Two B1G teams to BCS?

WINthePIG

Well-Known Member
I have often wondered if having a Big Ten Championship Game would hurt the leagues chances of getting two (2) teams into BCS Bowls.

By playing this game, one of our (potentially) best teams receives another LOSS. That is, many years a 10-2 team might very well have been rewarded with a BCS bowl at-large, while the same team going 10-3 (loss in title game) might not be as attractive for the at-large spot.

The Big Ten has been very successful in qualifying TWO teams in the past. Wondering if there is any logic here?

Of course, I am absolutely jacked about this game . . . . . But, . . . . . .
 
Any teams that have at least 9 wins and are ranked in the top 14 of the BCS are eligible for an At Large bid. I do not believe the championship game has much impact to this as it is up to the bowls as far as who they want to take anyway. It some ways it can help if a Big Ten team outside the top 14 wins the championship, getting the automatic bid, and the runner up or another 9+ win team gets an at large spot.
 
Given that Michigan and Nebraska lost this past weekend, I don't think the Big Ten gets two in this year. Michigan State is just not a great draw...if they win the Big Ten, and say Wisconsin is Penn State's only loss and the Badgers are sitting there at 10-2, then its possible Wisconsin could sneak in given their fan following. Just not looking good this year.
 
It is just hard to argue for two teams in the B1G this year. And, do we really want it? I mean leaving the pecking order the way it is with only one team in the BCS would put the B1G in a decent position to have a good bowl record.
 
It will probably go to either the SEC champ loser or Pac 12 champ loser imo.
That would mean the SEC would get 3. LSU, who I think is going to win it, the SEC East Champ, who will likely get beat, and Alabama, who will probably finish the year with one loss. And they are probably better choices than a second team out of the Big 10. And then there is Houston...
 
It is just hard to argue for two teams in the B1G this year. And, do we really want it? I mean leaving the pecking order the way it is with only one team in the BCS would put the B1G in a decent position to have a good bowl record.

I don't either, but I would like to see every bowl eligible Big Ten team get a bowl bid. If the Big Ten only gets 1 team into the BCS then Northwestern may get left out of a bowl. Not that this is a big deal but I enjoy watching these bowl games when Big Ten teams are involved and to me the more the merrier.

I think Jon is right, about the only way the Big Ten gets a 2nd bid is if Penn State wins the Leaders and Wisconsin only has 2 losses. MSU has to win the Championship game to get into the BCS and that might be the case for Penn State as well with all the issues they are having.
 
I am not sure that a B1G team will be left out of a bowl. I know we were when we lost to WMU. But, if NW lost a game like that at the end of the year, they wouldn't deserve to go to a bowl either.
 
I am not sure that a B1G team will be left out of a bowl. I know we were when we lost to WMU. But, if NW lost a game like that at the end of the year, they wouldn't deserve to go to a bowl either.

The Big Ten already has 8 bowl eligible schools with Northwestern and Purdue still having a shot at getting to 6 wins. Northwestern is the most likely as they finish with 3 home games (Rice, Minnesota, and MSU). If they just win 2 of those 3 then they are bowl eligible. Purdue has an outside shot as they host Ohio State and Iowa before finishing the season at Indiana. There is an outside shot the Big Ten gets 10 teams bowl eligible.
 
Delaney is apparently in favor of the BCS dropping the 2-team limit, but I don't know why he would be. It just means that the SEC will get a 3rd team, most likely at the expense of the Big Ten even getting a 2nd team.
 
That would mean the SEC would get 3. LSU, who I think is going to win it, the SEC East Champ, who will likely get beat, and Alabama, who will probably finish the year with one loss. And they are probably better choices than a second team out of the Big 10. And then there is Houston...

There is no way this happens.

I got this off the bcs website:

"No more than two teams from a conference may be selected, regardless of whether they are automatic qualifiers or at-large selections, unless two non-champions from the same conference are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the final BCS Standings."

BCS: Qualification, eligibility and selection guidelines

LSU would have to lose the SEC championship and still be ranked either 1 or 2 in the BCS.
 
That would mean the SEC would get 3. LSU, who I think is going to win it, the SEC East Champ, who will likely get beat, and Alabama, who will probably finish the year with one loss. And they are probably better choices than a second team out of the Big 10. And then there is Houston...
Did they change the rule that puts a maximum of 2 teams from any one conference in the BCS?
 
The B10 doesn't deserve 2 teams this year. The conference is weak. We need the best teams to win their games. Sending MSU or PSU to a BCS bowl with Wisky or Nebby or whoever wins it isn't going to make the conference look stronger.
 
Delaney is apparently in favor of the BCS dropping the 2-team limit, but I don't know why he would be. It just means that the SEC will get a 3rd team, most likely at the expense of the Big Ten even getting a 2nd team.

Why would it hurt the Big Ten? The Big Ten has the most BCS bids in its history, getting a second team more often than the SEC. The SEC and B10 would be the conferences that benefit.

That said, I wouldn't mind the B10 getting only one team this year. It should help with the bowl matchups. One downside to getting the most BCS bids is it hurts the bowl matchups every year.

I wouldn't worry about a B10 team being bowl eligible but not being invited. Nowadays, there are only a couple bowl eligible teams that don't make it, and it'll more likely be a Sunbelt team over Northwestern.

And the worst bowls lose money for the B10, so missing one wouldn't be a problem anyways.
 
The B10 doesn't deserve 2 teams this year. The conference is weak. We need the best teams to win their games. Sending MSU or PSU to a BCS bowl with Wisky or Nebby or whoever wins it isn't going to make the conference look stronger.

See Kelley's comment.

Basically, what would need to happen is that an auto qualifier was ranked below number 2 from a conference and then 2 other teams from the same conference were ranked number 1 and 2.

Pretty much the only way it could have happened would have been with a conference that didn't have a championship game and there was some bizarre situation where three teams that didn't play each other ended up being undefeated.
 
Last edited:
Why would it hurt the Big Ten? The Big Ten has the most BCS bids in its history, getting a second team more often than the SEC. The SEC and B10 would be the conferences that benefit.

We have yet to see how the Big Ten having a championship game affects things, but I think it's been safe to say that in some years in the past, the Big Ten certainly benefited by NOT having the extra game.

As the OP points out, the championship game this year will certainly guarantee that the Big Ten does not get a 2nd BCS team.

It doesn't hurt the SEC because the SEC has won the last 5 national championships.
 
It doesn't hurt the SEC because the SEC has won the last 5 national championships.

Big Ten gets more teams in the BCS.

The only reason we're hurting this year is a lack of teams with zero or one loss. It doesn't have a whole lot to do with the title game.
 
SEC will get two
Big 12 will get two
Boise is getting one
Big East Champ
ACC Champ
Pac 12 Champ
Big Ten Champ....so there are nine of the ten bids...leaving one more.

Both Oregon and Stanford won't be 3rd or 4th, so I think that could be a one bid league. I think Notre Dame loses at least once more, so they are out...ACC is a one bid league, as is BCS.

So the Big Ten still has a chance...will be interesting to watch it play out.
 
using Black and Gold goggles, if PSU goes into the CCG at 11-1, and Iowa goes and runs the gtable from here on out, this would create a rematch, Iowa wins they get the auto bid to the rose bowl, PSU finishes 11-2, being PSU it would be very hard for a BCS bowl to pass on Joe Pa, now this scenario can work for any winner of the Legends by beating an undefeated PSU team, as the CC winner gets the auto bid to the rose bowl
 

Latest posts

Top