Big West, MAC: Still no deal

Tim Graham

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Fifteen years ago, Dennis Farrell witnessed the first bowl between the Big West and Mid-American conference champions. In three weeks, he's concerned he'll be watching the last.

Driven by speculation the MAC will end the tradition by sending its champ to a new postseason game, the Big West commissioner is wondering what will happen after Dec. 19. That's when Big West champ Nevada-Reno takes on MAC champ Ball State in Las Vegas Bowl V at Sam Boyd Stadium.

There is no agreement for the two conferences to play each other next year. And because the MAC is shopping its services, the Las Vegas Bowl's sponsor, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, is examining alternatives which may not include the Big West at all.

"It's really in the MAC's hands and the LVCVA's hands right now," Farrell said Monday after a Las Vegas Bowl V press conference at Planet Hollywood. "From the Big West's standpoint, we want to stay in Las Vegas 100 percent."

While Farrell is ready to sign an already-prepared two-year extension of the current Las Vegas Bowl, the MAC refuses to commit. But even if the MAC was willing to agree to the extension, the LVCVA is starting to back off.

"Two weeks ago, we were ready to sign it," the LVCVA's Branan Allison said. "The MAC wouldn't commit to sending its champion to the bowl. Finally, we told (MAC commissioner) Jerry Ippoliti if he wasn't going to sign we had to move ahead.

"Now, if they were to come to us tomorrow and want to sign, we don't know if we'd sign it. We're going to go ahead with the process we started."

The Las Vegas Bowl (formerly the California Bowl from 1981-91) has several options if the MAC bails. It can:

* Pit the Big West champion against a second- or third-place team from another conference.

* Go to an open-bowl format in which all non-committed schools are eligible with two invited each season, even though it would increase the game's budget by more than $1 million for guaranteed team payoffs.

* Affiliate itself with a conference it currently isn't working with, such as the Western Athletic Conference, for one team and openly invite the other, which also would cost substantially more.

"At this point, anything's possible," Allison said.

The MAC, which currently consists of 10 schools in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, is considering its move in an attempt to land a bowl in the Midwest. The top locations appear to be Pontiac, Mich., and Nashville, Tenn.

Next season, the MAC adds Marshall and Northern Illinois and will divide itself into two six-team divisions.

"We are in the era of the super-conference," said the MAC's Paul Palian. Ippoliti was not in attendance due to a death in his family. "Right now there is a lot of speculation, but certainly nothing's concrete."

That's why Farrell is sitting around, waiting.

"It's a little bit frustrating, but it's out of our control," Farrell said. "I wouldn't say I'm nervous, but there is a lot of anticipation.

"We need to get this resolved quickly. If we're not going to be in Las Vegas next year, we have a lot of work ahead of us."

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