Let me see if I have this right Kansas University has agreed to play UCLA in football next season and will pay $400,000 for the privilege.
UCLA??? Why in the world when Kansas must play eight Big 12 Conference games and has to record six victories to earn a bowl trip would the Jayhawks want to meet a perennial power?
$400,000??? Kansas has never paid that much money to a visiting foe. Game receipts will leave Kansas with little more than hot dog money after that 400-grand check is written.
It would appear KU athletics officials have bowed to pressure from alumni and, remember, KU collected $4.6 million in contributions last year to improve football attendance by enhancing the caliber of non-league opponents.
This is a fallacy, but one that has to be reinforced every 20 years or so. Last time, for instance, that UCLA visited Lawrence was back in 1978 and that game drew only 35,362 fans.
Then again, in contemporary times, if the Jayhawks draw more than 35,000 for any team other Kansas State or Nebraska, it’s news. So if the Bruins produce a 35,000-plus crowd next Sept. 8, the pro-schedule boosters will be able to say I told you so.
Still, the Kansas athletics department will take a bath if the game isn’t televised, and it’s no secret that’s what KU athletics director Bob Frederick is counting on.
In the Big 12 Conference, every school will receive $1.3 million in TV money next season, regardless of the number of appearances. However, schools will also receive appearance money, and the more appearances a team makes the more money it banks.
If ABC picks up the Kansas-UCLA game, the Jayhawks will receive $430,000. If Fox Sports snatches it, the payoff will be $335,000. If both networks say no, though, the Jayhawks may have to raise men’s basketball ticket prices again.
When it comes to boosting football attendance, the other school of thought is that it doesn’t matter who you play as long as you’re winning. Case in point: Kansas State. Let’s face it. K-State coach Bill Snyder would change the Wildcats’ uniforms to orange before he would agree to play UCLA.
Did Kansas make the right decision to play UCLA? Yes, if the game makes the television logs and the Jayhawks win. No, if TV thumbs its nose and Kansas loses to the Bruins.
Whatever, right now, it sure looks like a better deal for UCLA than it does for Kansas.
And the Wait Goes On: Not until late next Monday morning will we know the kickoff for the Kansas-Kansas State game on Oct. 7 at Memorial Stadium.
The Big 12 has four TV slots on that Saturday. ABC has two of them 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. with Oklahoma-Texas locked into the later start. Also available are 11:30 a.m. (Big 12 network) and 6 p.m. (Fox Sports).
In addition to KU-KSU, conference games scheduled that day are Colorado at Texas A&M, Baylor at Texas Tech, Nebraska at Iowa State and Oklahoma State at Missouri.
Just a guess, but I like ABC to take Colorado and A&M for its 11 a.m. game, Fox Sports to take Oklahoma State at Missouri and the Big 12 Network to tab Kansas-Kansas State.
As it stands now, though, kickoff for the KU-KSU game will be either 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. (the no-TV time) or 6 p.m.
Cleaning out the notebook:
KU officials had hoped to land the 2002 NCAA cross country championships for Rim Rock Farm, but it was awarded to Indiana State.
