Maybe it was San Antonio's River Walk, pictured above, or maybe it was the crazy finish to last year's Alamo Bowl between Nebraska and Michigan. Whatever the reason, ESPN is pushing to move the Alamo Bowl to Jan. 7, a Sunday night after two NFL playoff games. With no other network sports programming at that time slot, ESPN sees an opportunity for big ratings. The game would be promoted as ESPN's final bowl telecast and officials of the Big 12 Conference appear to like the idea. Of course the Big Ten, which has a tie-in to the bowl, would also have to sign-off on the deal. One problem is that the late date would cut into the start of the second semester at some schools. The Big 12 is also considering moving several other conference games to the Thanksgiving weekend beginning in 2008. Currently, Nebraska and Colorado and Texas and Texas A&M play that weekend, but other teams have expressed an interest in playing that weekend. You might remember last season's Nebraska-Colorado game in Boulder, when the Colorado student section became unruly and was ordered out of Folsom Field. Officials are drawing up plans to crack down on such rowdiness this fall (some registration).
Saturday, May 27, 2006
ESPN Wants to Move Alamo Bowl to Jan. 7
Maybe it was San Antonio's River Walk, pictured above, or maybe it was the crazy finish to last year's Alamo Bowl between Nebraska and Michigan. Whatever the reason, ESPN is pushing to move the Alamo Bowl to Jan. 7, a Sunday night after two NFL playoff games. With no other network sports programming at that time slot, ESPN sees an opportunity for big ratings. The game would be promoted as ESPN's final bowl telecast and officials of the Big 12 Conference appear to like the idea. Of course the Big Ten, which has a tie-in to the bowl, would also have to sign-off on the deal. One problem is that the late date would cut into the start of the second semester at some schools. The Big 12 is also considering moving several other conference games to the Thanksgiving weekend beginning in 2008. Currently, Nebraska and Colorado and Texas and Texas A&M play that weekend, but other teams have expressed an interest in playing that weekend. You might remember last season's Nebraska-Colorado game in Boulder, when the Colorado student section became unruly and was ordered out of Folsom Field. Officials are drawing up plans to crack down on such rowdiness this fall (some registration).
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1 comment:
wouldn't jan 7 be after the BCS games? this seems awfully late for a mid-tier bowl game.
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