Full Court Press
WAC commissioner Karl Benson spent most of Saturday night's game between Hawaii and Texas-El Paso on his cell phone. Bulldogs’ visit is a good
time to fill stadiumHe was getting minute-by-minute updates from associate commissioner Jeff Hurd on Fresno State's fate at Colorado State. The eighth-ranked Bulldogs pulled out an overtime win over the Rams to keep the league's BCS bid alive for yet another weekend. Six games down, seven to go for a possible $12 million.
Benson learned a lot from Texas Christian's well-chronicled BCS run last year that ended with a loss to San Jose State at Spartan Stadium. Just mention Brigham Young's failed 1996 bid to land a major payday at the Fiesta Bowl and Benson's eyes still turn a little misty.
"If BYU had been invited to the Fiesta Bowl, as they should have, we'd still be a 16-team league," Benson said, jabbing his finger at air for emphasis.
You can't really blame Benson for being bitter. That year, BYU captured the WAC championship game at the Silver Bowl in Las Vegas in dramatic fashion over Wyoming to finish the regular season 13-1.
But instead of picking up one of the at-large spots in the flawed BCS formula, BYU had to settle for a Cotton Bowl berth against Kansas State, a game the Cougars won 19-15 to assume the nation's longest winning streak at 12. The fifth-ranked team's lone loss was at Washington, but it proved costly.
The only way a WAC school will be considered for a major New Year's Day game is to not only go unbeaten, but knock off caliber competition along the way. Scheduling nine home games won't do.
"Fresno State has done all the right things to gain their national exposure," Benson said. "They took the attitude that they will play anyone, any time, anywhere. And it's paid off for them and potentially the other schools in our league."
Fresno State comes to town for an Oct. 26 game and is bringing a national television audience with it. Back in the summer, the Warriors made such a fuss about moving the game to Friday afternoon to accommodate ESPN-TV.
Head coach June Jones predicted a six-figure loss in revenues, something Benson took into account after convincing athletic director Hugh Yoshida to take one for the team. Benson even threw in a compensation package to sweeten the deal.
"We'll pay Hawaii up to $100,000 if the gate is adversely affected," Benson said. "But I'm interested in seeing what kind of walk-up they had (in Saturday night's win over UTEP). We're paying close attention to the attendance figures."
YOU WOULD HOPE HAWAII fans will show up in big numbers for that Friday afternoon affair. The game promises to have all the drama of a major college football game. If both teams take care of business this weekend -- Hawaii is at Tulsa and Fresno State hosts Boise State -- then there's no reason the meeting between the two rivals shouldn't fill the Aloha Stadium rafters.
Gov. Ben Cayetano professes to be a fan of Hawaii and Jones. Let him prove it by declaring that Friday as "Warrior Day." Everybody gets off at noon in time to do a little tailgating before storming the gates for the 3 p.m. kickoff.
What better way to promote the islands as a tourist destination than by showing the rest of America an overflow crowd going wild. It sells itself. The only way you're allowed on the freeways that time of day is to have your ticket in hand as you pass the proper check points.
"You have all the ingredients for a great football game," Benson said. "We'd love to project an image around America in prime time that we play big-time football in the WAC. Fresno State still has a long way to go to get a BCS bid, but they're creating excitement and national interest every step of the way."
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
Email Paul: parnett@starbulletin.com.