Benson off-base
July 24th, 2007, 9:57 am · Post a Comment · posted by Dan Zeiger
Karl Benson
I have great respect for Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson. During the last decade, amid a flurry of school defections that would cripple most leagues, his dogged determination has not only helped the WAC survive, but thrive.
And I understand Benson’s frustration at the difficulties such WAC schools as Hawaii, Boise State and Fresno State have in scheduling elite non-conference opposition. However, the commissioner on Monday was less than circumspect with his comments at the league’s media day regarding Hawaii’s inability to find an opponent for a 13th regular-season game.
Benson said that three Pac-10 schools — Arizona State, Oregon State and Washington State — turned down a $1-million guarantee and an ESPN appearance to play the Warriors in Honolulu on Oct. 20.
On Tuesday, ASU officials emphatically denied that the school was contacted by Hawaii, reiterating what appeared on this blog three weeks ago.
But whether or not a school turned down Hawaii’s offer to play is irrelevant. No program has victimized the Warriors by refusing their invitation; UH’s missing 13th game is not the fault of ASU, Oregon State or Washington State. If Benson is going to mention any school by name, it should be Michigan State, which created the vacancy for Hawaii by pulling out of a scheduled 2007 visit.
ASU — which does not want to tinker with a favorable schedule featuring eight home games — played the Warriors in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve, and Oregon State went to Honolulu during the ‘06 regular season. A Washington State visit on Oct. 20 would be sandwiched between a game at Oregon’s Autzen Stadium and a home date against top-tier conference foe UCLA.
A number of Bowl Championship Series conference schools simply do not want to visit Honolulu, Boise or Fresno, which hurts the visibility and schedule strength of the WAC’s power trio. That is unfortunate.
I don’t know what the solution is for the WAC, but its commissioner unjustly calling out schools — which certainly does the conference no favors in future non-conference scheduling — is not it.
