Another job creation for Hobart’s Hancock
One of these days, Hobart native Bill Hancock is going to take a low-pressure job and learn to relax. Luckily for college football, that won’t come anytime soon.
One of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet, Hancock has been named the first-ever executive director of the Bowl Championship Series. The most volatile lightning rod in collegiate athletics now rests in the hands of a 1972 Oklahoma graduate who has no known enemies.
Hancock is so good at what he does, new positions continue to be created for him. Hancock initially caught the NCAA’s eye when he coordinated the Big Eight basketball tournament and the 1988 Final Four, both in Kansas City, Mo., the previous home of the NCAA.
The NCAA promptly made Hancock the first-ever director of the Division I men’s basketball tournament (the Final Four), and he helped make it the greatest sports spectacle on earth. Four years ago, Hancock became the first-ever BCS administrator, serving directly under the acting coordinator in day to-day operations. Now Hancock is executive director of college football’s non-tournament that seemingly everyone likes to criticize.
“This is so different for me because I came from the most popular college sports event in America to this,” Hancock said with a chuckle, “but I really think we can move the needle on the BCS. I think a lot of people’s frustration is they don’t understand it.
“When I was at the NCAA, I used to say, ‘I’ve got the greatest job in America.’ But when people asked if I could pick another job, I would always say, ‘I’d love to be the director of the football championship,’ never thinking it would happen. This is as close as it gets.”
Hancock’s promotion was announced by current BCS coordinator John Swofford, who will continue his role through the end of his term (Jan, 7, 2010).
The BCS coordinator position rotated among conference commissioners every two years, but Hancock said the demands became too great. “It became more work that the commissioner had time to do,” Hancock said. “Really, it was being run by volunteers. There was never anybody at the point, somebody who could say, ‘Here’s the problem, and this is why.’ ”
Hancock will manage the daily BCS operations, interact with bowl organizations and television rights holders and serve as the organization’s primary spokesperson. His promotion resulted from a recommendation of the BCS commissioners last month and was formally approved Monday. Hancock will report to the 11 conference commissioners and to the Notre Dame athletic director — the individuals who oversee the BCS operation.
Hancock is the father of former Oklahoma State media relations coordinator Will Hancock, who was among the 10 travel members killed on OSU’s return trip from a men’s basketball game in Colorado on Jan. 27, 2001.
BCS season approaches
Perhaps a miracle awaits either Oklahoma State and Oklahoma and one of them might somehow qualify for this year’s national title game.
The journey to reach that point commences when the first BCS standings are released on Oct. 18.
For pretty much this entire decade, OU fans have been engulfed in the BCS standings, with the Sooners making four national title game appearances in the last nine seasons. Cowboys fans were hoping this would be the year they could acquint themselves with the BCS process.
Bill Hancock, a native of Hobart, is head administrator for the BCS and sent a Cliff’sNotes’ version of the selection process. Should OU and OSU get on a roll in the upcoming weeks, local fans can follow the progress and the inner workings, which Hancock shares below:
With BCS Selection Sunday (Dec. 6) two months away, this week’s Bits topic is “How are the teams chosen for BCS games?”
The answer really is quite simple: some earn automatic berths, others are selected by the bowls. Basically there are four ways to qualify:
1. The top two teams in the final BCS Standings qualify automatically.
2. The champions of six conferences have annual automatic berths.
3. Other teams can qualify automatically as follows:
A. The highest-ranked champion from the MAC, MWC, WAC, Sun Belt or C-USA qualifies if it finishes in the top 12; (or top 16 if ranked higher than the champion of a conference that has an automatic berth).
B. Notre Dame qualifies if it finishes in the top eight.
4. If spots remain after the above teams are slotted, a bowl can select any other team that finishes in the top 14, but no more than two teams from a conference can participate.
The ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, and SEC earned their automatic qualification by virtue of contracts with the host bowls and by meeting performance standards. As agreed by all 11 conferences, the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 regular seasons were evaluated using three criteria: rank of the highest-ranked team, rank of all conference teams and number of teams in the top 25. Those six met the standard.
The 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons will be evaluated to determine if a seventh conference achieves automatic qualification for the BCS games that will conclude the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
