2012-2013 Bowl Thread

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Kinda fuzzy with the realignment philosophy, since he has Nebraska in the Rose Bowl.

I was just going fast there. Grabbed the Big 10 champ and stuck 'em in the Rose Bowl. I didn't realize they played a championship game and Wisconsin won. Oops. The rest (I think) are pre-realignment. Two SEC teams aren't playing each other. That's the old Cotton Bowl with the SWC Champs (A&M) versus the best team available. I basically just went down the list, allowing the bowl with the highest-ranked automatic-bid team to get the first at-large team. The Sugar Bowl has the highest-ranked team (Bama #2), so they get to pick first, so they get ND. Then the Orange has K-State, so they get to pick next, etc. In my scenario, I had the Cotton and Fiesta switch UGA and Oregon to avoid the all-SEC LSU vs. UGA matchup, but that's a quibble. Any way you slice it, you get four bowls that match up a pair of top 10 teams.

SUGAR: #2 Bama vs. #1 ND
ORANGE: #5 Kansas State vs. #3 Florida
ROSE: #6 Stanford vs. Wisconsin
COTTON: #9 Texas A&M vs. #7 UGA
FIESTA: #8 LSU vs. #4 Oregon
PEACH: #10 South Carolina vs. #11 Oklahoma

I'm not necessarily advocating for the old system, but it's just sad/ironic/annoying that it would have produced MUCH more interesting matchups and a #1 vs. #2. Looking at the lineup I suggest, at least five of those games are "must-watch" national contests. I only see three this year, and one is a reach: there's Bama-ND and Oregon-KState, then maybe Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma. But that's really it.

Part of the issue is that when the BCS first instituted the "only two teams per conference" rule, conferences were significantly smaller, the ACC was relevant, and I believe there was one less BCS Bowl. Correct? So they've kept that rule, but set up a situation where there are more "top-tier" games to fill with fewer places to pull the top-tier teams. In that regard, this year's bowl lineup was a disaster just waiting to happen.

[Young Drachma]

What is a BCS bowl worth to Huskies? - Sports Business News, Analysis - Dollars Blog - ESPN Playbook - ESPN

Per our earlier chat about NIU and monies.

But there is some solace for Compher: If he can't persuade fans to spend more by going through the school and can't sell out the allotment, NIU won't be left with a budget crisis. MAC commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher told ESPN.com on Monday that he expects the conference presidents to approve a disproportionate revenue sharing plan that will cover NIU's costs. Steinbrecher said the five non-BCS conferences will split $12 million, and the MAC will get roughly two-thirds of another $12 million bucket.

According to Google Trends data, more people have searched for Northern Illinois than any time in the past eight years, save for a campus shooting in February 2008 that resulted in six deaths and injured 21.

Figuring out what all this is worth to Northern Illinois is complicated.

The sustained success has facilitated a coaching carousel, one that resulted in Jerry Kill going to Minnesota, and their current coach, Dave Doeren, leaving to coach NC State before the Orange Bowl. But the Huskies haven't really turned the corner.

Attendance has been lackluster, even though a large portion of its alumni base lives and works relatively close to the school's campus in Dekalb, Ill.

"What I'm most excited about is that I believe this will re-energize our fan base," Compher said. "I want people to jump on the bandwagon because it could be as big as we want it to be. We have 180,000 alumni that live within an hour drive of our campus. People think that we're a little school. We're not."

If there's a common theme among non-BCS schools that busted into college football's biggest spotlights, it's that playing in those games has enabled them to at least have a chance to enjoy sustained success through greater revenues. The big prize, it seems, has been getting wooed during all the realignment that has shaken the college sports world.

There's obviously a greater chance of seeing a significant bump if Northern Illinois were to somehow beat Florida State. The Huskies are a 13-point underdog, the biggest underdog of this bowl season. But going back to a BCS game is where it really makes a difference. TCU, for example, which played in two BCS games and beat Wisconsin in the 2011 Rose Bowl, got a spot in the Big 12 and raised $164 million to expand the school's stadium. Or Boise State, which won both its BCS games over Oklahoma and TCU, was picked up by the Big East and also gave its stadium a $3 million upgrade. Or Utah, which beat Pitt in 2005 and Alabama in 2009 in its two BCS appearances and parlayed that success into getting one of two spots that turned the Pac-10 into the Pac-12.

Although there's much talk of Northern Illinois raking in the dough, it's really not the reality in Compher's office.

"We operate so that we can balance our budget," Compher said. "We budget conservatively and spend conservatively. If we have money left over, it will go into operational enhancements for our program."

[RainMaker]

And I don't have a big issue with the bowls. I mean I think it's a dumb way to do a postseason and you don't get a true champion, but it's not the end of the world. I just hate the idea that these bowls scam schools. Force them to buy tickets at enormous prices, force them to rent hotel room blocks, and so on. Cut out the middle man and just set them up yourselves. The same way big games are setup on neutral sites throughout the year.

It's just ridiculous to let these leeches bleed athletic departments and even more ridiculous that a sport as big as college football can't turn a profit on their postseason.

[Young Drachma]

Badgers football: Barry Alvarez to coach UW in the Rose Bowl : Sports

Barry Alvarez to coach Bucky in the Rose Bowl.

[timmynausea]

Orange Bowl tickets are going for $2.90 on stubhub.

[molson]

Wow, the cheapest for the Idaho Potato Bowl are $23. Which are a little more expensive than the Boise St. cheap seats.

[MrBug708]

Stanford has sold 35k for the Rose Bowl

[Matthean]

From the land of not being in a bowl...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Thousands of fans gathered Friday to honor No. 3 Ohio State for its perfect season.

Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman said the accomplishment deserves special recognition, and then unveiled a sign that read "12-0 Row" to be put at an undetermined street in the city.

Former Ohio State quarterback and 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith also presented the team with the Big Ten Leaders Division trophy.

The Buckeyes went 12-0 in coach Urban Meyer's first season in Columbus, but were unable to play in a bowl due to NCAA violations under former coach Jim Tressel. It was the sixth unbeaten and untied season in the 123 years of the program.

Ohio State president Gordon Gee told the crowd of about 7,000: "This team faced the greatest challenge ever imagined."

Tell that to PSU.

[MrBug708]

Why did they get a trophy?

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Matthean

From the land of not being in a bowl...



Tell that to PSU.

Tell that to Marshall.

[MrBug708]

Nevada really blew this game badly

[sterlingice]

Yeah- like I said in the college hoops thread, it was fun flipping back and forth between this and CBS for the Indiana-Butler game

SI

[BYU 14]

UA / Nevada game was incredible. One of our players from Westview (Jourdan Grandon #26) plays for the Cats now, happy for him in end the season on a high note.....

Actually just got an answer to a text I sent him him after the game congratulating him. Really cool to see Kids you coached as freshmen move on and have success at the next level.

[Izulde]

I caught the last 5 minutes of the Arizona/Nevada game. Loved seeing the Wolfpack choke it away in the last couple of minutes and what a crazy finish that was.

Toledo/Utah State was a snoozefest and very disappointing.

[Matthean]

Michigan suspends three.

Michigan Wolverines suspend 3 from Outback Bowl, including J.T. Floyd - ESPN

[BYU 14]

Been awesome watchin Kyle Van Noy singlehandedly win this game for BYU, but we are going to miss him next year!

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Been awesome watchin Kyle Van Noy singlehandedly win this game for BYU, but we are going to miss him next year!

Ziggy, Van Noy and Hoffman will all be gone, that is crazy...If we only had a QB this season....

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Ziggy, Van Noy and Hoffman will all be gone, that is crazy...If we only had a QB this season....

Hoping Hoff stays, he is probably 50/50, but after tonight Kyle would be crazy not to declare, he put the team on his back. Really liked how Bronco schemed things putting Ziggy at nose sometimes and then bringing KVN on stunts and twists. No way you block them both.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Hoping Hoff stays, he is probably 50/50, but after tonight Kyle would be crazy not to declare, he put the team on his back. Really liked how Bronco schemed things putting Ziggy at nose sometimes and then bringing KVN on stunts and twists. No way you block them both.

As I just texted you Hoff has declared he will be back...

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

As I just texted you Hoff has declared he will be back...

And he will have a QB

[Lathum]

Vegas Bowl about to start, Go Huskies!!!

Interesting side note, these same teams open up the renovated Husky Stadium to start the next year

[Buccaneer]

That's a terrible QB Washington has (first time I've seen them). I thought they would be able to recruit better?

[WSUCougar]

Tough loss for the Dawgs; Price is actually a good QB but he has been under constant pressure most of the game/season.

[HeavyReign]

Price actually started the year on the fringe of the Heisman discussion but the season has been a bit of a letdown. They've been unable to protect him at all this year and he's had some confidence issues as well. The coaches have been on him to trust his eyes and that the call will work. He's been too quick to check down at times and others times he's tried to force things due to the pressure.

[HeavyReign]

The other thing is there has been massive turnover around him. A number of projected starters missed all or most of the year due to injuries. From last season's starting lineup you pretty much have I think 1 OL and the TE Safarian-Jenkins playing with Price as far as I can remember.

While there will be more complaints about finishing 7-6 again, this team is also 2 missed FGs from being 9-4 and they are playing a ton of underclassmen due to the injuries.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

That's a terrible QB Washington has (first time I've seen them). I thought they would be able to recruit better?

Bucc- Last year when he had a decent line and running game he threw for 3000 yards, 33 TDs and 11 ints. Like others said, he has had a rough year but is a very good QB. Last years bowl game he threw for 450 yards, 4 TDs and rushed for 3 TDs.

[MrBug708]

He probably isn't as good as he was last year, but probably better than he was this year. He's a solid college QB, but probably nothing past that

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

He probably isn't as good as he was last year, but probably better than he was this year. He's a solid college QB, but probably nothing past that

I can't shake the feeling that he's hobbled. He had multiple opportunities to run with daylight in front of him and didn't, and the few times he did try to run he did not look very quick. Quite the contrast from the Alamo Bowl last year.

I like Price, and he showed a lot of potential last year so I'm not going to give up on him, but it will be interesting to see the competition this Spring with Cyler Miles and Jeff Lindquist now having used their redshirt years, and with incoming frosh Troy Williams also present (he enrolls January 7th for Winter Quarter). Miles, Lindquist and Williams all have superior physical skills - will that be enough to overcome the big edge in experience Price has?

[MrBug708]

It's a shame that Williams won't reconsider, but that bridge apparently has been burned

[cuervo72]

Yeah, it's still football...but teams that were 4-4 in the Sun Belt and MAC get bowl bids now?

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Yeah, it's still football...but teams that were 4-4 in the Sun Belt and MAC get bowl bids now?

or 3-6 and 9th place (out of 10) gets to play in a New Year's Eve bowl
or 2-6 in the Big 10

[Suicane75]

Anyone having issues with ESPN going in and out? I'd think it was just me but it's only happening on ESPN.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Yeah, it's still football...but teams that were 4-4 in the Sun Belt and MAC get bowl bids now?

Kinda odd situation on this one. It's supposed to be B10 #8 vs MAC #2.

WKU gets the open slot since the B10 couldn't fill their assignments.
CMU ends up here since NIU made the BCS, which shuffled the MAC deck, eventually resulting in the 4th place team in the MAC Western Division ending up here.

Oddly, if LaTech hadn't screwed up their bowl situation then Ohio probably gets this slot instead of CMU who expected to be staying home

[MrBug708]

Lane's team being Lane's team.

EL PASO, Texas -

The University of Southern California football team arrived in El Paso on Wednesday and is already making an impression on the city and football fans - a bad impression.

Late Wednesday night, USC freshman defensive end Leonard Wlliams tweeted "Out here in El Paso. Shitty city but glad I can enjoy this moment wit the USC family."
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Williams tweeted an apology and deleted the original tweet shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday.

"Sorry about what I said last night. It came out wrong. I'm so grateful to be a part of this bowl and looking forward to a great game," Williams said in the apology. "I was saying I'm just proud to be here with my family. ... I also think the people in El Paso are very welcoming and made me feel at home. Once again I apologize for speaking with out thinking."

In response to a person asking him why he took down his original tweet, Williams tweeted back that "I took it down because it was not how I really am and shouldn't be presented in that way."

Williams' original tweet came just a few hours after USC showed up an hour late to the Sheriff's Posse dinner for the Hyundai Sun Bowl teams. According to 600 ESPN El Paso's Duke Keith, who attended the dinner and posted a picture of the dinner on Facebook, Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson was upset about the late showing and took his team and left.

"Wow! Gonna dispose of my USC gear. Great show of sportsmanship after the first bowl eligible year. My west coast teams are disappointing," Audrey Sanchez said in a comment on Keith's picture.

Joel Gonzales, also commenting on Keith's photo, said "They should be fined and never invited back F USC I hope they get whooped."

USC and Georgia Tech arrived in El Paso on Wednesday. USC's appearance in the Sun Bowl is the team's first bowl game after a two-year ban.

This isn't the first time social media has gotten a USC player in a bit of hot water with El Pasoans.

Earlier this month, USC linebacker Tony Burnett apologized to El Pasoans after he received criticism for his remarks.

"Earlier today I made some tweets I regret," he wrote on his Twitter account the afternoon of Dec. 3. "To the city of El Paso and representatives of the Hyundai Sun Bowl, I apologize for my remarks. My team and I are grateful for the opportunity to play in our first bowl game in three years and we are appreciative of all of the hard work that goes into making the game happen.

"What I tweeted was not representative of my team or my university. I sincerely apologize and hope my apology is taken at its word. I am excited for the bowl game and I hope we can give you a great show. Thank you for your support and Fight On! I am not perfect. When a mistake is made you apologize. it is the simplest complexity of life."

Earlier on Dec. 3, tweeting under the name Benjamin S. Button, Burnett wrote "Georgia Tech!? El Paso, Texas!? New Years Eve!? FML" about the Dec. 31 Sun Bowl matchup. That tweet and two other tweets about El Paso that were posted early Monday were deleted in the afternoon. Burnett had also tweeted, "El Paso "if you never seen a real life giant tumbleweed get ready," and, "Well on the bright side get a chance to go out a winner so hey. Work my ass off 15 more times then one last go round in the card n gold."

USC was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press preseason poll and projected by some to contend for the national title. They did not qualify for a Bowl Championship Series bowl game and were invited to the Sun Bowl.

During the Sun Bowl coaches' news conference in early December, USC head coach Lane Kiffin apologized for Burnett's comments.

“First off I want to open up with an apology from myself and on behalf of our whole university. One of our 120 players put something on Twitter that is not representative of how we feel. That’s been addressed since and I would like to, myself, apologize to everybody down here," Kiffin said in early December news conference. “We are extremely excited about this. We haven’t been to a bowl game in three years and it was a long two years and our players are really excited. They don’t know much about this bowl game having not been here before or SC not been here for a number of years. We talked to our kids about it and went ahead and had a good practice. We’re excited for the matchup, playing a team that has done a phenomenal job. We’re excited for a great week down here at the Sun Bowl.”

[JPhillips]

El Paso is a shitty city.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

El Paso is a shitty city.

But if it didn't host a bowl game then Kiffie's choices would have been Vegas (Maaco), San Fran (Kraft Fight Hunger) and Albuquerque (New Mexico).

I'll give you Vegas but the other two seem like equally bad/worse bowl destinations for USC than what they got. Then again, San Antonio & San Diego probably wouldn't have excited his troops either.

Don't like going to El Paso, win some f'n games I guess.

[Buccaneer]

Why apologize for speaking the truth? El Paso is one of the shittiest cities in the country.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

But if it didn't host a bowl game then Kiffie's choices would have been Vegas (Maaco), San Fran (Kraft Fight Hunger) and Albuquerque (New Mexico).

I'll give you Vegas but the other two seem like equally bad/worse bowl destinations for USC than what they got. Then again, San Antonio & San Diego probably wouldn't have excited his troops either.

Don't like going to El Paso, win some f'n games I guess.

That's pretty much the whole of it

SI

[jbergey22]

Cant believe a Lane Kiffin coached squad would lack class considering how he is

Great recruiter but dont let him talk or coach a team.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

El Paso is a shitty city.

Marty Robbins disagrees.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Don't like going to El Paso, win some f'n games I guess.

Nail on the head.

It's a shame. I know from following the recruiting wars that these kids USC has are mostly very good kids, and I respect Pat Haden as the AD at USC.

But Kiffin might be the worst human being in college football. He is a shameful representative of the game and of humanity altogether, and it's awful that he becomes the role model for these kids.

Even though as a UCLA fan, I would love for Kiffin to remain because I am pretty sure given time he will bury the Trojans program so deep it will remain irrelevant for several seasons after he is gone, as a football fan I can't wait for him to be shown the door and for Haden to go hire a real coach.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Why apologize for speaking the truth? El Paso is one of the shittiest cities in the country.

Because truth has its place. And so does class.

[Chief Rum]

Speaking of UCLA and bowl games, if you want to see a fun high-scoring affair, check out the Holiday Bowl tonight on ESPN at 6:45 p.m. PDT.

Baylor has the #1 offense and 2nd worst defense in FBS. UCLA also has a Top 25 offense. The defense is decent, but it will struggle against Baylor.

Over/under is 81, lol.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Speaking of UCLA and bowl games, if you want to see a fun high-scoring affair, check out the Holiday Bowl tonight on ESPN at 6:45 p.m. PDT.

Baylor has the #1 offense and 2nd worst defense in FBS. UCLA also has a Top 25 offense. The defense is decent, but it will struggle against Baylor.

Over/under is 81, lol.

Yeah Baylor runs a fast paced no huddle as well. I believe the total on the Baylor/Oklahoma State game this year was around 89.

Hard to take an over that high.

Ill probably just take your UCLA team because atleast they will try on defense.

I know some people like that kind of scoring but I dont really care for it all that much. Seems like the NBA or Arena football to me.

[Logan]

I just saw the line at 82.5 after opening at 74.

[Buccaneer]

My son has been texting me all morning talking up the holiday bowl. He is very much looking forward to a shoot out.

[JPhillips]

When I was on tour we stayed in El Paso for a night. The hotel shared a parking lot with a strip club and there was no cover with your room key. Pretty much summed up the whole city.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Much as I despise Kiffy, I think the thing I really took away from that is how relatively unappetizing most of the potential destinations for Pac10 teams seem.

I'm certainly not dogging, say, San Diego as a December destination. We had snow flurries here last night, SD sounds pretty good right about now ... but I don't live on the west coast either.

Do the WA/OR schools actually get excited about a trip to San Fran? Or the AZ/SoCal schools about a trip to San Diego? I'd expect something akin to the reaction that SEC/ACC schools have about going to Nashville -- not as bad as Shreveport or Boise, but not Miami or New Orleans either.

Kinda seemed to me that -- from the standpoint of being a really fun destination type thing -- it was sort of Rose Bowl or nothing. And that sorta surprised me, I hadn't thought much about what all the Pac team bowl ties were in a while.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Much as I despise Kiffy, I think the thing I really took away from that is how relatively unappetizing most of the potential destinations for Pac10 teams seem.

I'm certainly not dogging, say, San Diego as a December destination. We had snow flurries here last night, SD sounds pretty good right about now ... but I don't live on the west coast either.

Do the WA/OR schools actually get excited about a trip to San Fran? Or the AZ/SoCal schools about a trip to San Diego? I'd expect something akin to the reaction that SEC/ACC schools have about going to Nashville -- not as bad as Shreveport or Boise, but not Miami or New Orleans either.

Kinda seemed to me that -- from the standpoint of being a really fun destination type thing -- it was sort of Rose Bowl or nothing. And that sorta surprised me, I hadn't thought much about what all the Pac team bowl ties were in a while.

Yeah, the Pac 12 bowl tie ins have long been a bone of contention among conference fans, saying conference prestige-wise, we deserve better bowls, destinations and matchups, and more of a presence on New Year's Day and after.

I do think that a lot of it, though, is that we live near the cities people from further away would like to go to. Most people in other parts of the country would welcome trips to LA, SD, Vegas or SF right now. But, yeah, like you say, for us here, it's like the Nashville trip for the SEC.

Getting a tie in to the Alamo Bowl last year helps and is the first big bowl move by Larry Scott since he took over as conference commissioner. I guess we'll see if he has plans to further that process along some.

[MrBug708]

I'll be at the game tonight! Chief, u can probably get tix cheap last minute too