[Husker] Tom Dienhart's bowl projections

[Steve Schmadeke]

Assuming no upsets along the way (a big assumption based on past history), it looks like the consensus is that whoever finishes #1 in the BCS standings out of an Oregon versus Kansas State matchup will also determine Notre Dame and Oklahoma's fate.

If those two move on to the championship game, the bowl that would have otherwise invited the #1 team will get first choice, followed by the bowl that would have invited the #2 team.

The general belief is that Notre Dame will be the first choice as replacement team, which sounds reasonable to me.

It also seems reasonable for Oklahoma to be the next choice for both bowls as well.  If the Fiesta Bowl gets Notre Dame, a Nebraska-Oklahoma matchup in the Rose Bowl will likely sell the most tickets and will also get the most viewer interest of the other potential opponents for Nebraska.

If the Rose Bowl gets Notre Dame, the Fiesta Bowl would be reasonable in taking Oklahoma as the in-conference replacement for Kansas State.

What was interesting was the next choice.  The Fiesta Bowl gets first choice this year once the replacement teams are selected. Most of the projections I've seen have Texas A&M going into that slot, leaving the loser of Georgia-Alabama out of the BCS this year.  I do think that it would be a reasonable choice, both geographically and historically as well if it turns into a Big XII grudge match.

I do think that the Rose Bowl would take another Pac-12 team if one remained eligible, but I think that if Oregon runs the table against Stanford, Oregon State and the winner of UCLA-USC as required for this scenario, none of those three teams will be ranked high enough in the BCS to be eligible as an at-large replacement team.

On Nov 13, 2012, at 1:00 PM, Mike Nolan <nolan at tssi.com> wrote:

> BTN writer Tom Deinhart has Nebraska vs Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl, too.
> --
> Mike Nolan
> 
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