Jan. 20, 2012

While vivid memories of another magical football season that saw Stanford finish with an 11-2 record and make its second straight bowl appearance are still fresh in the minds of many, it's only natural for some to ask the question of "What's next?" as the Cardinal soon begin preparations for its first season in the post-Andrew Luck era.

In this edition of Inside Stanford Athletics With Bob Bowlsby, the Jaquish & Kenninger Director of Athletics shares his thoughts on the recently concluded football season and addresses how the program is well-equipped to sustain long-term success following losses to key players.

Bowlsby also discusses the football scheduling process and some of the key factors that contributed to the 2012 Big Game landing on Oct. 20, as opposed to its traditional November slot.

Shortly before the first of the year, the Pac-12 and Big Ten Conferences announced a partnership that calls for a collaborative effort to enhance long-term scheduling commitments between the two conferences across all sports. In football, for example, the plan calls for 12 inter-conference games to be played between the two conferences beginning with the 2017 season.

Last April, Stanford announced it will commence a four-game, home and home series with Northwestern beginning in the 2019 season.

Bowlsby, who served as director of athletics at Iowa for 15 years prior to his appointment at Stanford, calls the partnership "a strategic alliance that doesn't have any boundaries."

There never seems to be a shortage of opinions when discussion turns to the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). Bowlsby has long favored a "plus-one" model to decide the BCS champion, with semifinal games scheduled for late December with the winners advancing to a championship game to be played a few weeks later.

In his annual state of the association speech last week in Indianapolis, NCAA President Mark Emmert indicated he would also support a four-team playoff in college football.

"The plus-one model is probably a good way for us to put our foot in the water and resolve some of the issues in the current system without leading to a pro-style playoff. I believe it's (plus-one model) an inevitability, but inevitability could have a long horizon."

Bowlsby also shares his thoughts on the Cardinal's men's and women's basketball teams that have combined for a 31-5 record at the halfway point of the season.