[NU Sports] 6-6 seasons

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

>Three teams I follow closely -- Northwestern, Notre Dame and UCLA -- all

Please tell me you follow ND just to see them lose:) ... no problem with
UCLA, though, everyone needs a dream Rose Bowl opponent for NU.

>finished 6-6 this season.  I can't help but wonder:  what's better (or
>more humiliating) -- finishing 6-6 as we did, without going to a bowl;
>OR finishing 6-6 after going to a minor bowl and getting embarrassed by
>Wyoming or Oregon State?  I know Notre Dame and UCLA fans are not too

Well, we all know as fans that it sucks to lose at the end of a season ...
still, I think coaches would tell you they'd rather have the extra game and
especially the extra practice.

I dunno - I guess it depends on the program's perspective as well. For a
school will delusions of grandeur like Notre Dame, getting waxed in the
desert again by Oregon State is a big-time downer. For a school used to
going to January 1 bowls, playing midweek between Christmas and New Year's
may be more of a downer and they don't show up so the loss is a sour note
to end the season on. For other schools though, winning a mid-level bowl
can be a stepping stone for bigger bowls down the line and at least end a
season strong. Colorado's win in Houston was somewhat ho-hum, but had UTEP
won, I think it would have meant a lot more ... and their loss isn't all
that embarassing either as they lost to a team from a BCS league in a close
game to finish a surprising season.

As an NU fan, I don't care if it's the Weedwacker Bowl, I'd just like a WIN
in the postseason!:) Then we can get that darn monkey off the back and move
on.

>wear number 14.  Then again, maybe I should have left out this second
>paragraph!

I think this bowl season may lead the NCAA to readjust its bowl eligibility
policy ... the games just aren't all that exciting and there are a LOT of
empty stadiums. Not that I'm saying NU would bring a ton of fans, but these
extra MAC and CUSA teams aren't winning ... bringing fans ... or bringing
ratings, I suspect. Obviously the 6-6 exemption wouldn't help much (it'd
only really affect NU and 1-2 others this year), but maybe what Mike
mentioned about teams with winning league marks being eligible if the
conference has a tie-in spot? But either some of these smaller bowls are
gonna fold soon after not filling stadiums halfway, or the NCAA will find a
way to get bigger-name programs into the field of play.

On the flip side for fans, kudos to Okie State for bringing a large block
of orange to the Alamo Dome. OSU brought good fan support for a non-BCS
bowl as well - good job by both schools. I don't expect Minnesota or Purdue
to send large contingents to their bowls, and it sounds like Michigan's
having trouble. But Iowa always brings a horde of bumblebees ... and
Wisconsin will be interesting to watch. Cheeseheads usually travel well in
winter, but I suspect a lot of them were booking trips to California when
November started and Tampa may not have the same lure. Orlando they hadn't
been to, but Tampa they had recently.

Go Big Ten!
GO CATS!!!
-SjT


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