[NU Sports] B(C)S fun with stats ...

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Well I'm not the expert on NU history or Texas shutouts (though I'm glad
someone on the list is because I love stuff like that) ... but I do have a
habit of doodling during boring lectures at school and those doodles
usually concern college football around this time of the year:) ...

So for our BCS fun today, more STATZ!

So much for conference ties to bowls ...

* In the past four years (one BCS cycle), the Rose Bowl has had two visits
from Pac 10 teams, two visits from Big Ten teams and THREE visits from Big
XII teams. Only one of the four years featured the traditional Pac 10/Big
Ten matchup and that probably shouldn't have happened with USC #1 in both
polls yet out of the title game.

But other bowls haven't fared better ...

* The Fiesta Bowl (supposedly with Big XII ties) has featured as many
visits from Big Ten and Big East teams (2 each) in the past four years as
visits from Big XII teams. If you extend it to five years, you get the Pac
10 also joins the bunch with 2 visits ... and if you count Notre Dame as
part of the Big Least (as they do for other bowls), that conference takes
the Fiesta lead with 3.

* The Orange Bowl has two visits from Pac 10 teams in the four year cycle
(both USC) ... tying the Pac 10 for tops with the bowl's traditional tie
in, the ACC. The bowl's other tie-in, the Big East, has one visit in four
years.

* The only bowl that has managed to keep some semblance of tradition is the
Sugar Bowl, with four different SEC schools making visits to New Orleans
each of the past five years in the BCS. Of course, the SEC champ this year
probably wishes that cycle had been broken.

To add a footnote to our list of BCS/BA marks a few weeks back, we have
three newcomers to the mix this year. Utah, obviously, along with Big East
champ Pitt and SEC champ Auburn. VaTech is only the third ACC school to get
a bid, but they had appeared before from the Big East. Still, the ACC has
the lowest parity with three schools (FSU, Maryland and VaTech) earning BCS
bids as part of the league.

On the flip side, Cal's failure to get a bid means that the Big Ten and Big
XII are still tied in depth with eight teams from each conference appearing
in the BCS or Bowl Alliance during the past decade. The only Pac 10 teams
left out are Cal and Arizona. The Big Ten teams on the outside are
Minnesota, Indiana and MSU.

And with Texas earning the at-large berth, the Big XII now ties the Big Ten
for most overall bids with 16 each. The Big Ten mark stands at 9-6 while
the Big XII is 7-7, so a Longhorn/Sooner sweep would even the mark at 9-7
for each league. A Wolverine win gives the Big Ten the distinction of being
the only league towin 10 BCS/BA games in the decade.

Finally, if Pitt pulls off the upset, they will even the Big East's mark at
5-5 in BCS/BA games ... leaving only the ACC with a losing record (3-6
heading into the Sugar Bowl).

Let's see what the shady coaches voting in the polls can do with those
numbers!:)

GO CATS!!!
-SjT


888b   8888 O  R  T  H  W  E  S  T  E  R 888b   8888
8888b  Y888 ============================ 8888b  Y888
88888b  Y88 *     Stephen J. Truog     * 88888b  Y88
88 Y88b  88 * --- sjtruog at jorsm.com -- * 88 Y88b  88
88  Y88b 88 * --- Wildcat Football --- * 88  Y88b 88
88b  Y88888 * -- Illinois ------ 21 -- * 88b  Y88888
888b  Y8888 * -- NORTHWESTERN -- 28 -- * 888b  Y8888
8888   Y888 * ------ CATS WIN!!! ----- * 8888   Y888
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