In the aftermath of a scandal that included illicit campaign contributions, questionable spending and the firing of its longtime CEO, the Fiesta Bowl’s future place amongst the BcS rotation was very much up in the air.
A little over a month later, the BcS has basically had a Leslie Nielsen moment when it comes to the future of the bowl in its system for determining a national champion.
The BcS announced Wednesday afternoon that the Fiesta Bowl will indeed be a part of the Bowl championship Series in the future, but will be forced to pay a $1 million fine. Additionally, the Associated Press writes, the BcS oversight committee, which appointed a task force to investigate the bowl’s internal investigation into itself, attached several other conditions to its ruling, including steps to strengthen supervision of the bowl so the same problems are not repeated.
What those specific steps or the other conditions on a stay of execution are is an unknown at this time.
Here’s a video excerpt obtained by CFT in which a BcS official explains their reasoning behind allowing the Fiesta Bowl to remain in the rotation:
Another unknown is whether the Fiesta Bowl will even be granted a license that would allow it to continue going forward. The NCAA, which is charged with issuing licenses for all Div. 1-A postseason games, announced last month that it was delaying a decision on the Fiesta Bowl’s license “until we can discuss these details with bowl officials and fully examine all appropriate information.”
A decision on a license for the Fiesta Bowl is expected at some point in late May or early June, although the decision today by the BcS to allow their future participation in the series bodes well for the Fiesta on the NCAA side of the ledger.