Earlier in April, the state of Kansas learned that there would be three junior college bowl games played at various locations across the state, starting in 2009.
Now. that has been paired to just two.
The newly approved Mid-America Bowl, scheduled to be played at Cessna Stadium in Wichita on Dec. 6, 2009, was canceled according to the National Junior College Athletic Association.
“When they looked at the situation of having three bowls in Kansas and having the bowl in Hutchinson on the same day, 45 miles away, the sponsors felt that it was overlapping the media market,” said Bryce Roderick, commissioner of the Kansas Junior College Athletic Association (KJCCC) “They felt that it was asking too much to gain the financial support that they needed.”
The game was just approved as an official sanctioned bowl game by the NJCAA Football Committee at the recent NJCAA Annual Meeting in April.
A member of the bowl committee contacted the NJCAA about the status of the game.
“They informed us that they were not going to be able to do a game in 2009,” said Mark Krug, director of sports information and media relations with the NJCAA. “We really did not get much more information than that.”
One bowl that will be played in Kansas will be the Citizens Bank Bowl at Carnie Smith Stadium on Dec. 9.
The game is a partnership between Fort Scott Community College, Pittsburg State University and the Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
One thing that spurred the new bowl games was because of the lack of games available for post-season play in the junior college ranks.
Last season, Navarro Junior College was the No. 1-ranked team in the country before losing their conference championship to Blinn Community College.
Subsequently, Navarro was not invited to a bowl game whereas Blinn played Fort Scott in the Heart of Texas Bowl.
Roderick said that, even though the game has been canceled for this year, there could be hopes that the game in Wichita returns pending the success of the game in Hutch, which is under a one-year contract.
“I told them when we talked, I would like for them to keep the options open,” Roderick said. “I can’t dictate to them what to do but, hopefully it will be a possibility.”
According to Krug, in 2008 there were six bowl games with one of the events having two games.
The Citizens Bank Bowl was approved to play the first Sunday in December from 2009 through 2011.
Despite the loss of the Mid-America Bowl, the additions of the Salt City Bowl in Hutchinson, and the Citizens Bank Bowl, will increase the total number of post-season NJCAA football games in 2009 to nine. There were seven bowl games in 2008.
“I think it does limit the exposure,” Roderick said. “It was expressed by some members of the committee that having three bowls in one state was too much to ask for but it did give three opportunities to three teams in Kansas to go to a bowl.”
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140. Follow Morning Sun sports at twitter.com/mssports.
JUCO BOWL GAMES
2009 NJCAA Football Bowl Games
North Star Bowl - Rochester, Minn., Nov. 21, 2009
Graphic Edge Bowl - Cedar Falls, Iowa (two games), Nov. 22, 2009
ZIONS BANK Top of the Mountain Bowl - Salt Lake City, Utah, Dec. 5, 2009
C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl - Copperas Cove, Texas, Dec. 5, 2009
Valley of the Sun Bowl - Maricopa County, Ariz., Dec. 5, 2009
• Salt City Bowl - Hutchinson, Kan., Dec. 5, 2009
• Citizens Bank Bowl - Pittsburg, Kan., Dec. 6, 2009
Mississippi Bowl - Biloxi, Miss., Dec. 6, 2009
• — indicates new bowl games for the 2009 season
PITTSBURG —
