Rose bowl has a contract with the Pac-12, and they took Texas over Cal one year...
That had nothing to do with the Rose Bowl's tie-ins and everything to do with Texas finishing in the top 4 of the BCS standings to claim an automatic at-large bid (while the Rose Bowl lost USC to the championship game).
That had nothing to do with the Rose Bowl's tie-ins and everything to do with Texas finishing in the top 4 of the BCS standings to claim an automatic at-large bid (while the Rose Bowl lost USC to the championship game).
Which I find funny that it took a rant by Texas' coach to get them ahead of Cal, who were ahead of them and didn't lose their final game.
It's pretty obvious from the Bowl Payouts that La Tech would have turned down the Las Vegas Bowl too:
Las Vegas Bowl: $1,000,000
Independence Bowl: $1,100,000
Heart of Dallas Bowl: $1,200,000
Liberty Bowl: $1,350,000
Genius idea to suggest that they should break a contract with a power conference to offer a bid to a school from a dead conference that's going to turn them down.
I'm not thinking from a business perspective. I'm looking at it from a fans perspective. I want to see the best teams face off against one another. Throw all the insults towards me you want, I couldn't care less.
I'm not thinking from a business perspective. I'm looking at it from a fans perspective. I want to see the best teams face off against one another. Throw all the insults towards me you want, I couldn't care less.
La Tech was and that's the reason why they aren't at a bowl game.
La Tech was and that's the reason why they aren't at a bowl game.
LA Tech has refused on several occasions to play Monroe, citing their inferior nature. Playing in the Independence Bowl against ULM opens the door not only to admitting that an in-state school is, in fact on equal standing, but the possibility of losing, as the Southern Bulldogs have the worst defense in FBS.
The money doesn't matter to LA Tech, they don't get to keep all of it anyway since they're leaving the WAC. It was image they were worried about, and, hilariously, it was image they've screwed up, but in a whole different way imaginable.
"No, I never thought Northern Illinois would get selected into the BCS over the University of Oklahoma -- not in my wildest dreams," Louisiana Tech athletic director Bruce van de Velde told The Times.
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"We conferred with our administration with our football program and decided we think these are opportunities that only come around once in a while," van de Velde said. "There is a natural progression -- we've been to the Independence Bowl, we played in the Poinsettia Bowl last year and now we have an opportunity to play on January 1st -- we should take that opportunity.
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"It's the BCS that chose to take Northern Illinois over the University of Oklahoma, who could predict that?" van de Velde said.
Northern Illinois playing in a BCS bowl is completely ridiculous. There's likely 20-30 teams that are better than Northern Illinois is. How a team, that lost to the weakest Iowa team I've ever seen, can make a BCS bowl game just blows my mind. I have almost no interest in watching the orange bowl now.
Northern Illinois playing in a BCS bowl is completely ridiculous. There's likely 20-30 teams that are better than Northern Illinois is. How a team, that lost to the weakest Iowa team I've ever seen, can make a BCS bowl game just blows my mind. I have almost no interest in watching the orange bowl now.
There are a bunch of teams that are better than Wisconsin and Louisville too that aren't in BCS games. Where's the outrage of that? The same system that put those two programs in major games is the same system that put NIU in a game. And it's the same system that all the conferences involved devised to sort these things out.
The outrage over NIU seems so silly to me. (though there is little controversy about the title game this year so I suppose folks gotta ***** about something).
The BCS has never taken the top 10-12 teams and pitted them against each other -- and was never designed to.
It was built to put 1 vs. 2 and let the major conference champs fill out the other spots. Special rules were made for Notre Dame (of course) and for the smaller conferences and NIU slipped in this year because of several of those rules.
So be it.
As far as I'm concerned it is small school karma for the times better programs from lesser conferences were intentionally frozen out.
Like I said earlier, I shed no tears for Oklahoma. There is no shame losing to Kansas State this year or Notre Dame, but every team has the ultimate control on their destiny -- WIN YOUR GAMES.
Once you start losing, be it to good teams or bad teams, you lose control of your post season.
And come on -- the NIU-Iowa game was the FIRST game of the season. ... way back when Notre Dame wasn't ranked, when USC was expected to be a juggernaut, when Arkansas was in the top 10, when Penn State was going to spend an entire season getting rolled ...
It's a fake controversy, aside from the money involved the Orange Bowl doesn't matter any more than the Cotton or the Citrus (i.e. Capital One) Bowl. I doubt ESPN really give a crap if OU gets a bit more money though. It's just obvious "oh no, now our ratings will be in the crapper" whining. Especially since this way they lost the big OU fanbase to FOX who cover the Cotton Bowl.
It's a fake controversy, aside from the money involved the Orange Bowl doesn't matter any more than the Cotton or the Citrus (i.e. Capital One) Bowl. I doubt ESPN really give a crap if OU gets a bit more money though. It's just obvious "oh no, now our ratings will be in the crapper" whining. Especially since this way they lost the big OU fanbase to FOX who cover the Cotton Bowl.
I can assure you the Orange Bowl Committee & Miami Chamber of Conference cares. It was not long ago that the OB was THE glamor Bowl aside from The Granddaddy of Them All & always attracted the best matchups possible. Now they are stuck every year with the ACC/Big East & now a mid major. The BCS concept was a huge blow to the OB.
I can assure you the Orange Bowl Committee & Miami Chamber of Conference cares. It was not long ago that the OB was THE glamor Bowl aside from The Granddaddy of Them All & always attracted the best matchups possible. Now they are stuck every year with the ACC/Big East & now a mid major. The BCS concept was a huge blow to the OB.
It has more to do with the fact that the SEC and Big XII have gotten stronger since the mid 90s while the ACC and Big East have gotten weaker.
I mean, I'm sure the Orange Bowl wouldn't have objected to a Miami-Florida State game in 1998, would they?
I can assure you the Orange Bowl Committee & Miami Chamber of Conference cares. It was not long ago that the OB was THE glamor Bowl aside from The Granddaddy of Them All & always attracted the best matchups possible. Now they are stuck every year with the ACC/Big East & now a mid major. The BCS concept was a huge blow to the OB.
I agree in general but they do get the NC game this year so they can't complain too much about having a crappy 2nd matchup. And it's not like the bowl committee and Miami tourism authorities were airing their grievances on ESPN anyway.
That was their "analysts" and they didn't even mention this factor, they acted like the Orange Bowl is part of the NCAA tourney and NIU undeservedly got a shot at the championship, when in reality NIU gets a somewhat bigger payoff to play in a somewhat more prestigious exhibition game.
It's a setback for ESPN because ESPN paid a lot of money for those BCS games and the Orange Bowl is the primetime game on New Years Day.
It has more to do with the fact that the SEC and Big XII have gotten stronger since the mid 90s while the ACC and Big East have gotten weaker.
I mean, I'm sure the Orange Bowl wouldn't have objected to a Miami-Florida State game in 1998, would they?
True, but until recently, the OB's conference tie in was the old Big Eight, which pretty much assured them of a top 5 ranked Oklahoma or Nebraska, both of which brought hoardes of fans (i.e. tourist $$$) every year. Thier opponent was always a highly ranked at-large, which also brought big bucks except for the years The U (who obviously did not bring many "tourists") was the opponent.
I know it sounds like sour grapes, but I hate the fact that the Fiesta Bowl was given the Big XII tie-in, and the OB, which was always more prestigious, was saddled with the ACC & or Big East champ.
True, but until recently, the OB's conference tie in was the old Big Eight, which pretty much assured them of a top 5 ranked Oklahoma or Nebraska, both of which brought hoardes of fans (i.e. tourist $$$) every year. Thier opponent was always a highly ranked at-large, which also brought big bucks except for the years The U (who obviously did not bring many "tourists") was the opponent.
I know it sounds like sour grapes, but I hate the fact that the Fiesta Bowl was given the Big XII tie-in, and the OB, which was always more prestigious, was saddled with the ACC & or Big East champ.
I don't really disagree with any of that, except for at the time those changes happened being "stuck" with the ACC or Big East champ wasn't necessarily considered the negative it is today. But it's because of the conference restructuring and changes in bowl tie-ins that this happened, which occurred in the early 1990s prior to the BCS era. I know the fashionable, easy thing to do is blame the BCS for every problem in college football, but it came along after all that happened. Hell, check out some of the early Orange Bowl games in the BCS era:
1999: #8 Florida (SEC at-large) vs. #15 Syracuse (Big East champ, and better than that sounds because McNabb was the QB)
2000: #4 Alabama (SEC champ) vs. #8 Michigan (Big 10 at-large) - think the minded having that game?
2001: championship game (Oklahoma vs. Florida St.)
The run of crappy Orange Bowl games didn't really start until about 2007 or so. I suppose the one aspect of the BCS system that could really be blamed for that is the switch to the double-hosting model where they added the 5th game, because that led to other bowls being able to replace their conference champions in the BCS championship game instead of those teams ending up in another bowl such as Alabama in the 2000 Orange Bowl.
There are a bunch of teams that are better than Wisconsin and Louisville too that aren't in BCS games. Where's the outrage of that? The same system that put those two programs in major games is the same system that put NIU in a game. And it's the same system that all the conferences involved devised to sort these things out.
Kind of agree but those teams won major conferences and automatic bids therefore they had to be included. Plus, both those teams would roll over NIU. But yeah I'm not a fan of the Big East getting an automatic bid. That being said, any team that wins the Big East played a much tougher schedule than a non-major conference team did.
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The outrage over NIU seems so silly to me.
I guess if you don't want to see competitive bowls games then it would seem silly.
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Like I said earlier, I shed no tears for Oklahoma. There is no shame losing to Kansas State this year or Notre Dame, but every team has the ultimate control on their destiny -- WIN YOUR GAMES.
Once you start losing, be it to good teams or bad teams, you lose control of your post season.
I don't get this attitude at all. Punishing teams because they actually played good teams instead of a bunch of pushovers is completely wrong imo. OU lost two games this year and they were to two top 5 teams. NIU loses to a garbage team and only beats 3 teams that even have a winning record yet they get in a BCS bowl. That makes no sense at all.
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And come on -- the NIU-Iowa game was the FIRST game of the season. ... way back when Notre Dame wasn't ranked, when USC was expected to be a juggernaut, when Arkansas was in the top 10, when Penn State was going to spend an entire season getting rolled ...
Nothing you said there changes the fact that they lost to the worst Iowa team I've ever seen. Iowa was just flat out bad this year and no BCS bowl team should've lost to that team whether it was the first game of the year or not.
Me too. I also love that everyone roots for the underdog in college basketball (was anyone other than Duke or UConn fans rooting for those respective teams over Butler in the championship?) but if a mid-major school in football makes a BCS Bowl it's the worst injustice ever.
