The multi-dimensional job responsibilities of a Pac-10 athletic director
just got a little more varied.
Recent approval by the NCAA board of directors of an annual 12-game
football schedule will mean not only a full round-robin in the Pac-10,
but some reassessment on intersectional opponents and television
opportunities.
"It's purely about money," conceded Bob DeCarolis, the athletic director
at Oregon State, referring to the NCAA's decision — not entirely
unexpected — to give the go-ahead to 12-game schedules starting in 2006.
Among other things, the extra game means the model changes for most
big-bucks schools like Washington. With an 11-game schedule, the Huskies
usually played six home games, but now the norm will be seven, adding
roughly a $2 million gross gate to a strapped budget.
For players and fans, there's a sharper change: Assuming ratification by
the Pac-10 CEOs early this month, the league schedules that were in
place starting in 2006 will be torn up and replaced by a full, nine-game
round-robin. The two-year cycle of "misses" — Oregon, for instance,
missed USC in the last two seasons of Troy national championships — will
be a thing of the past.
The other big change will be timing, and possibly television.
In 2006, the Apple Cup is scheduled to be the only one of the five
traditional-rivalry games played before Thanksgiving, which means no bye
week for either Washington or Washington State. In 2007, Cal-Stanford
joins the Apple Cup the Saturday before Thanksgiving, but the other
three will come after.
In fact, in reference to the Civil War meeting and Thanksgiving weekend,
DeCarolis says, "I'm of the assumption that game moves [to the
post-Thanksgiving slot] permanently."
"I'm totally opposed to playing after Thanksgiving," said Mike Bellotti,
the Oregon coach. "I feel that's the one holiday parents, coaches and
players can look forward to. With bowl games, we often don't have the
Christmas holiday."
Starting in 2006, it's a choice. Either play 12 weeks in a row and
finish before Thanksgiving, or take a bye and finish after
Southern California's defending national co-champions left no doubt as to whom the college football champion was in 2004. The 12-0 Trojans led both major polls throughout the regular season, then trounced unbeaten No. 2 Oklahoma 55-19 in the FedEx Orange Bowl on Jan. 4 for their 13th victory.
don't forget to go see Oregon Ducks Football.
Auburn fans were disappointed that the Tigers (12-0 in regular season), winner of the SEC and victor over Virginia Tech 16-13 in the Nokia Sugar Bowl, had to settle for a final No. 3 ranking behind USC and Oklahoma. Utah fans, however, were delighted to see their Utes (11-0 in regular season) not only make it to a BCS bowl but clobber Pittsburgh 35-7 in the Fiesta Bowl. The Mountain West champions finished with a No. 5 national ranking.
The nation's other major unbeaten team, Western Athletic Conference champion Boise State (11-0), fell to Louisville (10-1 in regular season) 44-40 in the highest-scoring Liberty Bowl game ever. The Cardinals, in their last year in Conference USA before heading to the Big East, had led the nation with a 49.8 scoring average, while Boise State had averaged 49.7.
Utah and Auburn shared the national Coach of the Year awards, Urban Meyer of Utah winning the Football Writers award and Tommy Tuberville of Auburn taking the Football Coaches award.
Oklahoma may have finished with a disappointing loss in the Orange Bowl, but quarterback Jason White, the 2003 Heisman Trophy winner, won the 2004 Maxwell Award as well as the Davey O'Brien and Johnny Unitas quarterback awards.
The Outland Trophy went to another Oklahoma player, offensive tackle Jamaal Brown, while defensive end David Pollack of Georgia won the Vince Lombardi/Rotary Award along with the Chuck Bednarik Award.
Other notable 2004 season events included: