Bob Rose approached Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson about a special project.

With Hawaii receiving some dark-horse consideration for a BCS bid in 2007, Rose – now the director of public relations for baseball’s Oakland Athletics – saw an opportunity to give the Warriors an image boost and potentially a place in the national spotlight.

‘I thought there was a need there for these conferences that weren’t part of a major college establishment,’ Rose said. ‘They don’t have the same advantages in terms of media coverage and large markets.’

Two years removed from the success of the Hawaii campaign, Benson is attempting to do the same this year with Boise State, also a member of the WAC. The Broncos are currently 10-0 and stand sixth in the BCS standings, and Benson is using Scott Peyron & Associates, Inc., a Boise, Idaho-based firm, to get the message out.

Rose’s work with the WAC with Hawaii was just the start of the conference’s venture into the world of public relations to promote its teams. As part of a growing trend in college sports, smaller schools with big aspirations are turning to PR firms and PR officials to state their cases to the public, in search of program and financial benefits.

These firms help teams schedule media interviews and press conferences and send out e-mails to members of local and national media in an attempt to support both team and individual aspirations.

And, Benson said, it has worked. That’s why he went back to the formula after seeing its success with Hawaii, as the team advanced to the Sugar Bowl against Georgia – which Hawaii lost, 41-10 – and quarterback Colt Brennan was invited to New York as a Heisman finalist.

‘It’s hard to measure marketing and promotion,’ Benson said. ‘But in that particular case, we accomplished what we had hoped for despite (Hawaii’s) critics.’

For Rose, it all started when he saw the inequality within the BCS system.

There are always different circumstances that give certain people advantages when competing for a spot in any organization. The BCS, Rose said, is no different.

More media coverage. More respect among the public. The ability to schedule some of the toughest opponents.

‘I thought there was a need there for these conferences that weren’t part of a major college establishment,’ Rose said. ‘They don’t have the same advantages in terms of media coverage and large markets.’

Doug Cole, a practice groups leader at the firm, said the firm is pressing the Broncos’ victory over No. 11 Oregon and their history as the winningest program in Division I over the past 10 years as the main reasons for why it should be selected for its second BCS bowl berth in program history.

‘Boise State is in a unique position because it’s in a remote geographic area,’ Cole said. ‘It doesn’t have the media access that it would have if close to a metropolitan area. So we talk to the media and ensure they have the most recent data on Boise State’s performance and marketability.’

In addition to providing the football program with a boost in ego, BCS bowls also offer a handsome payout to each of their participants. Each team in a BCS bowl last season earned $17.5 million. That, Rose said, is as much of a reason as any that schools are starting to hire outside PR firms.

‘The bottom line is that when you’re a smaller conference, you’re at the bottom in terms of exposure,’ Rose said. ‘Whatever (Benson’s) paying me is just a drop in the bucket compared to if he gets a spot in the BCS.’

Rose also worked with the West Coast Conference in NCAA basketball from 2005-08, helping advance the national causes of teams like Gonzaga, St. Mary’s and San Diego, who each made NCAA tournament appearances during that stretch.

And Rose has seen other football programs employ the same PR tactics. Oregon, for example, took out a billboard in Times Square to promote Joey Harrington’s Heisman bid in 2001.

Rose thinks other schools, especially from smaller conferences, should look to the same formula as a means to gain national exposure and earn something big for their programs. To him, the lobbying is just a way to make a broken system a little more equal.

‘College football is in an interesting situation compared to other sports,’ Rose said, ‘because it’s almost inconsistent with what athletics is about: having a fair opportunity without prejudices.

‘I think that’s the hard part to swallow if you’re from one of these smaller schools. So you should do anything and everything you can to get yourself out there.’

Leap Frogs

Coming into Saturday night, there were subplots to the Texas Christian-Utah matchup. Lots of subplots. Would TCU secure its place among the nation’s top five teams and be on the path to an undefeated season? Would Utah spoil its own conference’s bid for a BCS title game berth? Would TCU slip up in its last true test at home?

TCU answered those questions easily and early. The Horned Frogs rolled out to a 38-14 halftime lead en route to a 55-28 final over the then-No.16 Utes, likely cementing their place in a BCS bowl game.

TCU has now beaten Clemson and Brigham Young on the road and Utah at home.

The Horned Frogs can close out an undefeated season with wins over Wyoming and New Mexico, who hold a combined 5-15 record this season.

‘If the nation didn’t think this was enough style points,’ TCU head coach Gary Patterson said after the win over Utah, ‘then I don’t know what is.’

Game to watch: No. 25 California at No. 17 Stanford

In a down week for big games, there’s always the reliability of the ‘Big Game.’ It’s the 27th anniversary of ‘The Play.’ Or the game the band was on the field.

And this year, the game means much more than bragging rights. For the first time in a while, both teams are ranked and have winning records. Cal will also have a chance to knock the Cardinals out of Pac-10 championship contention.

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on November 16, 2009 at 12:00 pm