NCAA pitches go well

Chattanooga, Frisco feel good about bids

After several months of preparation, representatives from Chattanooga and Frisco, Texas, made their cases Thursday in Indianapolis for why they should host the next three NCAA Division I Football Championship games.

Both groups met with the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee for about an hour, and afterward both sides said they felt good about their presentations.

"It couldn't have gone any smoother," Greater Chattanooga Sports & Events Committee president Scott Smith said. "We feel like we've done what we can do, and now it's up to them to make a decision."

Tom Burnett, commissioner of the Frisco-based Southland Conference, was equally upbeat.

"I thought it went well," he said. "We had a good visit with them and left with them some things to consider."

The committee voted Thursday afternoon, and its recommendation was passed along to the Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet. That group will make a final determination on who will host the game during a conference call today.

Finley Stadium has been the home of the FCS title game for the past 13 years, so Chattanooga had the familiarity advantage with the committee, which includes Appalachian State athletic director Charlie Cobb and Montana AD Jim O'Day. Their schools have played in the championship game at Finley a combined eight times.

"There were a couple of comparisons between us and Frisco and the Dallas area," Smith said of the presentation, "but it was mostly focusing on what we do well and what we're going to do and continue to do."

Because the committee is less familiar with Frisco -- only four members attended the site visit in January -- Burnett said more basic information about the Dallas suburb was included in its presentation.

"We told the Frisco story," he said. "We felt an obligation to share some basic information about the community, the facility (Pizza Hut Park) and who we are for those that didn't come to Frisco.

"We talked about the growth in our community, the great things we have going on, our leadership, the expansion of business, and obviously we talked about our facility and support staffs and some of the other things we can provide."

The committee members forwarded all media requests for comment to Damani Leech, NCAA director of football and baseball. Leech did not return several phone calls from the Times Free Press seeking comment.

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