New changes to BCS are dollar-driven
Expansion of bowls, regular season by one game adds to college football's confusion.

It's easier, perhaps, to put it in football terms: Almost without fail, when faced with third-and-long, the NCAA's board of directors runs a draw play.
And that's what college football fans saw again this week as the powers-that-be punted another golden opportunity.
They could have passed on the easy money while restoring some of the credibility of the institutions they serve. Instead, they simply gave us more of the same.
Among the rulings handed down this week, effective fall 2006, are the following:
• An expansion of the Bowl Championship Series by one game, but no playoff-style format.
• The addition of a 12th regular-season game for Division I-A schools.
• And an allowance for Division I-A teams to count one victory over a Division I-AA school toward bowl eligibility each season. - College Football -
The result is merely a concession to the money pit that college athletics has become, complete with window dressing designed to appease, if not altogether please.
To the conference commissioners who were complaining about a lack of access to the BCS and about loopholes that could cost major conferences millions of dollars? Well, now there are two more invitations to the party, though no one's sure yet who will be mailing those invitations.
To the college coaches who were outspoken in their opposition to adding a 12th game, citing fatigue and injuries with fewer scholarship players? Well, now that the rules regarding I-AA competition have changed, you can rest easy -- and rest your starters -- as most schools will choose an extra scrimmage rather than add a bona fide opponent.
To the lonely voices shouting for academic reform? (And, yes, the Knight Commission still exists.) Well, NCAA president Myles Brand, who used to think and act like a university president, insists the extra game won't hurt the athletes as students because the actual regular-season calendar isn't being lengthened. In fact, Brand suggested, the student-athletes might even perform better in the classroom, basing that ridiculous notion on recent NCAA graduation rates, a non sequitur if there ever was one. - College Football -
And to the two constituencies that should matter most: the players who play and the fans who cheer? Well, at least they'll still have something to complain about.
Here's my biggest complaint, though: Can't they at least be honest about it?
When asked this week to explain what compelled the NCAA to add a 12th game, ignoring the pleas of the American Football Coaches Association and the Knight Commission -- strange bedfellows, indeed -- Kansas chancellor Bob Hemenway, who is chairman of the NCAA board of directors, said, "It was not just about money."
Of course, that's exactly what it was about. An extra home game means $3 million-$4 million in additional revenue for major Division I-A schools such as Michigan and Tennessee and Oklahoma, and perhaps as much as $500,000 for some of the smaller mid-major opponents who will gladly travel to take their lump-sum payments. Athletic directors will rejoice, even as season-ticket holders grumble at the prospect of another $50-plus home date against Northeast (fill-in-the-blank) State. - College Football -
As for the BCS, that might be the only common ground here, because everyone agrees it's not the right system. Only problem is, no one can agree what to do about it, including the BCS conference commissioners themselves. This week's BCS expansion wasn't the switch to a "plus-one" playoff model that some had anticipated. There was no overhaul of the controversial BCS formula, either, even after The Associated Press pulled out. Instead, there's talk of adding a new "expert" poll to the decimal soup, and a plan to add a game to the rotation. And still no assurance of an undisputed champion.
"Well, college football in general is a little bit confusing right now," Texas coach Mack Brown said last week.
Some things, it seems, never change.
Notable
Still to be determined is whether teams will be bowl-eligible with a 6-6 record when the 12-game schedule is allowed starting in 2006. The NCAA board is recommending that teams be required to finish with a winning record to qualify. - College Football -
... Notre Dame's clout takes a hit in the new BCS deal beginning next season. The Irish no longer will received a full conference payout -- roughly $15 million-$16 million -- whenever they qualify for a BCS bowl. Instead, they'll get the equivalent of a conference at-large share, or about $4.5 million. In the years they don't qualify for a BCS game, they'll get a $1 million BCS payout. They are guaranteed a spot if they finish in the top eight of the BCS standings and must finish in the top 12 to be considered for an at-large spot.
... Another rule change from the NCAA this week dealt with attendance. A rule that required schools to average crowds of 15,000 to remain in Division I-A has been modified to allow teams to average that figure either in actual or paid attendance. That means mid-major schools, most notably Eastern and Central Michigan locally, can buy their own tickets when necessary to reach that paid-attendance threshold.
... Sure, San Diego beats, say, Detroit as a winter holiday destination. But it's hard to imagine a stampede at the box office in December when the fans of two college teams learn they've been invited to play in the new Poinsettia Bowl. Actually, it's officially the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. And, no, this is no joke. The newest addition to the bowl season is a Dec. 22 game at Qualcomm Stadium that will feature a Mountain West Conference team against an at-large opponent. - College Football -
... And finally, some hope for the rest of college football. Southern Cal might be unbeatable, but now Pete Carroll's players are beating up each other. An altercation between receiver Steve Smith and tight end Dominique Byrd -- over a video game, no less -- left Byrd with a fractured jaw this month. The two quickly patched things up, however, and neither was disciplined. So, Fight On for ol' SC.

John Niyo / The Detroit News