Here’s what Sandy Barbour said about Beaver Stadium parking, College Football Playoff

Parking around Beaver Stadium was a nightmare for Nittany Lion fans in 2018 — and it doesn’t look like there’s a solution to the persisting problem.

Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour said there are “constraints” she and the department face when it comes to the availability of Penn State’s parking lots. Over the last three seasons, parking for six football games have been significantly impacted by weather. This year alone, grass lots around Beaver Stadium were closed for games against Iowa, Wisconsin and Maryland, causing a flurry of traffic issues and complaints from fans.

“With the weather, there’s not much we can do about it. I’d like to be able to call somebody up and say, ‘Please don’t make it rain on these seven Saturdays,’” Barbour said Monday morning. “I’ve heard that, oh, you need to pave more of the lots. And you need to do this or that. If we were able to do that, we certainly would. But most of our grass lots are either intramural fields or Ag fields, which aren’t ours. And the purposes for which they’re used the other 358 days out of the year do not allow us to pave them.”

Barbour, without specifying which areas, said there are a “small number of lots” that Penn State can make improvements to so they’re not as affected by rain. The university also announced in late November that four new traffic zones will be utilized to facilitate traffic before and after games in 2019, in hopes that will help alleviate ongoing issues.

Outside of that, though, Barbour said there isn’t much that can be done.

In fact, Penn State’s gameday parking situation might get worse years down the line. Barbour was asked if there’s any additional parking help outlined in the Facilities Master Plan — the long-term modification of Beaver Stadium and the campus’ athletic facilities. Her response? “The master plan has some buildings and facilities in what are currently parking areas.”

Now, changes to Beaver Stadium are a long ways off. When the plan was announced in March 2017, it was seen as a 20-year project.

But Monday’s pre-Citrus Bowl chat with Barbour didn’t quell any concerns Penn State fans had about gameday parking.

“It’s not ideal. Totally understand,” the athletic director said. “But again, we’ve got a lot of constraints from a weather standpoint that we don’t control. And with the parking resources that we do have, we have some constraints about what we can do to improve those lots.”

College Football Playoff expansion?

The No. 1 debate around college football over the last month has been the College Football Playoff structure: Should it expand to eight teams or stay at four?

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told The Athletic earlier this month that he and his conference colleagues would “definitely have conversations” about the playoff. Bob Bowlsby, the Big 12 commissioner, also told The Athletic that possible expansion is “an appropriate thing to be thinking about.”

So, how about Barbour? Penn State, despite winning the conference title in 2016, was left out of the CFP. The last three Big Ten champions have been on the outside looking in come Selection Sunday.

Still, Barbour isn’t sold on a playoff expansion.

“It’s about what’s right for college football. What’s right for our student-athletes,” she said. “I don’t know that an eight-team or six-team playoff is the answer to that. What I love about today is that every game matters. And I don’t want us to lose that. I don’t want us to lose the specialness of the bowl structure.”

Barbour does believe, though, that now is the time to reassess the College Football Playoff structure. She doesn’t want the powers that be to wait until the ESPN-CFP contract expires after the 2026 season.

“We’ve got five years worth of data now,” Barbour added. “I don’t know what the answer is. But it’s worth exploring. It’s absolutely worth exploring. The time is right.”

New contract

Barbour is at Penn State for the long haul.

The AD has agreed to a new contract, she said Monday morning. Barbour did not disclose the details of her extension, but hinted that it would be a multi-year deal.

“This is my last stop,” Barbour said to a room full of media members. “Where would I want to go that’s a better opportunity, a better fit for me than Penn State? And this next contract will certainly help me do that.”

Barbour’s new contract isn’t official yet. The Penn State Board of Trustees has final say in approving the extension. But she expects to hear from the board “early in 2019.”

Barbour said there was no urgency on her end or from Penn State president Eric Barron to get new contract completed. She signed a five-year deal when hired in July 2014.

This story was originally published December 31, 2018 at 10:53 AM.