FOR FOOTBALL, MOVE POSES BIG PROBLEM.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore

We will play football until the end of time.

That was the promise Cal State Northridge interim-president Louanne Kennedy made Wednesday when CSUN accepted an invitation to join the Big West Conference in 2001. By moving to the Big West, CSUN severs ties with the Big Sky Conference, its home since 1995.

The move is a new, fresh start in Northridge's athletic history. At the same time, it could - and maybe should - force the university to rethink its position on that much-maligned, oft-controversial entity known as the football program.

Wednesday's news, from the athletic department's standpoint, is a great move. Across the board, its sports programs will flourish against better competition in a conference with more name recognition then the Big Sky.

San Fernando Valley fans know Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. But Northern Arizona?

The basketball team will benefit most. The increased exposure of playing in a predominantly California conference will enhance recruiting, boost attendance and most likely expand efforts to construct a new on-campus arena. Look at Long Beach State, which plays at the Pyramid, one of the finest on-campus facilities in the country. It's not out of the question for the same thing to happen at Northridge, given the recent move.

Now baseball has a conference affiliation, and a secure, bright future. Three years ago CSUN dropped baseball, along with four other men's programs, to meet gender-equity requirements and provide funding for other teams that compete in the Big Sky. Baseball ultimately rose from the dead and has competed as an independent the last three years. Now the Matadors are aligned with top-notch programs like Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton.

The same is true for other Northridge programs, such as softball and women's basketball. The move to the Big West benefits everyone, which is why Kennedy and athletic director Dick Dull were ecstatic when the conference voted to extend the invitation. Kennedy couldn't fax the acceptance form in fast enough.

One small problem.

The move throws the future of the football program into disarray. The Big West will discontinue football after next season, leaving the Matadors without a conference affiliation.

Kennedy wasn't being coy. She and Dull fully expect the football program to live on. Both indicated Wednesday that CSUN is not shifting emphasis away from football in favor of basketball, though the Big West fancies itself as a basketball conference and CSUN now must reduce its football scholarships.

``What we're really trying to do is provide revenues to all the other programs in a relatively fair manner, as fair as we can be,'' Kennedy said. ``We have no intention of de-emphasizing football.''

Fine. But if football does stay on, major questions need to be addressed, such as:

Where will the Matadors play?

In what conference, and against whom?

Lastly, and most importantly, why?

It's obvious that Dull and Kennedy are being diplomatic when they say football figures as prominently at CSUN as basketball. But that's just rhetoric, empty words to placate members of the program and its fans.

The fact is, football takes a major blow in this move. After the 2000 season it has no conference affiliation, less money and scholarships to work with, no set schedule and no specific plan.

Other than it will play until the end of time.

Competing as an independent seems the most likely strategy for now. But that's a short-term solution. It would be unfair and unrealistic to expect fans to get behind a team that plays for little more than the temporary thrill of a Saturday afternoon victory. No league championship, no real hope to land a postseason berth?

Where's the fun in that?

One alternative, something Kennedy hinted at Wednesday, was the possibility of joining another conference for football only. Not a bad idea, but what conference plays Division I-AA football in the West? One, the Big Sky, and that's no longer an alternative.

Kennedy even discussed the possibility of forming a separate football conference, and this makes some sense. After all, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, a Division I-AA independent in football and a current Big West member, faces the same uncertainty as CSUN after next season. Perhaps Cal Poly and Northridge can convince Sacramento State (Big Sky) and UC Davis (Division II) to join forces and create a new conference.

One way or another, football is in Kennedy and Dull's vision.

``We are going to continue to play Division I-AA,'' Kennedy said. ``We think that with the kind of activity that's gone on this year around conference affiliations that we're hoping that the opportunity to affiliate with another (Division I-AA) conference will be there at some point for us in the future.''

Here is a thought: Why not forget about football altogether. It's a drastic idea, to be sure. But now is as good a time as any to concede that football will never be more than an afterthought at Northridge.

The last five years have shown that to be true. Yes, the Matadors have achieved moderate success since joining the Big Sky, but nothing special, and certainly nothing the community chose to latch onto.

Moving to the Big Sky was expected to be a boost for Northridge, but nothing changed much. In that time money has been spent on football at the expense of other programs, three coaches have left or been fired, there's been an NCAA probe, the stadium CSUN hoped to build never materialized and fans did not come to games in large numbers.

Head coach Jeff Kearin is a good man and a talented coach. This is not a reflection on him. He will land a job elsewhere no matter what happens. But maybe it's time for Northridge to pull the plug on football once and for all, then use the extra money to upgrade other teams.

On Wednesday, Cal State Northridge changed the course of its future.

Maybe that future should not include football.