The inaugural Humanitarian Bowl was a win-win proposition for the University of Cincinnati and its football program. Even its financial losses, which could be steep, will be covered by private donors.
UC handily beat Utah State 35-19 in the game Monday, finishing an 8-4 season that marked only the Bearcats' second eight-win season in 20 years. Beyond that, UC already has realized a windfall in recruiting and positive publicity.
Nine Tristate prep seniors have given oral commitments to UC this month, compared to just two last year. And the Bearcats' appearance in the bowl, their first postseason trip in 47 years, has become the feel-good story of the Cincinnati sports winter.
''I can't forecast what true value it's going to have,'' said UC Athletic Director Bob Goin. ''When you haven't done it in 47 years, you have to go downstream a little bit and see what the impact is. But there's been nothing harmful about this experience.''
UC will take a hit in the pocketbook, which it expected. The bowl awarded $750,000 to each team, but UC estimates it will spend more than $1 million in travel and ticket costs. But Goin said private donors have agreed to cover any deficit.
''This trip brought the University of Cincinnati to the Western part of the country,'' Goin said. ''We're in the Boise paper, the Salt Lake City paper. There were several days of very solid and positive coverage, and then the country got to see us on ESPN2.''
The unprecedented publicity, particularly in December, has raised the profile of a program that had 25 losing seasons in the 46 years since its last bowl appearance.
But now, riding the wave of three straight winning seasons and the bowl trip, things could change.
Or, so UC hopes.
''It's all about recruiting,'' coach Rick Minter said. ''And we're still not finished. We're going to do a good job recruiting and pulling in more players from the Tristate.''
Some of Cincinnati's top players have signed on, including wide receiver Antwan Peek of Woodward and two players from Moeller, tight end Doug Brandt and linebacker Willis Edwards. It is the first time in 20 years that Moeller has sent two players to UC in one year.
UC did take heat from some who said the Bearcats bought their bowl bid. Goin agreed to buy 15,000 tickets for the game and arranged a home-and-home men's basketball series with Boise State as a goodwill gesture. Rice, which competed with UC for the at-large berth in the Humanitarian Bowl, said that its bottom line was not as low as UC's.
That doesn't bother UC, which freely admitted that it would have done almost anything to end the nation's longest Division I bowl drought.
Goin, who helped secure the bid with his connections as a former Florida State athletic director, is uncomfortable with taking any credit. But he is a hero to UC fans and will likely try to extend Minter's contract beyond 1998, when it expires.
''I think we've done this all the right way,'' Goin said.
BOWL AND SEASON REPORTS
