What’s nextThe NCAA will consider the proposals by Chattanooga and Frisco, Texas, and make a decision on who will host the next three Football Championship Subdivision championship games. An announcement from the NCAA on where the game will be held is expected in early March.
As part of its quest to become the new home of the NCAA Division I Football Championship game, the city of Frisco, Texas, and its stadium, Pizza Hut Park, got a visit from the NCAA this week.
Officials from the NCAA arrived in to the Dallas suburb on Wednesday and left Thursday afternoon, said Tom Burnett, commissioner of the Southland Conference, which is based in Frisco and would serve as the host institution.
The 2009 game was played at Finley Stadium for the 13th consecutive year on Dec. 18. Chattanooga and Frisco are the two finalists to host the next three title games.
Burnett said the NCAA’s entourage for the site survey was made up of four members of the Division I Football Championship Committee and four NCAA staff members. The survey was comprised of a thorough tour through the 23,500-seat stadium, which is home to FC Dallas of Major League Soccer, as well as local hotels and other places of interest.
“We thought it was a very good visit,” Burnett said. “As they go, it was probably your average site survey, and it gave them an opportunity to essentially put a face with a name.”
NCAA director of football and baseball Damani Leech said it was the first trip to Frisco for nearly everyone from the governing body. He said much of the survey involved looking at the “nuts and bolts” of how the game would go if it were to be played in Frisco.
Leech said that included everything from what the ride is like from either of Dallas’ airports to Frisco, to where the teams, bands and fans would stay, to what the walks are like from the locker rooms to the field.
Next season’s championship game is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2011, which also happens to be the day the 75th Cotton Bowl will be played in Arlington, another Dallas suburb. Burnett said there is some concern from the bidding group about the potential conflict, but he said he’s not certain that the Jan. 7 date for the game is set in stone at this point.
While the NCAA was in Frisco on Wednesday, Greater Chattanooga Sports & Events Committee president Scott Smith and other local officials involved in the game met to discuss their presentation to the NCAA in late February. Smith said it was a preliminary meeting, one of several he expects to take place before they go to Indianapolis to make their pitch.
The NCAA is expected to announce the winner in early March.