HAVE TEAM. NEED MONEY. WILL TRAVEL; AD STRATEGY HELPS CSUN FIND BIG PAYDAYS.Byline: Chris Branam Staff Writer Looking to fill its 2000 football schedule and its bank account, Cal State Northridge turned to advertising. It worked. An ad in The NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association News quickly led to the filling of both CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge needs. The Matadors announced this week they will play at Air Force on Sept. 2, 2000 in the Falcons' home opener and receive $125,000. Playing a guaranteed-revenue football game on the road against a Division I-A opponent is a trend at Northridge. The Matadors received $200,000 for showing up for Kansas' home opener in September and will get $100,000 for today's game against Southern Methodist in the Mustangs' last game at the Cotton Bowl. If it seems these games are about money, they are. ``All you need to do is look at the national statistics,'' said Dick Dull, CSUN's athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic , ``and you'll find that almost universally (college football programs) do not realize a profit.'' A Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated is the largest weekly American sports magazine owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. It has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men, 19% of the adult males in the country. study a few years ago found only a handful of Division I-A and I-AA football programs are in the black. Most of the money the football program makes for a university is gobbled up in expenses accumulated by - surprise - the football program. That's what happened at CSUN. The athletic department was deep in debt earlier this year, and Dull sought six-figure football games when he started at CSUN in July. CSUN has played Division I-A teams before, but Boise State (1998 and '97), Utah State ('96) and New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). State ('96) didn't exactly set the alumni abuzz. Dull, a former A.D. at Maryland, sets higher goals. When he found out the Matadors had three open dates next season, he immediately worked the phones. He called Washington's Barbara Hedges, who politely declined because the Huskies don't have an open date for years. Dull also spoke with Nebraska's Bill Byrne C. William "Bill" Byrne, II is the current Athletic Director of Texas A&M University, a position he has held since January 2003. He previously served as the athletic director at Nebraska for 11 years from 1992-2003. , but chances of a game against the Cornhuskers quickly dissipated. Dull says he must have a clear conscience when pursuing these games. ``We don't want anybody hurt,'' he said. ``There's a lot of money there with Nebraska, but we're ill-advised to continue discussing it with Nebraska. Playing the likes of Florida State, Penn State and Nebraska simply isn't appropriate for I-AA schools.'' Most I-AA schools still look for big-money games, but the days of I-A programs loading up with games against weaker programs are apparently over, thanks to NCAA legislation requiring six wins against fellow I-A opponents for a team to go to a bowl game. Several upsets this season, including Troy State over Cincinnati and Furman over North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. , may cause I-A athletic directors to shy away from Verb 1. shy away from - avoid having to deal with some unpleasant task; "I shy away from this task" avoid - stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something; "Her former friends now avoid her" games against I-AA even more in the future. ``You don't want to pay somebody $400,000 who will come and beat you,'' said Johnny Williams, Troy State's athletic director. ``The team you beat will not want to play you again.We have tried to get games with schools and been turned down.'' Troy State is I-AA's top-ranked team, moving up to I-A next year. Plans to move up are not on the horizon at CSUN, so snaring a game against Air Force of the mid-major Mountain West Conference is ideal for the Matadors. ``We're looking at schools in the major conferences that don't compete for national honors,'' Dull said. ``We could certainly play schools in the ACC See adaptive cruise control. . . . I made a call to Clemson, but they are scheduled through the next four to five years.'' Jeff Kearin, CSUN's interim head coach, who seems to be a front-runner to receive the job full-time after the season ends, said he doesn't mind playing revenue games. He relishes Dull's efforts. ``It's something we should always do,'' Kearin said. ``These games are huge for our program for a lot of reasons. They're great for recruiting. Kids want to hear you're going to go play these teams.'' CSUN'S 2000 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Sept. 2: Air Force Sept. 9: open Sept. 16: Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the southern border of which in Arizona is called the Mogollon Rim. In the West lies the Grand Canyon, which was cut by the flow of the Colorado River while the land slowly rose around it. Sept. 23: off Sept. 30: Idaho State Oct. 7: at Weber State Oct. 14: Montana Oct. 21: at Montana State Oct. 28: Eastern Washington
Nov. 4: at Sacramento State Nov. 11: Cal Poly Cal Poly may refer to:
Nov. 18: at Portland State CAPTION(S): photo, box PHOTO (color) ``We're looking at schools in the major conferences that don't compete for national honors,'' says CSUN athletic director Dick Dull. Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer BOX: CSUN's 2000 football schedule (see text) |
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