Bowl Season Conference Records
I love watching the conference records throughout the bowl games. So far, the Big Ten is 1-0 and the mighty SEC is 0-2. Anyone have better sources for commentary than the NCAA? Back 10+ years ago ESPN used to do a good job tracking it.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:42 AM ^
It is so unfortunate to see the SEC being 0-2 thus far. I guess the real story hasn’t come out yet. Those losses don’t matter .. heck, I am not sure if they even count, because they weren’t playing another SEC team.
Remember, “It just means more.” Unless, you are playing for your school and teammates.
The SEC only focuses on the CFP - since that’s all that matters, and - brown bagging is the technique they have perfected.
eSECpn.. and loving it…
December 28th, 2022 at 4:55 PM ^
During Whisky game, ESPN had a graphic of conference records in the bowl games. They listed 0-2 SEC above 0-0 B1G and another 0-1 conference. ESPN obviously trying desperately to avoid showing SEC last even though that is where they should be.
December 28th, 2022 at 6:04 PM ^
I prefer SEC-SPN
December 28th, 2022 at 11:56 AM ^
I used to enjoy watching conference records and in particular loved seeing and rooting for the Big Ten to come out 7-2 for the Bowl Season and have a strong showing.
Thats all kind of moot now. Other than the playoffs too many key players take a pass.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:06 PM ^
I agree with this. Bowl games have turned into a pre-season game 9 months before the actual season starts. I don't blame guys with NFL career interests from taking a pass (the Jake Butt Orange Bowl injury wasn't that long ago); but the team taking the field in most bowl games doesn't much resemble the team that played throughout the season.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:12 PM ^
So, you are rooting for Michigan to lose?
If Michigan were to win the national championship, the Big Ten would have to play in at least ten games. Ten if only Michigan makes the national championship game, and eleven if both Michigan and Ohio State make the national championship game.
December 28th, 2022 at 1:26 PM ^
You got me. Closet Buckeye exposed. Thinking about moving South to get away from this dreaded snow.
December 28th, 2022 at 4:16 PM ^
DD still using his Michigan cover, not crossing out his m’s, ever the double agent, thus the name, dd
December 28th, 2022 at 4:56 PM ^
I root for a meaningless last second fg by PSU. The Franklin Special.
December 28th, 2022 at 8:06 PM ^
Why be an asshat?
Edit: I do see that your saying Michigan winning adds another bowl game to the B10 list. But your approach is not beyond reproach.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:52 PM ^
It's odd, I never root for the big ten. In fact I take great enjoyment seeing OSU, PSU and MSU (when they actually make a bowl game) lose. And I hope they get blown out. 🤷
December 28th, 2022 at 12:59 PM ^
same - i rarely root for the b10 to win. I think its a luxury that Michigan and OSU fans have. our teams aspire to more, and seeing the b10 win, doesnt validate shit for us. Purdue fans probably get to puff their chests, or iowa, or indiana .. because going 7-5 or 6-6 isnt inspiring enough... nor should it be, ... its akin to Ole Miss and miss state and Tennessee and others crowing about SEC SEC SEC.. yeah, SEC wins a lot, but YOU dont.
I was rooting against wisky last night and i probably will continue to root against any b10 team with a pulse
December 28th, 2022 at 11:42 PM ^
Whats fun is if the middle of the big ten gets unranked and clemson gets 4 ranked acc teams and the SEC gets the first rated 1, 2 , and 3 loss team it just makes things easy for us.
Everyone wringing hands about playing UCLA but cool with SEC and ACC teams getting those 18-25 ranked teams to start next season. It makes a big difference.
December 28th, 2022 at 3:57 PM ^
I do want to see B1G success in bowl season, the only squads I love watching lose are Staee and Ohio.
December 28th, 2022 at 6:58 PM ^
If you love watching Staee lose in football games, I have some terrible news for you about this current bowl season.
December 28th, 2022 at 7:16 PM ^
I don’t know why but I have a weird respect/pity for Iowa and Northwestern and will cheer for them in the postseason. I can occasionally get up for Minnesota in a bowl.
I always want OSU, MSU and PSU to lose every bowl game. The rest I really couldn’t give a s**t less.
December 29th, 2022 at 11:53 AM ^
When I went to UM b-school, I met a couple of undergrads who went to Northwestern, and they really look at sports way differently than other schools in the big-10, maybe it's because they're the only private college. They do have school spirit but nothing like the other schools.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:17 PM ^
The problem with comparing records is the player opt-outs in the bowl games...
December 28th, 2022 at 12:24 PM ^
It complicates the analysis, sure, but equally matched teams (like Wisconsin and Okie State) tend to be similarly affected.
December 28th, 2022 at 2:18 PM ^
Exactly my thoughts, meaningless games beyond the CFP games
December 28th, 2022 at 12:34 PM ^
Unless you're a fan of any of the bowl teams nobody will remember who wins them. The playoff made them meaningless. Which isnt really a bad thing. In two more years we'll be watching MORE playoff games and its going to be amazing seeing teams play the first round in their home stadiums. There will be a lot to play for the final month of the season for top 20 teams.
December 28th, 2022 at 7:01 PM ^
They were meaningless before the playoffs, I never understood this take. Previously it was also 1 maybe two games that mattered for the national championship, which is the same as now.
December 28th, 2022 at 7:39 PM ^
I agree. As if the Tangerine Bowl in 1981 between Missouri and Southern Miss had serious National Championship ramifications.
What killed the bowls wasn't the playoffs, any more than the NBA playoffs killed the Olympics.
Instead it's the glut of sports we all watch every day, now, and the fact that we can see every team we want essentially every week. There's nothing compelling about watching an unimportant bowl game now, because there are so many other things to watch.
And ... that's ok! They're still interesting for the fans of the teams that play in them. Why does that make them obsolete?
December 28th, 2022 at 9:47 PM ^
I dont think it's any different now vs say 10 years ago regarding being able to watch so many things though, it's just the playoff. It comes down to two things:
1. It was very very hard to make the national title game with only two teams, no one would consider it a failure for not making the playoff. You played for a good bowl game and bowl win.
2. A lot of the bowl matchups in the 2000s when there became so many bowls hadnt happened before. Now essentially bowls are repeats of the same games already played before. How many times have we played Florida in bowls now? At least we've never played TCU.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:38 PM ^
Now that we're in the final four (and probably will be for many decades to come) I dont miss the old bowl tie in's as much, but in way I do still sort of long for the bowls the way they used to be before the BCS and now Bowl Championship series. If this year was say, 1990, the New Year's Bowl games would probably look like this due to conference tie-in's:
Rose Bowl: #2 Michigan vs #7 Utah
Orange Bowl: #3 TCS vs #5 Alabama
Sugar Bowl: #1 Georgia vs #4 OSU
Fiesta Bowl: #6 Tennessee vs #8 USC
Chaos would reign if OSU knocked off Georgia and Michigan lost to Utah but in some ways that used to be the fun of it.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:50 PM ^
Man I miss that
December 28th, 2022 at 1:28 PM ^
Think of an 8 team playoff, using the traditional bowl alignments / matchups.
December 28th, 2022 at 1:42 PM ^
This year there would be chaos if UGA and UM won under this scenario. I don't think the eye test would allow us to be shut out completely and it might be at least close to a split title scenario.
Of course in 97 I thought when we beat wazzu and leaf we would have been sole champs that year. So maybe I'm just being a Homer here. Doh
December 29th, 2022 at 12:02 PM ^
There's not that much fun in having a national champion decided by human voters, because they have way too many biases, recall the coach that voted UM #3 in 1997 final polls. The committee has biases too of course, but once that's factored in, at least it's settled on the field. I'm not totally sure the history behind not having a tournament or playoff like every other ncaa sport, including Div 2 and 3 football has, maybe there was a concern for injuries at the Div 1 level.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:38 PM ^
I tend to only pay attention to Big Ten and Pac 12 teams because those are the schools that mean something to me. If the SEC and Big 12 lose all their games, I say great.
I also want Ohio State, MSU, and Notre Dame to lose every game.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:50 PM ^
I don't really care much about this. Do I want Staee to win its bowl game (when they are ellglble) - Absolutely not. Ohio? - No. Wisconsin and Illinois? - not really. The others - It's OK if they win but no lost sleep if they lose.
It's all about recruiting - if we are competing with other B1G schools for recruits, then it gives them a recruiting advantage if they will their bowl. If we are recruiting nationally, then B1G wins makes playing in the B1G more attractive.
Part of the issue here is that the bowl selections are not balanced because the invites are based on money rather than performance. Often B1G teams are invited to better bowls than their record would suggest. This is because B1G teams bring fans and TV viewers. The opponent, often a quality SEC, Big XII or Pac 12 opponent, had a better regular season.
December 28th, 2022 at 1:00 PM ^
Well said. I mean for years the B1G was always punching way above it's weight in these games because the guys in the suits running the bowls knew an average B1G team would draw a lot more fans at the game and a lot more eyeballs on the game than say an ACC or Big12 school would. So we'd get games where highly ranked SEC teams, basically playing at or near home, would be matched up with middling B1G teams having to travel.
Conference records really only matter if the teams are similarly matched up and that never worked in the B1G's favor for reasons you outlined above.
December 28th, 2022 at 1:21 PM ^
Not to mention that most B10 teams are playing in hostile territory. b10 fans travel well, but playing in florida AGAINST florida isnt a recipe for a nice 50/50 fans split
December 28th, 2022 at 12:57 PM ^
But but the SEC 🙄🙄
December 28th, 2022 at 1:02 PM ^
Two teams that TCU struggled with this year.
Baylor = L (Air Force), a team that lost by one to TCU and should have beat them.
Oklahoma St. = L (Wisconsin), a team that scored 40 on TCU and lost in OT by 3.
Another team who shredded TCUs defense:
SMU = L (BYU) A team that TCU gave up 34 points to in an 8 point win.
*edit update*
Kansas = L (Arkansas) a team that TCU gave up 31 points to and who they didn't take the lead against until 1:36 left in the 4th quarter.
Texas Tech = W (Ole Miss) a team that was beating TCU at halftime and who TCU pulled away from in the 4th to win by 10.
December 28th, 2022 at 2:48 PM ^
This is insightful. Makes me feel even better about Saturday night. Unlike this post that I started which turned out ton be depressing. The bowls have certainly lost their luster and will continue to do so. I haven't watched a minute but that's just the way it goes these days with kids, job, volunteering etc. I'll still root for Big 10 teams other than OSU and MSU.
December 28th, 2022 at 6:32 PM ^
Transitive properties caveat aside, its tough to know without knowing any roster differences.
for example, Okie State isn't a good comparable, as they had a lot of players sitting...their QB was a TFr I believe that was starting his first game.
Not sure about Baylor, but I believe Kansas and Texas Tech will have pretty much their complete rosters, so they might be more useful as true data points
December 28th, 2022 at 1:23 PM ^
Purdue is going to get massacred
December 28th, 2022 at 2:07 PM ^
They play LSU in the Citrus Bowl, if I am not mistaken.
Yeah, they stand a decent chance of an unhappy result.
December 28th, 2022 at 1:47 PM ^
I have so many fond memories of growing up and watching all the bowl games. Xmas through New Years was the best. I have not watched more than 5 minutes of any game so far and probably won't until the 31st
December 28th, 2022 at 3:03 PM ^
What's BS is the Big Ten is the only conference with one guaranteed bowl loss before they even play! Ohio State should do the only reasonable thing and forfeit their CFP bid so the Big Ten can go undefeated.
December 28th, 2022 at 6:45 PM ^
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if OSU beat Georgia. They have a ton of talent and GA may not be as motivated.
December 28th, 2022 at 7:21 PM ^
I'd rather play OSU again then UGA but I don't think that will happen.
December 28th, 2022 at 3:32 PM ^
I'll add 2 more points here...
1. The fact that we've only PLAYED in one so far should be a + for the B10. That means we're playing in more meaningful games. and even more so, since 2 of our teams are playing in the playoff. BORING. not as cool as "it just means more" and "if you aint cheatin, u aint tryin"
2. This was a great narrative for ESPN until the B10 started doing a lot better. Just like the B10 ACC challenge in basketball. They lorded it over the B10 for years, and then when things changed... now its just a blip on espn.com
December 28th, 2022 at 7:42 PM ^
Sigh.
December 28th, 2022 at 3:46 PM ^
If the SEC didn't have Nick Saban... would this ever be a thing?
December 28th, 2022 at 4:12 PM ^
yes - florida won a lot with urban before saban won. Truth is, since 2000, only 1 B10 team has won a national title, and arguably no other team has even gotten close. We were within 2 games last year and within 2 games in 2006. MSU got curbstomped when they pretended they were a real boy.
The rest of the B10 has never been close.
In the SEC, Florida has won a couple, Bama has won 5 times, Auburn won, LSU won 3x with 3 coaches, Georgia won.
And if you count oklahoma and texas who are joining up soon... then add 2 more.
Okay, what about hte 90s? Only Michigan won, and the rest was ACC, SEC, and B12. Nebraska doesnt count as B10.
December 28th, 2022 at 6:53 PM ^
You're giving the SEC two teams who aren't yet part of the conference while denying that Nebraska, with their MNCs, is part of B1G?
December 28th, 2022 at 7:17 PM ^
I didn't give them. I said IF.
Also, f Nebraska