JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Orange Bowl Bits & Pieces | Hawkeye Nation
A grab bag assortment of some thoughts I want to clean out of the noggin while they are still fresh related to the Orange Bowl, BCS bowls, Iowa football and more. I have to make room for the daily Iowa football topics we’ll be publishing between now and the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon in Chicago…some predictions below as well:
TV RATINGS: Early returns for the Iowa-Georgia Tech Orange Bowl have that game coming in around a 7.1 rating. Boise State vs TCU in the Fiesta was an 8.2. Penn State vs LSU in the Capital One on New Year’s Day was a 6.9, a really solid number for a non-BCS bowl game.
Here are some recent Orange Bowl Television ratings:
2009: Virginia Tech vs Cincinnati: 5.40 (lowest rated BCS game)
2008: Kansas vs Virginia Tech: 7.40 (Sugar was 7.0, Fiesta 7.7)
2007: Louisville vs Wake Forest: 6.98 (lowest rated BCS game)
2006: Penn State vs Florida State: 12.3 (Sugar was lowest at 9.0)
2003: USC vs Iowa: 9.7 (Sugar was lowest at 9.2)
In the last few years, the Orange has certainly taken a hit. It has a tie in with the ACC Champion if that team is not 1 or 2 in the BCS, and that has not been a ratings bonanza in the least bit. Combine that with the drop in prestige and performance from ACC members Florida State and Miami and you have seen some less than stellar television matchups.
IOWA’S TRAVELING REPUTATION: It remains intact and very strong. I spoke with a few Orange Bowl reps on this topic the day before the game and they were thrilled with what Iowa brought down. I think a few of them were even surprised on game night when an estimated 30,000 Iowa fans dominated the stadium. As Todd Brommelkamp of Voice of the Hawkeyes tweeted before the game, the attendance ‘standings’ in the stadium went as follows: 1) Iowa 2) Empty Seats 3) Georgia Tech fans.
When you factor the economy and the hideous January 5th date, which fell on a Tuesday, you are talking about a double whammy as it relates to people that would travel to the game. The announced attendance was 66,131. That was the number of tickets that were sold to the game. 35,000 of those tickets (17,500 per school) are automatically in the hopper, as each school either sells em or eats em. The majority of the lower level seating between the 20 yard lines are corporate purchased tickets. So quite a few Iowa fans got their tickets outside the University’s official allotment.
The ‘cold’ weather kept many locals away, although Miami does not have a reputation as a large ‘walk up’ local sports fan base. It was comedy seeing the nightly newscasts down there warning people to keep their pets indoors as the nighttime temps were going to dip down into the upper 30’s. I can tell you right now that our cat and dog would be outside all day if it were in the high 30’s. I guess everything is just tougher in Iowa.
NFL EXITS: We may learn on Thursday (January 7th) what Bryan Bulaga is going to do about the NFL draft. He’ll be a high pick, no lower than the second round. He would probably be taken much higher in the 2011 draft if he came back for a year and dominated the way we know that he can. The Orange Bowl was his first game at full health this year, and he looked his best, although Riley Reiff might have been the best offensive lineman on the field for that particular game as he was lined up against All American defensive end Derrick Morgan most of the night and more than held his own. Morgan has just three tackles on the night and .5 for loss. That’s just an excellent performance against a guy that ESPN Draft Analyst Todd McShay had going as the #3 pick overall in his latest mock draft before the Orange Bowl. Ferentz said during the week leading up to the game that Reiff was Iowa’s most consistent offensive line performer this year. My guess is that both Bulaga and cornerback Amari Spievey will turn pro and forgo their final years of eligibility at Iowa. (UPDATE: Since writing this, Bulaga has issued his release saying he will turn pro. Thanks for the hard work and contributions, and for waiting to make this announcement after the bowl game. That was sort of a downer last year when Shonn Greene made his announcement minutes after Iowa had won the Outback)
FOX SPORTS STINKS: As it relates to broadcasting college football games, they just flat out suck. I am sorry to use that word, but it best encapsulates my feelings on their broadcast. I was able to take in bits and pieces of the game on TV Wednesday afternoon and the number of errors that the broadcast team made were embrassing. It’s like Dick Stockton just received a media guide an hour before the game and began studying up for the broadcast at that point. Terry Stross? Broadcast partner Charles Davis dropping a Marvin McCoy reference? So many Kirk FURR-entz drops that PETA considered a late hour protest of the broadcast…Iowa’s last Rose Bowl win being 1991…that’s just a few. There were soooo many that it would be like clubbing seals at this point in time. Fox doesn’t do college football well, and ESPN does it better than anyone. It’s great that ESPN will have the BCS next year, and likely forever more.
BCS DATES: Here are future BCS schedules:
January 2011 (January 1st is a Saturday)
January 1 – Rose Bowl (Pasadena)
January 1 – Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.)
January 3 – Orange Bowl (Miami)
January 4 – Sugar Bowl (New Orleans)
January 10 – National Championship Game (Glendale, Ariz.)
January 2012 (January 1st is a Sunday)
January 2 – Rose Bowl (Pasadena)
January 2 or 3 – Sugar Bowl (New Orleans)
January 3 or 4 – Orange Bowl (Miami)
January 4 or 5 – Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.)
January 9 – National Championship Game (New Orleans)
GOD BLESS AMERICA: To continue with how much Fox Sports stinks, Chris Meyers question to Rick Stanzi about representing a way of life…what the heck kind of crap is that? That guy is brutal, always has been. He is cheeky more than he is intelligent (We kid because we care, the Hollywood Hotel crap for NASCAR events…garbage) and he made a few mistakes in the post game celebration. But his question to Rick Stanzi was tripe….Stanzi’s answer was a bit over the top too, but what was he supposed to do? You could tell after he gave the ‘USA #1!†and “If you don’t like it, leave it.†lines, and looked back at his teammates, that he knew how that came off…seeing his teammates laughing at that was a pure college moment and I got a kick out of it. Then again, I can see a few t-shirts in the offing..â€Stanzi says, If you don’t like it, leave it!†Coming to Kinnick Stadium in 2010. Are you reading this, GDR? I know that at least Charlie Daniels approved of that…and probably Lee Greenwood.
A grab bag assortment of some thoughts I want to clean out of the noggin while they are still fresh related to the Orange Bowl, BCS bowls, Iowa football and more. I have to make room for the daily Iowa football topics we’ll be publishing between now and the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon in Chicago…some predictions below as well:
TV RATINGS: Early returns for the Iowa-Georgia Tech Orange Bowl have that game coming in around a 7.1 rating. Boise State vs TCU in the Fiesta was an 8.2. Penn State vs LSU in the Capital One on New Year’s Day was a 6.9, a really solid number for a non-BCS bowl game.
Here are some recent Orange Bowl Television ratings:
2009: Virginia Tech vs Cincinnati: 5.40 (lowest rated BCS game)
2008: Kansas vs Virginia Tech: 7.40 (Sugar was 7.0, Fiesta 7.7)
2007: Louisville vs Wake Forest: 6.98 (lowest rated BCS game)
2006: Penn State vs Florida State: 12.3 (Sugar was lowest at 9.0)
2003: USC vs Iowa: 9.7 (Sugar was lowest at 9.2)
In the last few years, the Orange has certainly taken a hit. It has a tie in with the ACC Champion if that team is not 1 or 2 in the BCS, and that has not been a ratings bonanza in the least bit. Combine that with the drop in prestige and performance from ACC members Florida State and Miami and you have seen some less than stellar television matchups.
IOWA’S TRAVELING REPUTATION: It remains intact and very strong. I spoke with a few Orange Bowl reps on this topic the day before the game and they were thrilled with what Iowa brought down. I think a few of them were even surprised on game night when an estimated 30,000 Iowa fans dominated the stadium. As Todd Brommelkamp of Voice of the Hawkeyes tweeted before the game, the attendance ‘standings’ in the stadium went as follows: 1) Iowa 2) Empty Seats 3) Georgia Tech fans.
When you factor the economy and the hideous January 5th date, which fell on a Tuesday, you are talking about a double whammy as it relates to people that would travel to the game. The announced attendance was 66,131. That was the number of tickets that were sold to the game. 35,000 of those tickets (17,500 per school) are automatically in the hopper, as each school either sells em or eats em. The majority of the lower level seating between the 20 yard lines are corporate purchased tickets. So quite a few Iowa fans got their tickets outside the University’s official allotment.
The ‘cold’ weather kept many locals away, although Miami does not have a reputation as a large ‘walk up’ local sports fan base. It was comedy seeing the nightly newscasts down there warning people to keep their pets indoors as the nighttime temps were going to dip down into the upper 30’s. I can tell you right now that our cat and dog would be outside all day if it were in the high 30’s. I guess everything is just tougher in Iowa.
NFL EXITS: We may learn on Thursday (January 7th) what Bryan Bulaga is going to do about the NFL draft. He’ll be a high pick, no lower than the second round. He would probably be taken much higher in the 2011 draft if he came back for a year and dominated the way we know that he can. The Orange Bowl was his first game at full health this year, and he looked his best, although Riley Reiff might have been the best offensive lineman on the field for that particular game as he was lined up against All American defensive end Derrick Morgan most of the night and more than held his own. Morgan has just three tackles on the night and .5 for loss. That’s just an excellent performance against a guy that ESPN Draft Analyst Todd McShay had going as the #3 pick overall in his latest mock draft before the Orange Bowl. Ferentz said during the week leading up to the game that Reiff was Iowa’s most consistent offensive line performer this year. My guess is that both Bulaga and cornerback Amari Spievey will turn pro and forgo their final years of eligibility at Iowa. (UPDATE: Since writing this, Bulaga has issued his release saying he will turn pro. Thanks for the hard work and contributions, and for waiting to make this announcement after the bowl game. That was sort of a downer last year when Shonn Greene made his announcement minutes after Iowa had won the Outback)
FOX SPORTS STINKS: As it relates to broadcasting college football games, they just flat out suck. I am sorry to use that word, but it best encapsulates my feelings on their broadcast. I was able to take in bits and pieces of the game on TV Wednesday afternoon and the number of errors that the broadcast team made were embrassing. It’s like Dick Stockton just received a media guide an hour before the game and began studying up for the broadcast at that point. Terry Stross? Broadcast partner Charles Davis dropping a Marvin McCoy reference? So many Kirk FURR-entz drops that PETA considered a late hour protest of the broadcast…Iowa’s last Rose Bowl win being 1991…that’s just a few. There were soooo many that it would be like clubbing seals at this point in time. Fox doesn’t do college football well, and ESPN does it better than anyone. It’s great that ESPN will have the BCS next year, and likely forever more.
BCS DATES: Here are future BCS schedules:
January 2011 (January 1st is a Saturday)
January 1 – Rose Bowl (Pasadena)
January 1 – Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.)
January 3 – Orange Bowl (Miami)
January 4 – Sugar Bowl (New Orleans)
January 10 – National Championship Game (Glendale, Ariz.)
January 2012 (January 1st is a Sunday)
January 2 – Rose Bowl (Pasadena)
January 2 or 3 – Sugar Bowl (New Orleans)
January 3 or 4 – Orange Bowl (Miami)
January 4 or 5 – Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.)
January 9 – National Championship Game (New Orleans)
GOD BLESS AMERICA: To continue with how much Fox Sports stinks, Chris Meyers question to Rick Stanzi about representing a way of life…what the heck kind of crap is that? That guy is brutal, always has been. He is cheeky more than he is intelligent (We kid because we care, the Hollywood Hotel crap for NASCAR events…garbage) and he made a few mistakes in the post game celebration. But his question to Rick Stanzi was tripe….Stanzi’s answer was a bit over the top too, but what was he supposed to do? You could tell after he gave the ‘USA #1!†and “If you don’t like it, leave it.†lines, and looked back at his teammates, that he knew how that came off…seeing his teammates laughing at that was a pure college moment and I got a kick out of it. Then again, I can see a few t-shirts in the offing..â€Stanzi says, If you don’t like it, leave it!†Coming to Kinnick Stadium in 2010. Are you reading this, GDR? I know that at least Charlie Daniels approved of that…and probably Lee Greenwood.
