Rose Bowl construction still behind schedule, over budget

For anyone interested in the Rose Bowl renovations, I wrote about it for the Sunday edition. Officials originally planned to have everything fully renovated in time for the 2014 BCS Championship and the 100th edition of the Rose Bowl. That was much too optimistic. Most of the stadium should still be done by then, but the city council needs to pass a crucial $30 million bond sale next month for that to happen.

Pac-12 officials to ref BCS Championship

Per the Press-Register, national officiating Rogers Redding said today that Pac-12 officials will call the national title game. Conferences aren’t allowed to officiate bowls that involve their teams, and the BCS bowl rotation gave the Pac-12 those duties this year. (Notre Dame might not be in the title game had it not been for Pac-12 officials, but oh well.)

Five of the eight most penalized teams in the country come from the Pac-12: UCLA, Washington, Cal, Oregon and USC. Alabama — sixth-best in the country at 3.85 flags per game — is averaging less than half the penalties of any of those five teams. We’ll see if that ticks up on Jan. 7.

Conference USA will officiate the Holiday Bowl, as well as the Vegas Bowl. Teams from that conference averaged 5.53 penalties per game this season. Pac-12 squads averaged 7.24.