
The MWC is desperate for action now because its members aren't certain it can replicate the Utah-TCU-BYU success it experienced in 2008. Trust the coaches and the programs, guys.
The system allows you to jump to automatic qualifier status if you play well enough and win enough for long enough. We don't need the Constitution to explain that.