[NU Sports] Re: Utah and the playoff ... (fwd)

[Jonathan Hodges]

>
> Northwestern is in a B(C)S conference, yes, but let's not fool ourselves
> into thinking we have a chance in this system or anything close to enough of
> a stake in it to swallow the bull and defend it. You can count the number of
> schools who truly want the B(C)S on a hand or two at most - unfortunately
> for fans in general and NU fans in particular, they're the ones in charge.
>

I would argue that NU benefits GREATLY from the BCS system that's currently
in place.

1. Money - NU is in a BCS conference, and not just any - but one of the two
most popular conferences in the nation that rakes in the most cash.  NU
benefits greatly from the TV revenue and bowl deals that the Big Ten has -
and directly benefits from all of that BCS cash (and benefits even more when
the conference gets 2 teams in BCS games, which has happened routinely since
its inception), thanks to conference revenue sharing.  Fair or not, NU was
grabbed the 5th Big Ten bowl slot, which happened to be a bowl game with a
payout of over $2.2 million and a game between 2 ranked opponents, not too
bad - especially with other conferences having to send their 2nd best team
to a game with a payout under $1 million.

2. Attention - NU garnered a good bit of attention this season (rightly so)
for achieving 9 wins, including a top 25 ranking for the final few weeks of
the season.  There is no way that NU would garner such attention if a part
of a "mid major" conference where a team has to really go on a tear to
appear on the national radar.

As others mentioned, NU would have to basically go undefeated to get to the
national title game - but so does just about every other team in the
nation.  Look, even powerhouses Texas and USC couldn't overcome those losses
to get into this year's championship game.  If NU were to go undefeated, it
would get into the game (unless a situation like 2004 emerged) thanks to
being in the Big Ten.  NU has a big say in how things go thanks to being a
part of such a successful conference.

Jonathan