Blackhawk33
Well-Known Member
Now that the Big Ten has finished playing their share of the bowl bonanza, let’s take a look at exactly how they have done. Here are all the bowl games involving top 25 ranked teams played thus far:
18 TCU vs Louisiana Tech. 18 TCU wins by 7.
7 Boise St vs Arizona St. 7 Boise St wins by 32.
21 Southern Mississippi vs Nevada. 21 Southern Mississippi wins by 7.
24 Texas vs California. 24 Texas wins by 11.
12 Baylor vs Washington. 12 Baylor wins by 11.
14 Oklahoma vs Iowa. 14 Oklahoma wins by 17.
25 Auburn vs Virginia. 25 Auburn wins by 19.
19 Houston vs 22 Penn St. 19 Houston wins by 16.
16 Georgia vs 17 Michigan St. 17 Michigan St wins by 3. UPSET
9 South Carolina vs 20 Nebraska. 9 South Carolina wins by 17.
5 Oregon vs 10 Wisconsin. 5 Oregon wins by 7.
3 Oklahoma St vs 4 Stanford. 3 Oklahoma St wins by 3.
11 Virginia Tech vs 13 Michigan. 13 Michigan wins by 3. UPSET
Notice out of 13 games, only two were upsets. Of the two upsets, both were provided by Big Ten teams.
Out of the six bowl games involving top 25 ranked teams and a Big Ten team, the Big Ten team played a higher ranked team in all six.
The Big Ten’s overall bowl record is 4-6.
What does all of this mean? I think it means the Big Ten is getting unfair bowl matchups.(NS,S) That has been the way it has been for a while now, I know, but I think it is getting to the point of ridiculous. It’s getting to the point where we, the customers, are losing big time in the entertainment value department. I think most would agree that the bowl season would look a lot better if it went something like this:
1 vs 2
3 vs 4
5 vs 6
7 vs 8
9 vs 10
And so on…
In this case, according to the rankings I’m using from espn.com, anyway, the Big Ten top 25 bowl lineup would look something like this:
9 South Carolina vs 10 Wisconsin
13 Michigan vs 14 Oklahoma
17 Michigan St vs 18 TCU
19 Houston vs 20 Nebraska
21 Southern Miss vs 22 Penn St
With this schedule, I like the Big Ten’s chances, and EVERYBODY gets a fair shake. You can argue with the rankings all you want, but you can’t argue with how they got there.
Obviously, in order to have something like this, where we get even bowl matchups across the board, we would have to do away with conference tie-ins all together. A lot of people will be against that, because “that is the way it has always beenâ€. But nothing else in college football is “the way it has always beenâ€, so why not make this one improvement that will make the customer happy?
I realize that this scenario is very unlikely considering the amount of money currently being made by the top dogs under the current system, but we can at least put the effort forth to think “what if†or “why not�
Again, this would mean Iowa would get crappier bowls than they are used to against crappier opponents than they are used to, but Iowa doesn’t deserve to play someone with less crappiness just because they have awesome fans. No Big Ten team deserves this. It just ends up hurting them in the end, and the entire Big Ten conference. Or at least the perception of the conference, which, given the current system, means everything.
18 TCU vs Louisiana Tech. 18 TCU wins by 7.
7 Boise St vs Arizona St. 7 Boise St wins by 32.
21 Southern Mississippi vs Nevada. 21 Southern Mississippi wins by 7.
24 Texas vs California. 24 Texas wins by 11.
12 Baylor vs Washington. 12 Baylor wins by 11.
14 Oklahoma vs Iowa. 14 Oklahoma wins by 17.
25 Auburn vs Virginia. 25 Auburn wins by 19.
19 Houston vs 22 Penn St. 19 Houston wins by 16.
16 Georgia vs 17 Michigan St. 17 Michigan St wins by 3. UPSET
9 South Carolina vs 20 Nebraska. 9 South Carolina wins by 17.
5 Oregon vs 10 Wisconsin. 5 Oregon wins by 7.
3 Oklahoma St vs 4 Stanford. 3 Oklahoma St wins by 3.
11 Virginia Tech vs 13 Michigan. 13 Michigan wins by 3. UPSET
Notice out of 13 games, only two were upsets. Of the two upsets, both were provided by Big Ten teams.
Out of the six bowl games involving top 25 ranked teams and a Big Ten team, the Big Ten team played a higher ranked team in all six.
The Big Ten’s overall bowl record is 4-6.
What does all of this mean? I think it means the Big Ten is getting unfair bowl matchups.(NS,S) That has been the way it has been for a while now, I know, but I think it is getting to the point of ridiculous. It’s getting to the point where we, the customers, are losing big time in the entertainment value department. I think most would agree that the bowl season would look a lot better if it went something like this:
1 vs 2
3 vs 4
5 vs 6
7 vs 8
9 vs 10
And so on…
In this case, according to the rankings I’m using from espn.com, anyway, the Big Ten top 25 bowl lineup would look something like this:
9 South Carolina vs 10 Wisconsin
13 Michigan vs 14 Oklahoma
17 Michigan St vs 18 TCU
19 Houston vs 20 Nebraska
21 Southern Miss vs 22 Penn St
With this schedule, I like the Big Ten’s chances, and EVERYBODY gets a fair shake. You can argue with the rankings all you want, but you can’t argue with how they got there.
Obviously, in order to have something like this, where we get even bowl matchups across the board, we would have to do away with conference tie-ins all together. A lot of people will be against that, because “that is the way it has always beenâ€. But nothing else in college football is “the way it has always beenâ€, so why not make this one improvement that will make the customer happy?
I realize that this scenario is very unlikely considering the amount of money currently being made by the top dogs under the current system, but we can at least put the effort forth to think “what if†or “why not�
Again, this would mean Iowa would get crappier bowls than they are used to against crappier opponents than they are used to, but Iowa doesn’t deserve to play someone with less crappiness just because they have awesome fans. No Big Ten team deserves this. It just ends up hurting them in the end, and the entire Big Ten conference. Or at least the perception of the conference, which, given the current system, means everything.
