Eric Sorenson
Even in the dead of summer, the college football landscape seems to change by the day.
Whether it’s schools hop-scotching from conference to conference or the latest BCS re-shuffling, the one consistency in the game is change.
In 2014, college football will adopt a new format to crown a champion as a four-team playoff was announced last week to mixed reviews among schools around the country. The power conferences will continue reap the benefits, as will the television networks who will rake in around $300 million a year, compared to $155 million under the current set-up.
One of the biggest proponents of the change is forward-thinking Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott who has pushed for changes across the board since taking over in 2009.
“The whole time, as a league and the University of Arizona, we just want to do things that are good for the game of college and for the long-term health of it,” UofA Director of Athletics Greg Byrne told Brad Cesmat on ‘Big Guy on Sports.’ “We have 19 sports at the University of Arizona. Two of them have a positive revenue flow. We have to be strong from the economic model with the football model to support those other 17 sports.”
Byrne also told Cesmat UofA is still focused on getting to their first Rose Bowl with new head coach Rich Rodriguez and hopes the new format doesn’t diminish the value of the regular season with only four teams being able to play for the BCS Championship in the coming years.
Byrne’s sentiments seemed to be echoed in Tempe.
Arizona State Vice President for University Athletics Steve Patterson told Cesmat on Friday’s ‘Big Guy on Sports’ he hopes the Pac-12 will continue their tie-in with ‘The Grand Daddy of Them All’ and hopes the other bowls are involved in the process.
That may not be the case with the four best teams now being eliminated from the bowl system all together under the new set-up.
