ACC to add two bowls starting after 2006 season
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports
HOT SPRINGS, Va. -- The newly expanded Atlantic Coast Conference must get by with only six bowl tie-ins this season. In 2006, the league will add at least two more.
Commissioner John Swofford announced agreements Tuesday with the Emerald Bowl and the Music City Bowl that will give the league at least eight bowl destinations following next season, including one in the Bowl Championship Series. The ACC also extended its existing deals with the other six, allowing up to two-thirds of the league's 12 teams to move into the postseason if they qualify.
"We'll probably be a little short of bowls for one year," Swofford said Tuesday at the final day of the conference's media kickoff. "The thing we'll have to do is watch over bowls and other conferences and see who may not be able to fill their bowl slots.
"But we think we upgraded our postseason opportunities immensely."
All eight bowls will be played after Dec. 25, avoiding a problem such as the one last year that led Virginia to decline an invitation to the Champs Sports Bowl because it's date came during exams. The game has been moved to later in the month.
"We wanted to get away from the pre-Christmas games," Swofford said.
In addition to a date change, the Champs game will pit the ACC team against a Big Ten opponent instead of one from the Big 12. Also, the other team in the Gator Bowl will rotate between the Big East, the Big 12 and Notre Dame.
In the Music City Bowl, the opponent will come from the Southeastern Conference, joining the Peach Bowl as bowls matching teams from the two power conferences based in the South. Virginia Tech, which won the ACC last season in its debut, and new member Boston College each played in the Music City Bowl as members of the Big East.
"Obviously, what we set out to do is protect all of our bowl eligible teams," Swofford said. "So we're really excited about all of these relationships."
Also Tuesday, Swofford and ACC supervisor of officials Tommy Hunt showed off a new instant replay system, complete with a live demonstration of how it would work. A small technical problem delayed the show, leading to the inevitable jokes about how it was going to work at actual games, but once it started, the "replay official" needed only 54 seconds to complete his review.
"What we all want is to get that crucial call right," Swofford said. "I think this will enhance our ability to do this. And I think the officials welcome this with open arms."
