WAC's Benson to go 'bowling'

Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson said it is a little early to be covering up the bowl game grave his league is in.

The WAC, which today does not have a firm commitment for its champion, remains alive for a spot in this year's Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30 in San Diego. It also insists its deal with the Las Vegas Bowl, which expires in 1999, remains valid pending good faith renegotiations.

Last week, the Las Vegas Bowl informed the WAC it was seeking to renegotiate the final year of its three-year deal.

The idea the WAC may not have a place for its champion has Benson peeved.

"I've read some of the reports and that's a bunch of crap," he said Thursday. "Of course the WAC champion is going to play somewhere.

"We're still in the picture with the Holiday Bowl and I'm confident that when it's all said and done, we'll have access to the game."

Benson said he talked to Holiday Bowl officials after their meeting Wednesday and they assured him the WAC remains under consideration for this year's game.

Benson also didn't discount the possibility of the WAC being represented in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on New Year's Day. When the Holiday Bowl severed its agreement Monday with the WAC, Pac-10 and Big 12, it also dropped its agreement with the Cotton Bowl.

"There's still a chance there might be an arrangement (with the Cotton Bowl)," he said.

Benson said no formal invitation has been extended to the WAC to have its champion play in the Aloha Bowl on Christmas Day. Either the No. 2 or 3 WAC team does have a guaranteed spot in the Oahu Bowl which will be played in Honolulu as part of a doubleheader.

"It's still very premature at this point," Benson said of an Aloha Bowl tie-in for this year. "They're going to have to let this Holiday-Cotton Bowl play itself out."

Meanwhile, Benson has responded to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's request and is willing to meet with the LVCVA to discuss the 1999 Las Vegas Bowl. However, Benson said his idea of "'good faith renegotiation" is not to have the WAC dropped from next year's game at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"We have a valid contract with the LVCVA and I would expect the WAC to have a presence in the 1999 Las Vegas Bowl," he said. "My definition of 'good faith' is that there are changes in the current contract that would accommodate everyone's best interests.

"From our standpoint, to drop the WAC would not be in everyone's best interests."

Rossi Ralenkotter, the LVCVA's vice president of marketing, said the game's objective hasn't changed.

"The goal is to bring the best possible matchup (to Las Vegas)," he said. "Obviously, we will continue to talk to the WAC and try and work things out to everyone's satisfaction."

Benson said if it meant the WAC purchasing more tickets to maintain its spot in the Las Vegas Bowl, that is something the league would consider.

But the WAC will not accept being cast aside. The two sides may meet next week to try to come to an agreement.

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