The battle for a college football playoff took to the air this week.
Playoff PAC says it will run the 30-second ads in Dallas-Fort Worth and Boise, Idaho, into the homes of fans of TCU (12-0) and Boise State (13-0), who face off Monday night in the Fiesta Bowl. The ads also will run in Salt Lake City, where fans are still angry that undefeated Utah didn’t get to play in last season’s title game despite going undefeated.
The PAC plans to run the ads ahead of Thursday’s national championship game between Texas and Alabama.
The commercial shows highlights from TCU and Boise State, along with their unblemished records. It then plays a clip from the Dan Patrick Show, in which Bill Hancock, the executive director of the Bowl Championship Series, responds to a question about what he would tell an undefeated team that doesn’t get a chance to play for the title: “You guys had a great season,” adding, “not everybody can play” for the title game.
The commercial answers that with the words: “They can, it’s called a playoff.”
You can see the ad here. It’s okay, but I don’t really see it changing anyone’s mind. The ad feels like it’s missing some pizzazz, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is about it that I find lacking. Anyway, the press release about this – you’d be amazed at the random things for which I receive press releases – is beneath the fold.
Playoff PAC today announced the launch of its first advertisement, entitled “You Had a Great Season.” A full version of the ad will be distributed immediately on the Internet. A 30-second version will run on television in Boise, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Salt Lake City later this week. The full version of the ad can be viewed here.
Playoff PAC co-founder Matthew Martinez said: “Under the BCS system, certain schools are eliminated from championship contention before their season even starts. Undefeated teams from outside of the ‘privileged conferences’ are offered only a verbal slap on the back. This is wrong. When the BCS imposes a glass ceiling on these teams, it is not merely denying fans bragging rights. It is robbing schools of the substantial institutional benefits-improved funding, alumni networks, publicity, and admissions numbers-that these playing opportunities would bring.”
Playoff PAC is a new federal political committee dedicated to discarding the Bowl Championship Series and instituting a competitive post-season championship for college football.
“YOU HAD A GREAT SEASON”-TEXT
“You Had a Great Season” features comments made by BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock on the November 18, 2009 edition of the Dan Patrick Show. The full radio interview can be found here. Relevant excerpts from the interview are found below.
Dan Patrick: “Let’s say Cincinnati goes undefeated. What do you say to the Bearcats? What do you say to Brian Kelly that they don’t get a chance to play for the national title?
Bill Hancock: “…You guys had a great season and you’re to be congratulated for it.'”
Dan Patrick: “…If a team goes undefeated, and you don’t play for the national title, it’s nice that you say ‘you had a great season.’ But, how do you say that to Cincinnati-‘Hey, nice season guys'”?
Bill Hancock: “That’s what you say. You guys had a great season. Yeah, they’re undefeated. But you know … not everybody can play.”
Dan Patrick: “But at what point do you say, ‘Everyone deserves an opportunity to play for the national title’? Because this is really about the big boys. And that’s where you have to say to Boise State or TCU, ‘hey, great season.’ That’s not a great consolation prize, Bill. You know that.”
Bill Hancock: “Well, you had a great season and you should be proud of it. That’s all we ever said to people…”
“YOU HAD A GREAT SEASON”-RELATED FACTS
The BCS has permitted only 12 teams to play for its championship during its 12-year existence.
The “Big Six” conferences received $430.6 million more in BCS revenue than the five “non-BCS” conferences from 2005-2009. The revenue disparity would have been greater if “non-BCS” teams (Boise State, Hawaii, and Utah on 2 occasions) had not qualified for BCS bowls in four of those post-seasons.
Georgia Tech’s 2010 Orange Bowl appearance will earn the ACC (a BCS conference) $18 million. TCU’s 2010 Fiesta Bowl berth will fetch the Mountain West Conference only $9 million that it must split with four other “non-BCS” conferences.
The TCU Horned Frogs have no losses and 12 wins. TCU’s opponents are 6-0 in bowl games this post-season. The Horned Frogs beat those six bowl-winning teams by an average of over 20 points.
The Boise State Broncos have no losses and 13 wins, including a victory over Pac-10 champion Oregon. Boise State has had four undefeated regular seasons since 2004 without ever playing in the BCS’s title game.