Let's Go Bucks!

Back from the Dead

I have a big gripe following the college football bowl season.

While Ohio State has struggled the last few years in bowl games, they finally were respectable in this year's BCS match-up with Texas, but that didn't stop Penn State from dragging the conferences name through the mud.

I have a quick fix on how to begin repairing the Big Ten's further tarnished name. Stop accepting the 2nd BCS bowl bid. What this does is shift everyone else in the conference up a game putting them in, theoretically, more difficult match-ups. I know you have to "play the best to be the best", but look at the records and reputations of the ACC and Pac10. The ACC went 4-6 and got a whopping 10 teams into the money games and only one of those in the BCS. The Pac10 is really where it's at with the usual USC in the BCS and 4 others in winnable match-ups. Get Oregon State in as the Auto-Bid and USC in as an At-Large and things could get interesting.

Here were the Big Ten's match-ups this season:
Champs Sports Bowl: Wisconsin (B10) 13 - Florida State (ACC) 42
Alamo Bowl: Missouri (B12) 30 - Northwestern (B10) 23 OT
Insight Bowl: Kansas (B12) 42 - Minnesota (B10) 21
Outback Bowl: South Carolina (SEC) 10 - Iowa (B10) 31
Capital One Bowl: Georgia (SEC) 24 - Michigan State (B10) 12
Rose Bowl: Penn State (B10) 24 - USC (Pac10) 38
Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State (B10) 21 - Texas (Big12) 24

The Regular Tie-ins are as follows (low to high):
Motor City Bowl: Big Ten #7 vs. MAC #1
Insight Bowl: Big Ten #6 vs. Big 12 #6
Champs Sports Bowl: Big Ten #4/5 vs. ACC #4
Alamo Bowl: Big Ten #4/5 vs. Big 12 #4/5
Outback Bowl: Big Ten #3 vs. SEC #3/4
Capital One Bowl: Big Ten #2 vs. SEC #2
Rose Bowl: Big Ten #1 vs. Pac 10 #1

Since Penn State was out of the BCS Championship discussion with a loss to Iowa, it is easy to see where we all would've played this year:

Wisconsin vs. Central Michigan (winnable)
Minnesota vs. Kansas (loss)
Northwestern vs. Florida State (toss-up)
Iowa vs. Missouri (toss-up)
Michigan State vs. South Carolina (winnable)
Ohio State vs. Georgia (winnable)
Penn State vs. USC (loss)