While we only remember Big 11 (which called itself the Big 9 for a while before Michigan State joined up, but felt no compunction to change when Penn State joined) vs Pac-10 or Pac-8 or PCC or whatever, the Rose Bowl used to invite the best team it could find. Alabama has won a bunch of Rose Bowls. Nebraska has already been out, so has Georgia Tech, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Washington & Jefferson, even (gulp) Notre Dame came out once.
The Tournament of Roses will make a ton of money the first time a “different” school makes it to the Rose Bowl because the novelty factor will generate a bigger group of visitors coming to Pasadena.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. This sounds like the Northwestern fans who would always get plastered in Big 10 games ('til Gary Barnett). They’d chant, “State school, state school” to make themselves feel better.
Just for the record when it came time to vote on whether or not to join the BCS the Univ of Michigan was the only one who voted AGAINST the move. UM tradition is too deep to be bought off. IMO the BCS is all hype and money and terrible for college football. A playoff is even worse (could you imagine 3 or 4 more weeks of hype and ads and corporate sponsers) as it turn one team into a winner and 107 other teams into losers. Why? Why this obsession with creating a National Champion to stand on the broken bodies of all the rest (98 of 108 that they haven’t even played)? Why not just let these kids play and enjoy themselves? Afterall, it not like they’re getting any of this money.
A nice sentiment, and actually quite appropriate for, oh, say, the 1960’s. These days, every one of the starting players at any of the major colleges is angling to get to the NFL, and cash in on his time in the ‘minor’ league NCAA. Plus, most of the major schools have cushy programs and special treatment for the athletes that participate on scholarship in football and basketball (among other sports). To call most of these kids ‘student’ athletes shows a lack of respect for the TRUE student-athletes: those thousands of kids without scholarships, not playing for major schools, who really DO try to learn AND play. As for the kids from FSU who just ‘won’ the national championship: there isn’t any decent reason they can’t be allowed to collect such accolades by tournament when their basketball brethren can (as well as EVERY other NCAA sport).
Another chant I used to hear from the Northwestern students was “that’s all right, that’s ok you will work for us one day”. That always used to crack me up.
By the way, the cheeseheads will be back again next year. (-:
Go Badgers!!!
“It’s like banging your head against a wall because it feels so good when you stop.”
(1) We had over 25 Bowl games this year. Used to be getting into a Bowl was an accomplishment. Now, it’s a 6-5 regular season record.
(2) Bowls don’t even look at records. Notre Dame at 7-4 is a much more valued commodity for financial windfall than almost any other 9-2 team in the nation, even if that 9-2 team beat the Irish that year.
(3) Until we get a playoff - like in every other sport at every other level in college athletics - college football will always be something I follow less than other sports.
(4) You argure tradition? Please… Maybe we should have them use leather helmets too.
(5) You say players are out of school too much if there was a playoff? Please… Like any of the decisions college athletic directors make for their schools have anything to do with those kinds of concerns. Bedsides, that entire part of the year involves mostly break time, unlike the early season basketball trips to Alaskan tourneys or March Madness.
