Section B·Page 10
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, August 26, 1998
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College coaches suggest limiting preseason football
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The NCAA should limit the number of preseason bowl games, but not ban them, the coaches appearing in this year's Kickoff Classic said.
The Associated Press
NCAA may end games
"I don't know why if the concept was good to start ... as a kickoff showcase for college football to wet everyone's appetite for the season, then I don't know anything that has changed since then that would make these games bad," Slocum said in a conference call Monday to promote the Kickoff Classic next Monday.
Bobby Bowden of Florida State and R.C. Slocum of Texas A&M both have concerns about a proposal being considered by the NCAA to eliminate the preseason games after 2002. The proposal will be voted on in January at the NCAA Convention in San Antonio.
Slocum and Bowden are concerned about the increase in the number of preseason games. The first Kickoff Classic was played in 1983, and the Pigskin Classic was
added in 1990. Four will be played this year.
The lineup this year will have Colorado State playing Michigan State on Saturday in the Black Coaches Association game. Louisiana Tech and Nebraska will meet in the Eddie Robinson Football Classic, also Saturday.
Purdue will play at Southern California the next day in the Pigskin Classic, and Texas A&M and Florida State play Monday.
"If we are going to get where everyone can have a little opening bowl game, I'm not in favor of that," Bowden said. "If you want to keep the Kickoff Classic and the Pigskin Classic, and maybe that's all, then I can live with that."
"If everyone is going to have one, we ought to have everyone go to a 12-game schedule and forget the classics," he added.
Dropping all the games would hurt some causes.
Money from the preseason games helps finance groups such as the National Association of College Directors of Athletics, American Football Coaches Association, Black Coaches Association and the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame.
"When I first heard that idea (eliminating the preseason games), I thought there is no way they are going to do that because the whole
idea was to make money for the colleges and the retirements and things like that," Bowden said. "I could not see the NCAA wanting to eliminate them."
While preseason games earn money for their schools, the coaches said that they also give them a chance to play quality opponents and get on the field before other teams.
Had they not agreed to play in this game, both schools would not have opened the season until Sept. 12.
"We have an aspiring team and an aspiring program," Slocum said. "We have rolled along the last nine years, winning over nine games a year, and we would like to be better than we are. I think the best course for us is to take the opportunity to play a team like Florida State."
During the past decade, the two schools have been among the best in college football.
Florida State is 86-11-1 for an .883 winning percentage, second among Division I-A schools to Nebraska's. 884. Texas A&M is 75-21-2, and its 776 percentage is sixth best. The Aggies return 14 starters from a 9-4 team that lost to UCLA in the Cotton Bowl, while Florida State returns 14 from an 11-1 team that beat Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.
Colorado quarterback quits
The Associate Press
BOULDER, Colo. — Junior-college transfer Mike Moschetti has been named Colorado's starting quarterback, a move that prompted his backup to quit the team.
Junior Jeremy Weisinger withdrew from school Monday, hours after head coach Rick Neuheilis said Moschetti would start in Colorado's Sept. 5 opener against Colorado State.
"Mike has done a great job in the brief time he's been here," Neuheisel said. "We feel like his growth has been steadfast and his potential for continued growth merits him winning the starting job."
Moschetti, 23, was drafted by the Oakland A's in 1993 and hit .351 with Modesto in the California League before leaving baseball and enrolling in junior college.
He led Mount San Antonio College to the 1997 California Junior College title and the No.1 ranking in the final junior-college football poil.
Under NCAA rules, Weinger must sit out one year if he transfers to another Division I-A school. He would have two years of eligibility if he goes to a Division I-AA or Division II school.
Weisinger's father, Jerry Weisinger, said Neuheisel misled his son about transfer options, and he planned to meet today with Colorado athletic director Dick Tharp.
"He's just crushed," the elder Weisinger said. "He's heartbroken. He still has his dreams. He's wanted to come here since the eighth grade, but I know his goal is to get out of here now."
With Weisinger gone, sophomore Adam Bledsoe will be Moschetti's backup.
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