International (Bowl) exposure

If the Rose Bowl is the “granddaddy of them all” Saturday’s inaugural International Bowl might be called its grand-nephew twice removed.

The bowl, to be played at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Bluejays, is like an untested rookie playing his first game in the pros: No one knows what to expect because there is no precedent.

This could be good for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats, who face the Western Michigan Broncos at noon. UC beat Utah State in 1997 in the first Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho. It accepted the International Bowl bid after beating then No. 7 Rutgers at Nippert Stadium and ending the season with a 7-5 record.

This bowl is sandwiched between Monday’s night’s national championship game between Ohio State and the University of Florida and a host of other bowls played and forgotten. It’s easy to see the International Bowl as a consolation prize or just one more way to fill TV time.

We beg to differ. Anytime UC can gain national – and in this case, international – exposure, it opens the possibility to place the university on the minds of those unfamiliar with the school. UC athletics can give it the opportunity to promote its strong academic offerings and raise its profile. The $750,000 payoff for UC doesn't hurt, either.

ESPN will televise the game in the United States. TSN will televise it in Canada.

While Toronto is a North American city, its reach is international. Bowl promoters play up the bowl's novelty, saying the International Bowl is the first NCAA Division I football game played in the Toronto’s Rogers Centre and is the first NCAA college football bowl game to be played outside of the United States since the Bacardi Bowl in Havana, Cuba in 1937.

No, this is no Rose, Orange, Sugar or Fiesta Bowl. It’s new. It’s still a novelty. It’s close by. And, most importantly, we get to show off. What do you think?