ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 24, 1996 TAG: 9607240037
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLLEGE FOOTBALL will adopt what fans have wanted for years - a true national championship.
A true college football championship game was born Tuesday when the Rose Bowl joined a bowl alliance and ABC announced a four-year plan to televise the title game beginning after the 1998 season.
ABC Sports and four conferences announced the formation of a ``super alliance'' that brings the oldest of the bowl games, the Rose Bowl, together with the bowl alliance in a system that guarantees a championship game for the next four years.
``This is the super alliance,'' said Gene Corrigan, commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference. ``This is the ultimate, and this is what we really wanted.''
Beginning with the 1998 season, the champion will be decided from among the six major conference champions and two at-large selections. The conferences are the ACC, Big East, SEC, Big 12, all from the bowl alliance, and the Pac-10 and Big Ten, until now bound by contract to send their champions to the Rose Bowl.
The at-large selections leave room for Notre Dame, a regular among the nation's elite teams and member of the existing alliance, and another team, or two other teams in seasons when the Fighting Irish don't qualify.
Corrigan said the commissioners prefer a championship game to a playoff because a playoff would extend the season into late January.
Some terms of the agreement are still to be worked out, but coaches heralded the announcement as a giant step forward for college football.
John Robinson, whose 1978 team at Southern Cal was forced to share the national title when the AP and UPI polls differed at season's end, said the agreement should prevent similar circumstances from occurring in the future.
``This should be something that will be good for college football and for the fans of the game,'' Robinson said. ``I'm a big fan of the Rose Bowl, but I'm also a big fan of finding a way to crown a true national champion.''
Some coaches expressed satisfaction with the concept, but said they hope computer rankings would someday play a role in determining Nos.1 and 2.
``It's always going to be a judgment call who gets in there, as long as it's determined by voters,'' said Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz.
So far, only the Rose Bowl is assured a spot in the mix, with the other bowls to be determined. Kramer said the Sugar, Orange and Fiesta bowls - all members of the existing alliance - will be given 60 days to negotiate their positions, after which any bowls interested would be considered.
Until the new alliance goes into effect, the Sugar Bowl will be host to the ``championship'' game this year and the Orange Bowl will get it next year. Those games won't include Big Ten or Pac-10 schools, though, because those leagues remain obligated to send their champions to the Rose Bowl.
The big winners in the deal appear to be the Rose Bowl and ABC, while the biggest loser is CBS, which could all but disappear from football.
Under terms of the new agreement, in seasons when the Pac-10 and Big Ten do not have a No.1- or No.2-ranked team, those teams will meet in Pasadena unless the Rose Bowl is scheduled to be host to the championship game.
Because the alliance doesn't kick in until bowl contracts with the networks also expire, ABC seems certain to add the Fiesta and Orange Bowls to its holdings, which already include the Rose and Sugar bowls. Those games, currently the property of CBS, will allow ABC to televise the championship for each of the first four years of the contract, plus three option years.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 linesby CNB