[Husker] Big XII gets shafted by BCS

Mon Dec 12 12:57:09 CST 2011

Last week, here was the story from Virginia:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2011/dec/05/virginia-tech-ticket-office-says-sugar-bowl-intere-ar-1516078/

"The phones at the Virginia Tech Ticket Office have been on fire since they opened Monday morning, and everybody's got sweet thoughts on their mind.
The Hokies get an allotment of 17,500 tickets, but Sandy Smith, who 
runs the ticket office, says at this pace they won't last long.
"The response we've heard from our fans is that they're really 
looking forward to making this trip.  I think that they're enthusiastic 
because they've been to the Orange Bowl for a couple of times in a row 
and this is something new and different,” said Smith.
Smith says the last time he saw fans get this amped up for the bowl 
game was in 1999 when the Hokies played for the National Championship."

Now that we've got the fantasy version out of the way, here's reality:

"Virginia Tech's athletic department announced today that it has sold 
9,337 of its 17,500 tickets for the Sugar Bowl game against Michigan.

And it seems Tech is concerned about the lukewarm response. From a school news release today:
Over the years, Virginia Tech has earned the reputation of being a football 
program that enjoys a strong following to bowl games. In order to 
maintain that recognition, the Athletics Department is asking Hokie fans that cannot make this year’s Allstate Sugar Bowl to consider purchasing proxy tickets. Tech Director of Athletics Jim Weaver, head football 
coach Frank Beamer, and the entire football coaching staff, will each be purchasing a pair of proxy tickets in order to support this initiative."

http://www.freep.com/article/20111212/SPORTS06/111212035/Amid-slow-Sugar-Bowl-sales-Virginia-Tech-asks-fans-buy-tickets-donate?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Sports

Because teams are required to guarantee that their entire allotment of tickets will be sold, the Sugar Bowl doesn't really care whether Virginia Tech sells them all or not.  But it does raise the question as to why the Hokies were chosen in the first place.

Mike Jaixen
http://huskermike.blogspot.com
http://www.cornnation.com

________________________________
 From: David Strong <gobigredlist at gmail.com>
To: Mike Jaixen <mikejaixen at yahoo.com> 
Cc: Andy Knipp <andy at knipp.com>; "husker at tssi.com" <husker at tssi.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, December 6, 2011 12:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Husker] Big XII gets shafted by BCS

Mike...I don't disagree with anything you say.  From a football perspective, Boise is above VT (imho).  But the football perspective is irrelevant.

You may have some valid points about the business perspective, but all that matters is the opinion of the selection committee.  Maybe there are more VT alumni on the committee than anyone else..who knows what they might define as criteria for their "business decision"?  Maybe they like VT's colors better than BSU's.  Maybe their biggest sponsors wanted VT.   I'm just using that as an example because they can choose who they want for any reason they want.  They don't need any justification, business or otherwise, but for some reason that we may not be privy too, they probably have some good business reasons for their choice.  After all, they are in it to make a profit.

Dave

On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 12:33 PM, Mike Jaixen <mikejaixen at yahoo.com> wrote:

Even with that clarification, I still think Boise State got shafted by the BCS. True, the bowls have the option to pick whomever they wish for those at-large spots as long as they are ranked in the top 14.  So in that light:  yes, the Sugar Bowl had the right to not select Boise State.  (I'm using the Sugar Bowl as the problem child, because the lineups for the Rose and Orange were pretty much predetermined, and the Fiesta put together a primo matchup of Okie State and Stanford.)
>
>
>But I don't think that the Sugar Bowl chose wisely.  Virginia Tech's resume is actually worse than Boise State.  In Sagarin's rankings, Virginia Tech did not defeat anybody ranked in the top 30.  Nobody.  (Boise has a victory over Georgia.)  So from a football perspective, Boise is more deserving.
>
>
>And from a business perspective, Virginia Tech has a history of not bringing fans to bowl games.  Of course, many of these examples are to the Orange Bowl, so Hokie fans may find New Orleans a welcome alternative.  It's amazing how unattractive the Orange Bowl has become in recent years as travel costs have gone up.  That's the only explanation I can come up with for why football fans don't want to spend New Years in South Florida.  Meanwhile, as I recall, Boise State fans have flooded Phoenix in the past.  I imagine they'd head to New Orleans en masse as well.
>
>
>But yes, the Sugar Bowl has the right to pick who they want.  I just don't see any evidence that justifies their selection of Virginia Tech over Boise State.
>
> 
>Mike Jaixen
>http://huskermike.blogspot.com
>http://www.cornnation.com
>
>
>________________________________
> From: David Strong <gobigredlist at gmail.com>
>To: Andy Knipp <andy at knipp.com> 
>Cc: husker at tssi.com 
>Sent: Tuesday, December 6, 2011 11:15 AM
>Subject: Re: [Husker] Big XII gets shafted by BCS
> 
>I know I post this all the time but I can't help it.  This BCS thing just
>chaps me so much.  No, Boise State did not get shafted.  Nobody ever gets
>shafted in this thing because the selection criteria is so misunderstood.
>People continue to believe that the best teams, the teams with the best
>records, etc etc should be chosen for bowl games.  That is a false believe,
>that is not the selection criteria for the games.  There are 2 selection
>criteria for the games:
>
>1. the AQ slots
>2. the teams that make the most business sense, in the opinion of the
>sponsors, to invite.
>
>Boise State did not fit either of these criteria and they were not
>invited.  They were not shafted, they just didn't fit.  These are the same
>criteria that were used to include Virginia Tech...they fit the selection
>criteria.
>
>It is not about pairing the best teams, rewarding the best teams,
 best
>records, most accomplishments, etc.  It is about money. Every year someone
>says a certain team got screwed because they were "better" than a team that
>got selected.  No they didn't.  Who is better or who had a better season is
>not why a team gets selected.
>
>Dave
>
>On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 10:02 AM, Andy Knipp <andy at knipp.com> wrote:
>
>> Actually I thought Boise State got shafted. They are ranked #7 with only 1
>> loss and yet they are stuck in a Bowl in Vegas (OK that works) with a 6-6
>> Arizona State team. What will the line be on that ? > 50 ?
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: husker-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:husker-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf
>> Of
>> Mike Nolan
>> Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 10:15 AM
>> To: husker at tssi.com
>> Subject: [Husker] Big XII gets shafted by BCS
>>
>> Aside from an interesting #3 vs #4 matchup in the Fiesta Bowl,
>> (first team to 100 wins?) the Big XII got shafted big-time by the
>> BCS this year.
>>
>> The ACC got two teams into BCS bowls for the first time in conference
>> history while the Big XII only got one.
>>
>> Virginia Tech's pairing against Michigan better sell a lot of begniets
>> to Hokies fans in New Orleans, there's really no other good explanation
>> for having a school that lost badly to Clemson not once but twice,
>> by 23-3 and 38-10 margins, in a BCS bowl.
>> --
>> Mike Nolan
>>
>>
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