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11/3/2009 3:32 AM

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Resurrecting the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference's State Game was the brainchild of the member schools' administrators and the bane of the football coaches.

The format, which pits the winner of the East Division against the West Division, worked well last season because the two teams involved - West Chester and California - received bids to the NCAA Division II playoffs. Even Bloomsburg, which lost to West Chester in the East Division finale, got in.

Getting more than one team in this season might not happen.

California and Shippensburg will play in this season's State Game Saturday and the loser is going to have a sleepless night before the playoff pairings are released the next day.

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"Quite frankly, the coaches voted to eliminate it for this year and the administrators did not support the recommendation," Steve Murray, commissioner of the PSAC, told media members during a Monday morning conference call. "We'll meet in December and see how it goes again."

What troubles the coaches is that a loss in the State Game could be fatal to a team's playoff hopes. Cal and Shippensburg each have two losses. It's difficult, though not unheard of, for teams to get a bid with three losses. It's understandable that neither John Luckhardt at Cal nor Rocky Rees at Shippensburg want to test those waters.

Normally, crossover games are used to fill the schedule. If the State Game did not exist, creating a Week 11, a lesser opponent might be on the schedule. Instead, this is a difficult final game.

"A conference championship is a special thing but there is also that 800-pound gorilla in the room that says if you get beat, you might not make the playoffs," Luckhardt said. "This game obviously has side issues."

Rees has similar fears.

"It certainly puts more pressure on the game," he said. "As an old player in the league, I'm old school. It would be a shame if a loss knocked someone out of the playoffs."

The other sore point is money. West Division teams historically provide more scholarships in football, which enables them to attract better players and field stronger teams. The East Division has pockets of prosperity, but it does make a difference.

"Any level-headed person knows that we're the underdog with scholarships," Rees said. "We're an underdog to Edinboro, Bloomsburg, West Chester, a lot of schools."

Murray said he doesn't want to judge the value of the State Game on just one season. But the pressure might be increased if either Cal or Shippensburg is left out of the playoffs because of a third loss.

The easy answer is win the game.

No one is sure how the NCAA views such games. Whether they give the loser a spot in the playoffs will determine the lifespan of the State Game.

Assistant sports editor Joe Tuscano can be reached at jtuscano@observer-reporter.com.

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