Nobody wants to go to Dallas. Cotton Bowl lost relevance when the Southwest Conference merged with the Big Eight to make the Big 12.
Did they ever spend the millions of dollars it would have taken to make the Cotton Bowl not look like a Longest Yard setting?
Washington beat Cal by 14…to my everlasting shame.
The disappearance of the old SWC caused a huge ripple effect…not only did the Cotton Bowl fade to a lesser-tier bowl, but it caused the Big 8 to become the Big 12, and the SEC to split into 2 divisions. And IIRC some of its teams went to the WAC, which got too big and spun off the Mountain West Conference.
Hard to fathom how this all happened…and even though I’ve never lived in Texas, it all seems kind of sad to lose all that history & tradition.
Wasn’t it at least partially precipitated by SMU getting the NCAA “death penalty” over program violations?
Well, I see the Cotton Bowl returning to prominence the next time the BCS is revamped.
The city has spent some money on the stadium, but mainly to keep UT-OU there. Not updating so much as maintaining and some expansion. The city wouldn’t give the kind of help desired for Jerry Jones to build the new Cowboy’s Stadium in Fair Park, so he’s going out to Arlington, where the Cotton Bowl will move.
So that should do something for it.
I’m a man!! I’m 40 (and then some)!!! I can take it!!!
That’s garbage! And the hampsters who posted it are garbage! There’s a reason I don’t read the boards! Makes me want to puke.
(I can do this all day. Except for this whole “class” thing.)
The whole concept of BCS is flawed. It is like the NCAA basketball tourney that if you win 20 games ,you are likely in. In football its heavily weighted to losses. Therefore out of conference scheduling has become a joke. Ohio State could be first in 2 conferences this year, The Big Ten and the MAC. A few years ago teams touted how difficult their schedules were. Now ,no one apologizes for the weak teams they play.
SEC is tough now ,but don’t think you have cracked the code for eternal power. Not long ago the Pac 10 was king. A few years ago Florida, Florida State and Miami dominated. Before that Notre dame . Penn State and Pitt were powerhouses. Every school is in jeopardy . If they lose their coach or get a NCAA violation it all ends quickly.
'Tis the season!!! That’s right, we start the bowl season THIS WEEK. The slate of games is as follows:
Poinsettia Bowl — Utah v. Navy. Will the triple option still go without Paul Johnson? Can Utah shake off their heartbreaking loss to BYU and take it to Navy?
New Orleans Bowl — FAU v. Memphis. Watch FAU in its first ever bowl appearance! Can these teams combine for 700+ passing yards?
Papajohns.com Bowl — Cincinnati v. Southern Miss — Will the Bearcats show up? Will this be the slaughter the experts are predicting?
New Mexico Bowl — New Mexico v. Nevada — Will the pistol option light up the scoreboard and overwhelm a struggling New Mexico?
Las Vegas Bowl — BYU v. UCLA — Can UCLA end the season (sans coach) on a good note by beating a hot BYU team?
Hawaii Bowl — East Carolina v. Boise State — Last year, Oklahoma. This year? East Carolina. What will happen as Conference USA clashes with the WAC in front of eleven fans?!
Thoughts on these bowls? Impressions? Anybody pulling for anybody or just biding time until the bigger bowls?
In other related news, Michigan hires Rich Rodriguez! I think it’s a freaking great hire. IMO he’s a lot better coach than old “Do Les with More” Miles. And it’s a definite upgrade from boring Lloyd Carr. I think Coach Rod will have Big Blue humming in a few years.
Well, lessee… I generally root for service academies; I have a friend who graduated from FAU; and I have to pull for the Pac-10 (although rooting for UCLA makes me gag). So that covers my bowl assignments for this week.
Bowl season (the most wonderful time of the year) is upon us…
And in the jsc1953 Conference Bowl Scorecard™, the MWC takes an early lead with 6 points. Everybody else is tied for second, with zero, and the Independents (ie, Navy) are bringing up the rear with -3.
So, how we coming here? I know that Michigan State gave the ball away too much and lost to Boston College, which kind of surprised me because I thought BC was vastly over-rated.
Oregon State was able to get past Maryland even though Maryland dominated the early parts of the game and looked as if they might actually kill the Beaver’s starting QB.
Also, neither Central Michigan or Purdue has a defense.
What else has happened?
Well there was that bonkers play in the Holiday Bowl when a Texas grad assistant actually touched a live ball. Which ultimately resulted in Arizona State actually scoring. (I was thinking, gosh, if ASU wins this game, they’ll lynch that kid!) Then it turns out he’s actually Mack Brown’s stepson! Delicious!
Also, Boise State tried to mount a comeback against a MOTIVATED East Carolina team. Ultimately, futile. Somebody forgot to tell East Carolina they were supposed to get blown out by last year’s media darling. Oh wait, everybody told them that. That’s why they were so motivated. Whoops!
And yes, there was that Purdue - Central Michigan game. When Central Michigan came roaring back, it was unbelievable. Purdue did everything in their power to screw up their lead. I was just upset that it didn’t go into overtime. It could have ended up 222-221.
[nitpickmode]Um, no, no game can go for three overtimes and end in a one point victory[/nitpickmode] 
The Holiday Bowl was a showcase for some uuuuugly football, with the ball being flung around with reckless abandon, and two, count 'em two roughing the kicker calls. Rudy Carpenter had a tendency, when under pressure (which he was, constantly) to close his eyes and fling the ball randomly.
The Mountain West Conference is 4-0, and leading the jsc1953 Conference Bowl Scorecard. The Pac-10 is still mired in last place, not helped much by their #3 team (Oregon State) managing to whip the ACC’s #7 team (Maryland).
I was at that game yesterday (daughter goes to Maryland.) If by early parts of the game you mean the first five minutes or so, I agree. Other than that, it was fairly depressing, and the score was only as close as it turned out because Oregon State seemed to consistently screw up right at the point of scoring.
You are right of course. I just wanted to use 222 for historical reasons. I probably should have said 222-220. 
SEC fan here.
The SEC is currently 4-0, but holding on very tenuously, as Arkansas is getting thumped (in their defense, they are the SEC-6 playing against Big12-2)*, Tennessee (SEC-4) is holding on against Wisconsin (Big10-3 or 4), and Florida (SEC-3) is facing a much more motivated Michigan (Big10-3 or 4) than the one that played their first 2 games.
- Most of the placements that I put in parenthesis are debatable, which is why I brought it up.
Let’s see the algorithm (or results thereof so far).
Anybody want to weigh in on the Conference rankings? I’m looking primarily at rankings, then at Conference record and then at when they were picked for their bowl game. In most cases, I don’t know what order they were picked, but I can’t place Missouri over Kansas, just because some people thought that they would bring more money to their bowl.
I’m ranking the SEC teams thusly (although i won’t argue the last 3 too vigorously):
1-LSU
2-Georgia
3-Florida
4-Tennessee
5-Auburn
6-Arkansas
7-Mississippi State
8-Alabama
9-Kentucky
Tennessee held on to beat Wisconsin in a pretty damn good game. The Big 10 is doing pretty good. They are 2-3, but they have been respectable in every game they played. I think most of the talk of them being a weak conference this year should go by the wayside.
BCS very disappointing so far. USC whacked Illinois, and Georgia is in the process of whacking Hawaii. Where are all the people that wanted Hawaii in the national championship?