[NU Sports] Big Ten and the BCS ...

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> Although it would be nice, only 2 teams per
> conference are permitted into

I figured so, but didn't know for sure with the extra
game this year.

That's real bad news for the Rose Bowl, who seems to
be in a bad situation either way.

OSU is a lock for the title game, so the Rose Bowl
gets first pick of the at-large teams because their
team was taken out for the title game.

SC and Michigan appear to be the most likely opponents
for the Buckeyes, meaning that Pasadena's top two
options are taken away.

Normally, Notre Dame with the fan-base and hype would
be the first pick for replacement ... but the Irish
were blown out by Michigan earlier this year and an
SC/Irish game would be a rematch of a regular season
game (not that's that stopped the B(C)S from giving us
Florida State vs. Miami again and again).

So who's left at-large for the Tournament of Roses?

Wisconsin at 11-1 and #6 or so in the BCS would be a
great pick with 75,000+ Cheeseheads making the trip.
But they can't pick them because of the rules.

Cal, Oregon and the other Pac 10 teams have played
their way out of contention.

The ACC and Big East are in complete upheaval and
really offer no attractive candidate.

The SEC features some big names, but they're knocking
each other out lately too. Arkansas-SC rematch?

Which leaves the Big XII ... Oklahoma might be the
most likely pick for name recognition.

Or Boise State.:)

> Outside of the top 3 in the Big Ten, nobody else is
> that impressive and we
> may witness a down year in terms of bowl wins since
> the next 4 are all

Eh, all depends on the matchups. I think PSU and
Purdue are both better than most people think. The
Lions' four defeats have come to teams that are 44-3
this year. If their offense just hangs on to the darn
ball, they can play with anybody. And Purdue's getting
better, as long as they don't have to rely on special
teams.

Wisconsin probably gets Tennessee in Orlando because
we don't want a rematch of last year, when the Badgers
used the same plan Arkansas used this year to smash
the ball down the throats of the somewhat soft Auburn
D.

Penn State could get LSU or Tennessee or Georgia. All
formidable, but beatable.

Purdue ... tough to tell who gets them. It'd be fun to
see Texas Tech and a high scoring game, but it may be
the Aggies.

> The Illinois win was great for Northwestern and our
> program and it's great
> that the clock tower will be purple all year!

:) indeed. Beating the hated Hawkeyes and rival Illini
really finished a rough year on a bright note.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!


 
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