Pac-10 considering annual kickoff game at Rose Bow - Printable Version
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Pac-10 considering annual kickoff game at Rose Bow - Canalejas - 07-30-2010
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/29/sports/la-sp-0730-pac-10-football-20100730
Quote:Pacific 10 Conference and Rose Bowl officials are considering an annual kickoff game maybe pitting the Pac-10 against the Big Ten that would give the West Coast a stronger presence at the start of each college football season.
With the conference borrowing the Pasadena stadium for its annual media day Thursday, officials said the idea is in the discussion stage.
"The Pac-10 has a tradition of playing some really tough out-of-conference games early on," Commissioner Larry Scott said. "We love the Rose Bowl relationship."
The Pigskin Classic was played at Anaheim Stadium in late August each year through the mid-1990s. It revisited Southern California in 1998, when USC faced Purdue in the Coliseum.
"There\'s a lot to think through," Scott said. "I would only want to do it if it wouldn\'t tarnish what it means to play in the Rose Bowl. This is hallowed turf."
I think we should take this idea and use it to diffuse some of our differences on the divisional alignment issue. If we keep 9 conference games, each school is missing 2 conference-mates each year. UCLA is missing 2 schools and USC is missing 2 schools. Out of those four games, one would have been a UCLA home game and one a USC home game. Compared to a round-robin parallel universe, 2 conference schools are missing their LA road trip each year.
So, why don\'t we make this opening kickoff at the Rose Bowl a double-header? Our two participants would be the two schools missing what would have been their LA road trip.
I don\'t think the other participants should necessarily come from the Big Ten (12). Let\'s keep some scheduling flexibility.
This would ease some of the whining about access to LA for recruiting purposes and TV exposure, would it not?
Re: Pac-10 considering annual kickoff game at Rose - fullmetal - 07-30-2010
The novelty alone would net a lot of attention and tv coverage. Â
Hey! Maybe now Kal will get to play in the Rose B - Redrum - 07-30-2010
Well, play in the Rose Bowl while not a guest of UCLA. A pre-season appearance seems about right for them.
As an aside, my cousin has been elected as the president of the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena. They don\'t actually hold the levers of power on the game, but control use of the Rose Bowl. They pulled off a coup years ago getting UCLA to play there. I wonder how having a preseason game is playing in the back rooms of the Tournament HQ. I know for a fact that the whole UCLA deal had to overcome the objection of whether it would cheapen the New Years Rose Bowl game. $$$ won out and it has been a great deal for Pasadena and the stadium itself, which is now generating revenue for upkeep and improvements.
Anyone wanna bet that IF a preseason game is approved, Â the (LA) Coliseum Commission tries to muscle in on the action?
Re: Pac-10 considering annual kickoff game at Rose - Farm93 - 07-30-2010
The idea is CLEARLY an attempt to get more Pac-10 teams into the LA market each year. Â My guess is that the losers of the divisional alignment will be offered a chance to play in the first few attempts at this early season focus game.
My initial thought was why would these Pac-10 schools not just go with a home and home? Â I can only guess that maybe OSU, WSU and Utah will continue to struggle to get home and home series against schools that get TV ratings and have big stadiums (Ohio State, Michigan, Tennessee, etc.).
For any hype effort to work those target visitors would need to get something too.  And an planned LA visit would offer that for them.  The appeal to a Michigan type might be easy to see too since they could recruit in the West and would not need to drag themselves or their alums to places with few tourist draws like Pullman, Corvallis  Those power programs would likely also see the weak Pac-10 teams as an easy neutral site win.
Using the logic noted above my guess would be that OSU, WSU and Utah may be short-changed in the LA rotation lottery. Â Stanford, C.a.l and their opponents would get far less benefit from this deal, so I doubt this would be cooked up to pacify Stanford or C.a.l. Â The game would offer no benefit for UCLA or USC or their opponents, so I doubt they would ever get in the game.
Perhaps not ironically, the Pac-10 teams that would benefit the most seem to be WSU, OSU, Utah and Colorado. Â Hmmmm... Â I think I see a "Northern" division forming with this LA focus game used as an alternative to the Scott promises to Colorado.
If any of that is true, then I hope this LA Pac-10 focus thing works out.