Bowls licensed, still no playoff

This week the NCAA Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee review applications for and licensed 32 bowl games for the 2007-08 season. There are the same 27 non-BCS bowl games and 5 BCS bowl games that took place last year. Jeff Hathaway, athletics director at the University of Connecticut and acting chair of the NCAA Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee said licensing these bowls “shows the good work and management that these bowl organizers have done to create a positive experience for the student-athletes.”

Unfortunately, there has not been any news of a playoff being implemented. Revenue and distribution reviews proved that in the 2006-07 season, there was no shortage of financial flow. The subcommittee said that approximately $217.6 million in bowl revenue was distributed to participating teams and conferences. If money is not a problem, there should be no problem for converting the current BCS system into a playoff.

Since the BCS system came into play in 1998, many fans and sports writers have made it abundantly clear that they would rather see a playoff system than have a complicated system computer rankings and human votes determine which two teams qualify to play for the national title. From a public relations perspective, it would be extremely beneficial to implement a playoff system for the postseason of Division I-A college football. Fans would be happy. Coaches and players would not feel cheated. And for once, there would be no confusion at the end of the season about who was the best team.

Don Imus, what were you thinking?

As everyone knows by now, Tennessee beat Rutgers in the Division I women's basketball national championship. Tennessee got a lot of recognition for its many championships and for Pat Summitt's great coaching. Tennessee's athletic program received a lot of positive attention and publicity for its achievements. This was deserved and expected especially because of the sensational Candace Parker, who is arguably the best women's college basketball player of all time.

But what about Rutgers women? After having a great team for years, Rutgers was finally able to advance to the final game. The team was able to pull off a win over Duke after losing to them by 40 points earlier in the season. Duke was expected to win the national championship because they only had one loss on the season prior to the tournament. Rutgers was able to pull off a one-point victory over Duke to advance to the elite eight.

In the men's championship, Ohio State reclaimed its title as the runner up school, but they still got positive attention for having a great athletic program. Ohio State proved its strength in athletics, the Buckeyes just proved the Gators to be better. However, in the women's tournament, Rutgers lost in the final game and has gotten a ton of negative attention.

Thank you Don Imus for being irresponsible and unprofessional. To go on the air and refer to the members of the Rutgers team in a racist and sexist manner is completely unacceptable. I am still in shock over the comments he made, but what shocks me more is that he was not fired immediately. He has now been fired for his unreasonable behavior. Hopefully broadcasters will learn from his mistakes and there will be no similar incidents in the future.

How 'bout those Gators?

It must be the year of the Gators. University of Florida officials couldn’t be more excited: three national championships in two major sports in one year. What more could they ask for? The media attention Florida is getting now is nothing short of remarkable. Gainesville is now known as “Titletown” by sports fans everywhere.

And poor Ohio State. They’re getting so much attention, but for being second best in the two major college sports. The Buckeyes are cursed: they can’t beat the Gators. Troy Smith couldn’t do it. Greg Oden couldn’t do it – and he got two tries. But the national championship game gave Ohio State a ton of publicity, and they can’t be upset about that. They have proven their strength in athletics, but they also proved that Florida has a better athletic program.

What about the women? Rutgers made an unexpected run to the championship game of the women’s tournament but was crushed by the Lady Volunteers of Tennessee. As upset as I am that Rutgers didn’t win the championship, I was happy the Lady Knights helped put Rutgers on the map. The Rutgers football team made history this past season with a wonderful football record and bowl game victory, and the women making the championship helped Rutgers make its name better known.

All in all, the Division I basketball championships were wonderful for the public relations at all the involved universities. With that said, go Gators!

Gators vs. Buckeyes....again

Since when are Ohio State and Florida rivals? Since Florida beat Ohio State 86-60 in Gainesville on December 23, Gators and Buckeyes have not been on good terms. When Florida beat Ohio State 41-14 in the BCS Championship football game, the relationship between the schools was only made worse. But many people argue that it is not a true rivalry. Most sports enthusiasts will tell you in order for a competition to qualify as a rivalry, both teams must have previously won and must both stand a chance at victory. While Ohio State is a worthy competitor of Florida, the Buckeyes and Gators cannot truly be considered rivals because Ohio State has not beaten Florida in basketball or football.

Tomorrow night the two teams will compete for the second time this season. This meeting will have a lot more on the line though: a national championship. Florida hopes to make history by winning back-to-back national championships with the same five starters. Ohio State hopes to prove it can beat Florida in a major sport. Moreover, Ohio State does not want to see a repeat of the BCS Championship Game in which Ohio State came into the game with a better record than Florida, was heavily favored to win and lost by 27.

University officials at both schools - especially Florida - must be loving the attention. Both schools have been heavily publicized for both the football and basketball championships. Florida gets more attention for defending the national titles in both sports. Now all that is left to do is await the outcome. Will Ohio State shock the nation and actually beat Florida in a major sport for once? Or will the Gators prove that Gainesville is in fact Titletown? Either way, from a public relations perspective, both teams benefit tremendously. The media coverage of this is rare and special because it is improbable for the same two schools to play each other for championships in two different major sports in the same year.

Let's go Gators!!!!!!!!! (And Lady Knights! They dominated LSU to make the final game in the women's tournament!)

March Madness

The media is having a field day with the NCAA right now. Especially with the men’s basketball tournament going on, the NCAA is getting a lot of attention. Beside that, the women’s and other divisions’ basketball tournaments have been getting a lot of attention. March Madness goes beyond the men’s basketball tournament, and that has been especially clear this season through the lack of upsets in the men’s tournament and the surprising victories in other tournaments.

Duke’s women’s basketball team was heavily favored to win the tournament. In a sweet sixteen game against a fourth-seeded Rutgers University team, which Duke beat by 40 points earlier in the season at Rutgers, Duke lost by one point. Perhaps the most thrilling game so far this month was the Division II championship game in which Barton beat Winona. Anthony Atkinson, a Barton player, scored 10 points in the last 39 seconds of the game to seal the victory.

But the Final Four of the Division I men’s basketball tournament is what is on every basketball fan’s mind now. The field has been narrowed from 65 teams to four teams: UCLA, Ohio State, Florida and Georgetown. UCLA is hungry for a rematch against Florida after losing to them in last year’s championship game, so it should be an interesting game. A lot of publicity will follow this game because it is such a highly anticipated rematch. The Florida Gators will especially get a lot of media attention in the coming days not only because they are the defending national champions, but because any game they play in the rest of this tournament would be either a rematch from this season or a rematch from last year’s tournament.

The last time the Gators played each of these teams, the Gators came out on top. Each team will get a lot of publicity and the athletic programs will benefit greatly. The tournament style of the championship keeps spectators hooked on games and anticipating each game more than the last. The plan is simply genius. All 65 teams involved in the tournament get attention, and each round the remaining teams get more attention. All the added publicity helps generate support and exposure for the team. From a public relations perspective, the tournament is awesome.

Let’s go Gators! (and let's go Lady Knights! Jersey pride baby!)

Is the MIAA simply MIA?

You hear about Duke and North Carolina (and Tyler Hansbrough’s bloody nose). You hear about Kentucky and Louisville. You hear about Arizona and UCLA. You hear about Indiana and Purdue. You hear about the Big Five from Philadelphia. But what about Hope and Calvin?

Most college-basketball spectators have a tendency to focus on Division I and forget about Divisions II and III. Division I basketball, especially men’s, gets a lot more media coverage than the other divisions’ basketball. Particularly when it comes to rivalries, spectators seem to forget about the other divisions. In the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, or the MIAA, Calvin College and Hope College have a traditional rivalry. Both Hope and Calvin take great pride in this rivalry and use the small amount of media coverage they get to stress the importance of community to their colleges.

In November of 2005, ESPN named the Calvin and Hope rivalry the fourth greatest college basketball rivalry across all divisions. In April 2005, ESPN’s Web site featured a poll to find out what fans consider the fiercest rivalry in college basketball. Out of the ten rivalries listed, that of Calvin and Hope is the only rivalry outside of Division I. This year, each team beat the other on the other’s home floor.

Even though ESPN does acknowledge the rivalry, the game was not broadcast on ESPN. Most Division III players are not as concerned with professional athletic careers as Division I players. But does this mean Division III games are less exciting? Should we pay them any less attention than Division I games? It strikes me as strange that ESPN would acknowledge the intensity of a rivalry and not even cover the game.

From a public relations perspective, it would be a good strategy for the NCAA to promote awareness of Divisions II and III. Division I attracts so much attention that Divisions II and III are often forgotten, but if the NCAA wants to maximize its publicity, the other divisions need more media coverage. I don’t think all three divisions should get the same amount of attention, but if a game such as this rivalry is being acknowledged by ESPN, known for being the worldwide leader in sports, it is worthwhile to invest more interest and attention in some Division III games.

Rules were made to be changed

The NCAA Rules Committee decided last year's experiment with college football did not result in the success it desired. Fans, players, coaches and many other people were upset with the rules changes. Scores were generally lower than in past years, not as many records were broken and there was a decrease in the number of plays in each game. The bottom line: Fans want to see a good football game, and they were not always seeing what they wanted last season. If the game will last another 14 minutes, the majority of fans will stay glued to the set or remain in the football stadium if it means seeing another 14 minutes of an exciting football game.

The committee voted to eliminate the rules that shaved this time off the game. It voted to have the clock start running on the snap after a change in possession rather than starting the clock when the referee signaled the ball ready for play as in 2006. The committee also brought back the rule on free kicks to that of 2005. This means the clock will start on kickoffs only when the ball is legally touched in the field of play. The 2006 football season proved effective in shaving time but ineffective in having an overall positive effect on the game.

The committee is drawing up new proposals to eliminate between 11 and 14 minutes from the game without disrupting actual playing time. These include limiting the play clock to 15 seconds following a timeout, moving kickoffs from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, reducing charged team timeouts to 30 seconds and limiting instant replay reviews to two minutes to decide to overturn or confirm the ruling on the field. All new proposals will be decided on by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel on March 12.

I am glad to see the committee is focused on pleasing its publics. It is trying to give busy spectators, athletes, coaches and other staff a little extra time on game days without ruining the game. Committee members tried to change some rules last year, and they were unsuccessful. After one season of the new rules, the committee decided to discontinue the rules and try a new approach. This is a display of a good public relations because they show a clear concern for the best interest of target publics, and they are looking to find a set of rules that will satisfy the need for a shorter game without eliminating playing time to gratify everyone.

There was brief discussion of making the new rules applicable only to Division I since it is affected the most, but the committee decided against the idea. Separating rules by division would only complicate the matter further, and the committee does not feel special rules should be in place for one division of a sport and not others. I could not agree more. From a public relations perspective, it is not a good idea to make Division I seem more important than Division II and Division III by essentially giving it privileges. Applying rules only to Division I would likely anger athletes and officials from the other divisions.