[NU Sports] Delaney/Delany ...

[Mike Nolan]

> Say the Rose Bowl and the Orange Bowl play 1-4 and 2-3. Then the NC game is
> the winner of those. Hence the traditional bowls being played and the
> winners play in a +1 game for the NC.

But that's exactly what Delany is opposed to, presumably with the 
support of the schools in the Big Ten, because he wants to keep the
Big Ten vs Pac 12 matchup in the Rose Bowl.

And that raises other problems.

It means that most years the loser of that game is probably out of the 
running for the 4 team playoff, and some years the winner might not be good
enough to make the cut, either.   So that means that the conferences
that represent 24 schools, including a double handful of the top schools 
in the nation, could be shut out of the playoffs completely.  

And are we to expect that the SEC will pair up in a New Years Bowl with, 
say, the Big Twelve or ACC annually, or even the Big EastWest, or will 
we be back to the days when Bear Bryant arranged less-than-stellar bowl 
opponents for Alabama so that they could be undefeated and win a 
national championship?

In the long run, it's all about money, and when enough gets put on the
table, Delany will start wheeling and dealing to ensure that the Big
Ten gets a healthy share of it.  

BTW, I don't see this returning any of the bowls that Stephen says
have lost their luster to their previous status, and it might have
a dulling effect on the Rose Bowl, too.

It doesn't mean I'm opposed, it just means that I remain skeptical,
and thankful that it isn't MY job to work this stuff out.
--
Mike Nolan