The outrage of Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson over two of his teams (Nevada and Colorado State) facing each other in the inaugural Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl in Tucson on Dec. 26 is similar to Starbucks showing disdain over two of its locations being only a mile apart.
They put themselves in that situation. They have to live with it. They do. They make the most of it. They survive. They flourish.
Thompson is the culprit in what he says is a “travesty the Mountain West has been forced into this situation.” He was the conference’s first employee when he became the commissioner in 1998. He has seen the Mountain West evolve and a significant reason for that is the conference’s extraordinary amount of bowl affiliations that bring in added revenue from payouts.
Outside of the Power 5 conferences, the Mountain West and the Conference USA have the most bowl affiliations with eight each. They both have seven designated bowl alignments and one conditional secondary agreement. Both conferences partnered with the Arizona Bowl to help make the game possible, one of the last of the 40 bowl games, in May.
Now Thompson’s upset. He should know creating excess leads to excessive situations.
“We have come to the unfortunate realization another dubious milestone has been reached – two teams from the same conference will face each other in a bowl game later this month,” Thompson wrote in a statement also criticizing the fact three 5-7 teams are in the postseason. “Neither of these developments is good for college football.”
Thompson allowed his frustration to fester in his public statement after his conference frantically tried to avoid having two of its conference teams play each other in a bowl. “We suggested swaps, alternative financial arrangements and creative options,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, no one was willing to adjust and those efforts were to no avail.
“Clearly, the system is broken. There is an excess of bowl games due in part to a disparate allocation of openings vs. conference bowl histories. The result is teams with sub-.500 records participating in bowl games. There is consensus change is needed and this year’s outcome must not be repeated.”
If conference expansion continues in the future, which is bound to happen, chances are more cases will occur in which league foes play against each other in a bowl.
Only two to three years ago, the Mountain West added San Jose State and Utah State and actively worked to prevent San Diego State and Boise State from leaving to the Big East. The conference is at 12 schools. Eight teams were affiliated with the Mountain West when Thompson started the conference 17 years ago.
Change happens. College football has evolved to have a playoff when many thought it was not possible with the bowl system.
Instead of fighting the reality of Colorado State and Nevada playing each other in Tucson, Thompson should embrace the novelty of two conference teams playing each other in the postseason. The Mountain West should pound its chest that the reason the Rams and Wolf Pack are playing each other in the Arizona Bowl is because the league is good enough to send a record eight teams into the postseason. None of them are 5-7 to boot.
Moreover, Colorado State and Nevada did not play in the regular season and they were second-place teams in their respective divisions. Why not market who has supremacy, the Mountain or West division? At least Thompson is assured one of his teams will win a bowl game.
Also peculiar about Thompson’s diatribe: Nova Home Loans, the sponsor of the Arizona Bowl, has ads placed throughout the Mountain West Web site. The conference also acknowledged this week the Arizona Bowl has growing TV rights in 75 markets with 50 more expected in the coming weeks for the game to be broadcast regionally on the American Sports Network.
Thompson has every right to be displeased about the bowl situation because the system is broken, like he says, if 5-7 teams are playing in the postseason. But given how the Mountain West has contributed to the glut of bowls, his criticism of Nevada and Colorado State playing each other is off base.
He should embrace it.
If you miss a Starbucks on one block, there’s another one close by. Don’t get angry at the situation. Think of what’s to come. Make the most of it.
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