Bowl Games and Cold Weather

Submitted by Bronco648 on

OK, we've all heard of the recruiting tactic that teams from "down South" and/or southern California (supposedly) use against teams from "up North": "You don't want to attend School X because it gets really cold up there!"

Well, I watched the Champs Sports Bowl (Wiscy v. [that] Miami) and the Orange Bowl (Iowa v. Georgia Tech). The Champs Sports Bowl broadcast crew mentioned (several times) that after warm-ups, the Hurricanes went back to the locker room and put on more base layers. It seems every Hurricane had a long sleeved base layer on under their pads. Meanwhile, the Badgers were in short sleeves (according to the broadcasters, the game time temp was the same as the temps in Sept. in Madison - not likely). The 'Canes played poorly and weather supposedly had a lot to do with it.

Last night's Orange Bowl set a record for coldest temperature at game time. I didn't hear anything about the temps affecting the Yellow Jackets but they sure played poorly (awesome Hawkeye D).

Any college football recruit worth his salt wants to play in the NFL. And, you're gonna play in cold weather if you play in the NFL. You might as well get used to it.

The Question: After watching at least two warm weather teams get beat in cool temps, will the "you don't want to play in cold weather!" rhetoric die down? Or could it be used as a recruiting tool in the "opposite" direction?

Wolverine In Exile

January 6th, 2010 at 2:58 PM ^

I forget what pro it was, but I thought I remembered that when Donovan Warren was being recruited, a UM guy in the pros (Woodson?) told him, "If you want to play in the NFL, you better be able to play in cold weather" and that was a HUGE selling point to Donovan picking M over warmer locale schools.

Sgt. Wolverine

January 6th, 2010 at 3:04 PM ^

When Mark Sanchez played in a cold-weather game earlier this NFL season, the announcers said he told them he'd never played football in cold weather before (grew up in California, played at USC). It was obvious he was uncomfortable in the chilly conditions.

JC3

January 6th, 2010 at 3:32 PM ^

Coaches in the south actually use it all the time. I don't think it's really serious by a lot of them, but more in a joking manner. Still, as a northerner now removed to the south, I like my warm weather.

Enjoy Life

January 6th, 2010 at 4:15 PM ^

Playing a few games (less than 3 in most years) in "cold" weather does not make a player more ready to play in the NFL. Not a legit selling point to an 17-18 year old.

But, spending 4 months every year for 4-5 years in gawd-awful weather in the North is not what many 17-18 year old kids look forward to.

maximus_spaniard

January 6th, 2010 at 4:34 PM ^

A measure of greatness is given by how well someone, or a team, performs outside of their comfort zone.

So let's see: Wisconsin beats Miami, Penn State beats LSU, Northwestern loses in OT to Auburn, and Iowa beats Georgia Tech; all in games with reported "cold" weather, at least by southern standards. Maybe the weather took these southern teams out of their comfort zone, and evened the playing field for the Big 10 teams for once.

I have been thinking for a while that the way to debunk the whole SEC superiority crap is to have an SEC-Big 10 College Football Challenge, once the Big 10 adds its 12th team. Each Big 10 team schedules a home and home vs an SEC team. Big 10 away games to be played in September, and Big 10 home games to be played in November. I wonder how Florida, LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee would do in Ann Arbor, Iowa City, Columbus, State College, Madison, et al, in November?