| |
 |
|
The road to BCS payday
Posted: Wednesday August 11, 1999 07:49 PM
By Stewart Mandel, CNN/SI college sports producer 
From "Phantom Menace" to "Blair Witch" to "Austin Powers," it's been a summer of unprecedented cash flow in Hollywood. Heck, "The Haunting" has made over $80 million. So it only seemed fitting to apply the box-office motif to another big-money business: Division I-A college football. With the advent of the Bowl Championship Series, big-time football teams now have an even bigger incentive for winning that big game. It's called payday. Let's just say the financial difference between making the Sugar Bowl and the Las Vegas Bowl is of Kevin Brown proportions. Money isn't the only similarity between a movie and a college football team's season. Each has its plot, its director (the coach), the stars and co-stars (or, in some cases, ensemble casts ). Many of each introduce us to a bright, new face. And, as we embark on 1999, CNN/SI's "critics" have rated the 114 teams based on their likelihood of hitting the BCS jackpot. Only eight teams - Arizona, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, Penn State, Tennessee and Texas A&M - achieved five-star status, given to those expected to be in the national title hunt all year. Four-star teams have a shot at a BCS or other major bowl, three-stars should be playing in December, two-stars can expect a season of mediocrity, and one stars represent what we in the industry like to call "rebuilding projects." If you're team isn't among the critics' favorites, don't fear. Even the most panned creations often spawn a hit. See "The Haunting."
| |||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company.
All Rights Reserved.
