The Bowl Thread

[olafberserker]

What was Boise State's strength of schedule the year they beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl?   West Virginia's the year they beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl?

I have no idea what those team's SOS were, but neither of those teams lost to a 4-8 bottom-feeder in the Big Ten.  Boise State was undefeated and WVU's lone-loss was to the #3 team in the country.  Both of those squads had much better resumes than NIU does.

Trust me. I'd rather see an Orange Bowl matchup of Oklahoma vs. Florida State, but why play in the FBS (or whatever it's called) if your a team like Kent State or Northern Illinois and you have no shot at play in the big game (s)?

I get the conundrum, but what incentive is it for teams who do actually play a worthwhile schedule?  Why not just schedule scrub after scrub so you can go undefeated?

I recall people saying those teams didn't belong on the same field as OU or UGA in those years.  I think there was another mid major a couple of years ago.

and that's fine, but then I don't think we should use the "they don't play anyone" argument then.

[TBayXXXVII]

Then how can you make this statement: "herbstreit is fired up about NIU making it, and rightfully so.  good thing the system is going out the window next year."  Florida State's only signature win is Clemson... who's only signature win is... TBD?  Louisville doesn't have any wins vs ranked opponents either.  Kent State and Northern Illinois have more combined wins against top 25 teams (2) than Florida State, Clemson, and Louisville (1) combined.

louisville doesnt have much of a case either.

I'm not disagreeing with that either, but the point still remains that Kent and NIU have 2 wins against ranked opponents when they played them and Florida State and Clemson only have 1.  Plus, the ACC isn't really all that much better than the Big East.  The Big East was 4-3 against them this year in head-to-head matchups.

[GameTime]

I'm not disagreeing with that either, but the point still remains that Kent and NIU have 2 wins against ranked opponents when they played them and Florida State and Clemson only have 1.  Plus, the ACC isn't really all that much better than the Big East.  The Big East was 4-3 against them this year in head-to-head matchups.

so whats the issue?  i have issues with teams such as NIU getting BCS bids over teams such as okla, uga, txA&M, lsu.  im sure there are a couple more but im from the southeast.  clemson doesnt have much of a case.  FSU does simply because the ACC is still stronger than BE, which is stronger than the MAC (off the top of my i think).

could NIU beat fsu?  could kent st beat louisville?  sure, and its magnified in a bowl game.   but do we really think NIU is a 1 loss team in the SEC or even ACC?

[Dolorous Jason]

Louisville and NIU are going to get poleaxed.

[TBayXXXVII]

I'm not disagreeing with that either, but the point still remains that Kent and NIU have 2 wins against ranked opponents when they played them and Florida State and Clemson only have 1.  Plus, the ACC isn't really all that much better than the Big East.  The Big East was 4-3 against them this year in head-to-head matchups.

so whats the issue?  i have issues with teams such as NIU getting BCS bids over teams such as okla, uga, txA&M, lsu.  im sure there are a couple more but im from the southeast.  clemson doesnt have much of a case.  FSU does simply because the ACC is still stronger than BE, which is stronger than the MAC (off the top of my i think).

could NIU beat fsu?  could kent st beat louisville?  sure, and its magnified in a bowl game.   but do we really think NIU is a 1 loss team in the SEC or even ACC?

My only issue was that you initially singled out NIU and Kent saying that you don't like them being in a BCS game.  Nor did you initially mention anything about Florida State, Louisville, or Clemson.  My only point was that while FSU is ranked 3rd in the country, they're resume isn't all that impressive either.  The only ranked team they beat was Clemson.  I think that if NIU or Kent were in the ACC, I think both would be 8 win teams.  In the SEC, no.  The ACC isn't really much better than the Big East.  Both NIU and Kent would be 9-win teams in the Big East.

[TBayXXXVII]

Louisville and NIU are going to get poleaxed.

Louisville, yes.  NIU will probably lose, but it will be close.  They might even win.  Florida Stat's home field advantage will surely help FSU as well.

[bucsquad]

Well that was an easy, quick score for Nevada.

[bucsquad]

These RBs are looking good especially for arizona.

[dexmonkey]

this game is really entertaining. all offense and no defense. will definately be the opposite of the bama ND game.

[Biggs3535]

Sweet Geebus, what a game to kick off bowl season.

[Dolorous Jason]

So it appears the days of the "Desert Swarm" are over ?

[bucsquad]

Wow Nevada you blew that.

[bucsquad]

UCF starts off nice, bortles looks good.

[Biggs3535]

The conference Northern Illinois won has started off 0-2 in the bowls.

[TheAman]

My god.  Brutal decision there from Western Kentucky.