[Husker] 12th game and 6-6 (fwd)

[Mike Nolan]

> Personally,  I think 7-5 should be the minimum record for bowl  
> qualification.  The NCAA didn't have trouble filling the bowl slots, the  major conferences 
> (like ours) did.  There are plenty of 7, 8, and sometimes  even 9-win teams 
> in minor conferences every year that sit home for the holidays  because 6-5 or 
> 6-6 teams from the BCS conferences are getting guaranteed  berths.

That was true in 2003, when a 10 win team from the MAC stayed home, 
but was not the case last year.  As I recall, after Clemson and SC were
involved in a brawl and removed themselves from bowl consideration, there
was exactly ONE 1-A team left that was bowl eligible but was not invited 
to a bowl.

That situation was created in part because Northwestern and Michigan State
both had 12th games in Hawaii that they both lost to lower their record
to 6-6, which was NOT bowl-eligible last year since it was not a 12 game
season for everyone.

Here's what the NCAA website has to say about bowl eligibility and the
12 game season:

     The Board also discussed, but did not reach a decision on how 
     the 12-game season affects bowl eligibility. Board members did 
     indicate their support for preserving the current legislation 
     that defines bowl eligibility as a team with a winning record. 
     During the 12-game seasons in 2002 and 2003, temporary legislation 
     was passed to allow teams with a 6-6 record to be bowl-eligible, 
     but that legislation has sunset.

In other words, the issue isn't settled yet.  My guess is someone will 
look at the number of teams in Division 1-A and the number of bowl games, 
and realize that the math will require at least a few 6-6 teams to be 
bowl eligible in order to ensure that they can fill out the bowl schedule.

My guess is that 6-6 will be declared to be bowl-eligible under some
conditions.  Given the continual battle between the haves and the
have-nots, it'll probably be a rule that 6-6 teams are bowl eligible
for conference tie-in slots.  Since virtually all of the bowl slots have
conference tie-ins (I think that's a requirement for a new bowl game),
it means we could see a 6-6 team from the Big 10 bump a 9 or 10 win team 
from the MAC off the bowl schedule again.  

Here's a link to a lengthy story on the NCAA revisions:

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=714106&page=1
--
Mike Nolan