[NU Sports] 6-6 seasons

[sjtruog at jorsm.com]

> I've always wondered why the Big Ten didn't try to get the bowl game in
> Las Vegas, either against the Mountain West or the Pac 10.  I'd take that
> over Shreveport or El Paso any day -- the flights and hotels are cheaper,
> the weather is better, and there is a lot more to do.

I like that idea! I know Houston wants to move up, but really, would you
rather spend the holidays (or any time) in Houston or Vegas?:) Plus, we
could get the Pac 10-Big Ten game and it would definitely boost the Vegas
Bowl's standing.

> The Big Ten could also try to snag the bowl game in Fort Lauderdale
> against the ACC or the Big East.

I dunno there - it'll never be the Orange Bowl, whereas at least Houston
would be THE big bowl in the area that year (plus, Houston would at least
give us another Texas venue -- we already have two in Florida).

> Isn't there another bowl game in New Orleans besides the Sugar?  Is there
> a bowl game in Tucson?

The New Orleans bowl is unusually early (and for a league that keeps using
academics as an excuse for trivial matters, here it would actually apply)
-- and Tuscon's bowl became the Insight Bowl in Phoenix -- again, that'd
be in the shadow of the BCS bowl there.

> Try to engineer some places where people want to vacation with family that
> doesn't care about the bowl game, and the whole family will go and
> probably all end up at the game anyway.

Yeah - and we have good ties with Pasadena, Orlando, Tampa, San Antonio
and Nashville for nice destinations. Vegas -- although not so much for the
kids -- fits well with that, as would San Diego.

> And do NOT schedule another Big Ten/SEC game.  I'm getting tired of
> Wisconsin/Georgia and Ohio State/Tennessee every other year (it's getting

Agreed there. We have three Big Ten/SEC games -- all on their turf, btw.
It's good to match up what traditionally are the two strongest conferences
in the nation, but a fourth would be ugly.

> boring really fast).  Try to get them against the ACC, Big East,
> Conference USA or the Mountain West -- conferences we don't play already.

Dunno about that -- I'd like to see us try really hard to get another Pac
10 one if we lose the Sun Bowl. Other than the Pac 10, the Big XII is a
good rival -- but I could care less about the ACC or Big East.:) CUSA
perhaps?

Vegas baby!:)

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

PS - Nice win by Minnesota today for an unexpected W in the league column.
As for Purdue, they really should have beaten a battered-up ASU -- game
effort by the Sun Devils and a really mediocre finish to the year for the
Boilers. In those game-changing moment commercials for ABC/ESPN, that
Orton fumble against Wisconsin's gotta be the winner -- it turned a #5
ranking and a dream season into a disappointing Sun Bowl flop. Can it get
any more changing than that?