[NU Sports] Temple - no Bowl bid

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

That's a shame about Temple. Particularly when you remember that a team that they beat, who finished with the same record (against a lighter schedule than Temple) will be in a B(C)S game. Grrrrrrrr.

> The BCS games themselves aren't terrible, but could be
> improved with some simple reshuffling. 

I'll go ahead and call them terrible. Only the title game looks good on paper, but for reasons mentioned earlier with Auburn, Newton, the SEC and the lack of defenses, I still get a queasy feeling.

But as I've documented before, the B(C)S has done that to bowl games - the games are far less competitive and far less interesting (ratings/attendance) since they took over.

Pretty much ANY system you come up with would have done better this year.

Tradition?

* ROSE: Oregon vs. Wisconsin - Wow! THAT I would pay to see
* SUGAR: Auburn vs. TCU - Two unbeatens going at it in New Orleans
* ORANGE: Oklahoma vs. Arkansas - Jimmy Johnson vs. Barry Switzer!
* FIESTA: Stanford vs. Ohio State - A second Rose Bowl?

Plus One (with committee)?

* ROSE: Oregon vs. Texas Christian - Winner to title game, better w/Boise
* SUGAR: Auburn vs. Wisconsin - Winner to title game and a heckuva matchup
* ORANGE: Oklahoma vs. Virginia Tech - At least people would show up
* FIESTA: Ohio State vs. Arkansas - Big Ten vs. SEC = full stadium

Playoff?

* Auburn vs. Oklahoma - Great southern shootout
* Oregon vs. Arkansas - More points on the board here
* TCU vs. Ohio State - Some hard-hitting teams
* Stanford vs. Wisconsin - The Rose Bowl slobberknocker we should have

But instead we get a snoozer of a lineup from the supposed biz wiz' at the B(C)S and the once mighty, tradition-rich, always-sold-out Orange Bowl will have 30,000 people at best, a purple team outside of Northwestern or Washington will be in Pasadena and a our New Year's Day nightcap won't be the lights in Miami or sweetness in New Orleans, but an 8-4 team from the Big East who will bring fewer fans than TCU or Boise did to Phoenix and lost to that defensive juggernaut Louisville, the 7th place team in the Big Ten and a Temple team that is left out of the glut of welfare bowls altogether.

College football is too great of a game to be ruined, but something sure has sucked the life out of it in the last 5-10 years. Especially in December and January.

Thanks, B(C)S.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT