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

[cherron604 at aol.com]

If going to the Rose Bowl is getting screwed, then I'll gladly get screwed (so to speak).

I may be in the minority on this, but a crystal football shaped trophy is less important to me than the 3 recent Big Ten Championship trophies we already have (plus the old ones, of course), and a Rose Bowl trophy (whatever that looks like) would be great also.

I might even feel a little let down if we went 12-0 and didn't go to Pasadena.? Again, in my mind, Pasadena on New Year's Day is an incredible feeling, a matchless experience.? It is what I always dreamed about from the first time I saw a college football game, a?late 70's matchup with Utah at an empty?Dyche Stadium (didn't seem very likely at that point in time).? I am not sure that January 8th, at night, in Fort Lauderdale or Tempe would feel the same (apologies to all the South Florida and Valley of the Sun people).

The greatest feeling in my football life was still emerging from those tunnels at the Rose Bowl, seeing the snow-capped peaks in the distance, seeing the sea of purple, (not seeing the seat numbers in my section, which had been inexplicably made illegible), the sun, the palm trees, the gentle breezes wafting through the Arroyo Seco, and seeing 'NORTHWESTERN' in the end zone.? I should probably aspire to more, but 13-0 and Rose Bowl Champions would certainly be sufficient for me.

And the big check (probably the same $$$ as it would be if we were BCS Champions) would be nice too...

Chuck Herron?? Tech '85


-----Original Message-----
From: Beamsley, Jeff <Jeff.Beamsley at covisint.com>
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Sent: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 8:58 am
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Re: Utah and the playoff ... (fwd)



Disagree that an undefeated season would automatically get us into the title 
game. 

If we had beaten OSU and MSU in close games and not stumbled at IN, I think we 
still would have been outvoted because of strength of sched claims just like 
Utah.  Our only chance to play in a NC game would be if we were able to displace 
Mich or OSU as that traditional BT champ and go through a couple of years of 
getting screwed by the system (PSU). Our pattern is more like Hoosiers.  The 
best this system is going to do for us is the Rose Bowl in those years that the 
Rose Bowl doesn't have the BCS championship game.  

That said, I also agree that NU benefits in a disproportionate way. So at least 
we're getting paid when we get screwed.  

Jeff

----- Original Message -----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com <nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com>
To: sjtruog at yahoo.com <sjtruog at yahoo.com>
Cc: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com <nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com>
Sent: Thu Jan 08 09:13:47 2009
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Re: Utah and the playoff ... (fwd)

>
> 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

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