| Legacy Bowl issue could be coming to a head |
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| Thu, Aug 26, 2010 > 5:49pm |
With the 2010 college football season just a week away, the spectre of the much-debated Legacy Bowl looms large over the Mid-Eastern Athletic and Southwestern Athletic Conferences, whose football champions would meet annually in a postseason duel in Atlanta.
Initial reports seemed to indicate that the event was a virtual done deal and would be played beginning in December of 2011 in the Georgia Dome, with ESPN televising the season-ending showdown nationally.
But as the summer has worn on and the 2010 campaign drew nearer, a spirited debate raged among the fan bases of the two leagues, questioning the pros and cons of the game.
All summer the partisans of the two associations have vigorously considered the potential loss of an automatic NCAA playoff bid for the MEAC champion versus the possible benefits – monetary and national exposure – clamored for by the SWAC.
The SWAC opted out of the NCAA playoffs after the 1997 campaign with an 0-19 all-time playoff mark, while the MEAC remained in the mix, recording eight postseason wins, highlighted by the 1978 national championship won by Florida A&M and the Rattlers’ 5-6 tournament record.
Two-time defending league champion South Carolina State has had two near-misses in the playoffs against Appalachian State in 2008 and 2009, but has a pair of postseason wins (1982, 1983) to its’ credit, while North Carolina A&T scored a first-round victory in 1999.
The latest developments in the Legacy Bowl saga began on Monday, August 23, when Norfolk State University administrators indicated that the institution would make a final decision on the proposed game during the fall.
As of Wednesday, August 25, two members of the MEAC Council of Presidents – Florida A&M University’s Dr. James H. Ammons, and South Carolina State University’s Dr. George Cooper have publicly expressed reluctance to endorse any bowl concept that would put the league’s automatic playoff berth in peril.
Ammons addressed his reluctance in an open letter to FAMU alumni in June, while Cooper wrote a three-page letter to MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas released on Tuesday, August 24, detailing his concerns and echoing Ammons’ misgivings about any move that would knock the league out of NCAA playoff consideration.
Interestingly enough, the text of the letter from the South Carolina State president detailed a $600,000 monetary figure for the game, much less than the speculated $3 million payout total bandied about for most of the summer, and raised several operational concerns including game expenses and travel arrangements, as well as what could be done to keep the potential for NCAA playoffs for the league on the table.
Reports also surfaced during the week that the MEAC head football coaches and the Council of Presidents had agreed to a conference call set for the evening of Thursday, August 26 to discuss the issues surrounding the potential bowl game.
So, after a long, hot summer of online discussions involving the fans bases of the two leagues and public pressure from supporters via phone calls, emails and letters on their respective administrations regarding the possible bowl game, the stage appears set for an interesting 2010 fall semester which will feature exciting competition on the gridiron and plenty of behind-the-scenes intrigue in the boardroom.
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