Los Angeles – Fox Studios sit in the middle of Century City, Calif., not far from the movie set depicting a New York City street. Fox is where fantasy becomes reality, whether it’s apes taking over planet Earth or a short-order cook appearing on “American Idol.”
But if 20th Century Fox can get Predator to face Alien on the big screen, can Fox Sports insure No. 1 will face No. 2 in college football? Don’t get too excited, college football critics. The company that takes over broadcast rights of the Bowl Championship Series for the next four years has “Great Expectations” in video but not in the boardroom.
“First off, I do not believe we have a lot of influence,” said Ed Goren, president and executive producer of Fox Sports. “When we negotiated this deal we were very specific: It’s your event. It’s your sport. If you want suggestions along the way, we certainly have opinions. But we don’t run it. And we’re happy with the way it is right now.”
Goren, 62, is sitting in his office surrounded by pictures of him as a child with various Brooklyn Dodgers. The son of a former New York sportswriter, Goren has been a sports fan all his life. He understands the beef of the college football fan.
In four of the past six years, the championship game for which the BCS was designed to create has had a controversy. However, Fox begins its contract one season after arguably the greatest title game in college football history. After No. 2 Texas defeated No. 1 Southern California in the last 18 seconds, 41-38, in a game between the nation’s lone unbeatens, the college game suddenly looks pretty good.
“We’ve done a four-year deal, and if tomorrow we can turn it into an eight-year deal we’d probably take a very serious look at doing just that,” Goren said. “The acceptance and enthusiasm before we’ve even done one game from Madison Avenue is significant.”
In other words, what you’ve seen is what you’re going to get. Well, there is one tweak this season. Say hello to the double-hosting system in which a fifth lucrative BCS game will be added.
The four BCS bowls – Fiesta, Rose, Orange and Sugar – will remain, but the two top-ranked teams will play Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz., one week after the Fiesta Bowl in the same new Cardinals Stadium.
Double hosting’s biggest appeal is it gives teams from the five smaller non-BCS conferences easier entry into the BCS riches. But it doesn’t prevent the season ending with a team such as Oklahoma playing for the national title after getting blown out of the Big 12 Championship, as it did in 2003, or Nebraska doing the same after getting throttled by Colorado in the 2001 regular-season finale.
If anyone thinks a creative TV network that has millions watching hack amateur singers also can produce a better scenario for a title game, think again.
“We’re not that smart,” Goren said.
There is one playoff system that gained steam until it fell under the radar when USC played Texas in that classic showdown. A “Plus-One” system would return the teams playing in the four major bowls to their original conference ties. After the four BCS games, the top two ranked teams in a new ranking would then play again the following week for the title.
In the spring of 2004, ABC enthusiastically approached the conference commissioners about using Plus-One. ABC was just as enthusiastically rebuffed.
“We simply don’t want to extend the season,” Pacific 10 commissioner Tom Hansen said. “We thought it was the first step toward a playoff. We much prefer the bowl system. It’s my feeling, and shared by many, that if you had a playoff, say eight teams, most of the bowls would go away because they’d be pretty much inconsequential.”
Oregon athletic director Bill Moos doesn’t think so. The architect behind Plus-One has said it’s only two teams playing one more game and TV’s payout would be off the charts.
However, Goren isn’t convinced.
“It depends on your definition of ‘off the charts,”‘ he said. “It would be more. But there’s just so much television sports advertising money in the marketplace.”
Goren thinks money from a Plus-One title game would take money away from the other four BCS bowl games. So if Fox doesn’t think it would work, is Plus-One dead? Are we doomed to the quirky nature of the BCS rankings until the contract runs out before the 2010 season?
Moos said, “I don’t think it’s dead.” He keeps hearing of more support from the coaching ranks.
The bottom line is if change comes, it must come from the school presidents and conference commissioners. Fox Sports will remain on the sideline. It will run into the huddle only if called upon.
“Nothing happens quickly in college sports,” Goren said. “At some point it’s not unrealistic to think that there will be a modification in the form of a Plus-One. But it just takes time.”
In this case, at least four more years.
John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
