The SEC’s new bowl with the Big 12? It mightn’t be so big
In other news, Herschel Walker just dared Mike Rozier to arm-wrestle him. (AJC special photo)
Beginning in 2014, the champions of the SEC and the Big 12 will meet annually in a New Year’s Day bowl. That’s provided both champions are available, which neither figures to be. Which is why I’m a little confused about just how big this Big Game really is.
I’m less confused about the motivations for such a move. They are, as ever, money and power. Even if the actual conference champions won’t be playing in this game, it will still bear the imprint of the SEC, which in college football has become the only league that matters, and the Big 12, which by pairing with the almighty SEC is hoping that some of the glow is transferable.
If you’re the Big 12 and you were losing high-profile schools teams left and right — Colorado to the Pac-12, Nebraska to the Big Ten, Texas A&M and Missouri to the, er, SEC — that’s a major consideration. Recent rumblings about Florida State considering a move to the Big 12 offered a chilling indication that the great shuffle might only have reached halftime. Last summer the Big 12 seemed near collapse, and if Texas and/or Oklahoma ever choose to bolt that would be Game Over. But the Big 12 has found itself a new commissioner and now, in the SEC, a new contractual partner.
The Big 12 is desperate to ensure its continuing existence, and this new bowl will go a long ways toward doing that. Of the Big Six leagues, four have paired off: The Big Ten and the Pac-12 have been joined at the hip since before granddad had his first hip replacement, and now these two. Left hanging are the ACC and the Big East, the flimsiest of the big football leagues, and those two might be loath to form an alliance given that the former just raided the latter for Syracuse and Pittsburgh.
Apart from money and power — I know; you’re asking, “What else is there beyond money and power?” — this SEC/Big 12 game is a muddle. As we know, a four-team BCS playoff is surely at hand. As we know, the chances of the SEC and the Big 12 champions not being included among those four teams in a given year is all but moot. That would mean the new game will get lesser teams from the SEC and Big 12, which would mean, as Berry Tramel of the Oklahoman archly noted, that “the new agreement is really an enhanced agreement of the Cotton Bowl for the last decade.”
Some believe the so-called Champions Bowl could slide into the BCS playoff grid as a host site — SEC commissioner Mike Slive told the Birmingham News his new game “can be in the BCS or outside the BCS” – but the existing major bowls may be better positioned for those nods. (That’s unless the Big Ten and Pac-10 overplay their sanctity-0f-the-Rose-Bowl hand, which would leave a massive opening.) And really, if you’re the SEC and the Big 12, do you want to introduce and ballyhoo your new partnership as a championship test if it’s actually a BCS semifinal?
Then again, is it really a Champions Bowl if it includes the losers of the SEC and Big 12 title tilts? And for all the SEC’s cachet, would a New Year’s Day game that features a team (or teams) riding a one-game losing streak be quite the draw Slive has in mind?
In the attempt to be pro-active, the SEC and the Big 12 may be guilty of fighting a battle that has all but ended. They’re trotting out a new bowl at a time when the future, at long last, will belong to a playoff. The stand-alone BCS title game came to marginalize the other bowls, even the other BCS bowls. What will happen when you’ve got two semifinals and a final? Will anyone care about any games that aren’t part of the tournament?
Yes, some folks will care. Fans of the schools involved will care. The casual observer sitting home on New Year’s Day will click on the game. But clicking to check the score isn’t the same as caring deeply, and I’m not sure college football can have it both ways: You’ve got your 30-odd bowls on the one hand, the outcomes of which matter not, and on the other you’ll have a playoff, which will bring a true championship intensity to a sport that only recently has embraced such a concept.
Twenty years ago, the notion of Big Eight champ Oklahoma playing SEC champ Alabama on New Year’s day would have stirred the senses, but that was a time when we had to take whatever the bowls ladled out. As fat and profitable as they remain, bowls are yesterday’s news. Once the playoff arrives, only the playoff will matter.
By Mark Bradley
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111 comments Add your comment
DW
May 21st, 2012
11:45 am
First on Monday!!
Gene
May 21st, 2012
11:47 am
It will just be another bowl added to the list.
GTanner
May 21st, 2012
11:47 am
Ninth!
Chi Town
May 21st, 2012
11:49 am
Yawn, another Monday…….another 5 start recruit to Bama.
Respect, Saban.
Benjamin
May 21st, 2012
11:49 am
I am pretty excited, to be honest. Kentucky vs Texas A&M? Where do I sign up?!
Mark Bradley
May 21st, 2012
11:52 am
DW: Kudos to you.
George Stein
May 21st, 2012
11:53 am
Most bowl games don’t sell out anymore and that figures to become more of an issue going forward, particularly as conferences take control of the post-season and don’t accept the ticket guarantees from the bowls anymore. As a result, there will be fewer bowls, and more of them will be be better match-ups, which should make this bowl game even less important.
GTanner
May 21st, 2012
11:54 am
Call it “The In All Likelihood the Runners-Up Bowl.”
PMC
May 21st, 2012
11:55 am
if it’s a good matchup. I watch. If it’s dull I don’t. Maybe I check the score later, but seriously all but maybe 6 or 7 bowls are any good and they’ve taken the day I actually can watch (New Years Day) and moved them to odd time slots until the middle of january.
Sorry I’m not home to watch the Cotton Bowl on Saturday freaking night. I give you a day to celebrate college football January 1… It’s not my fault you waste my time with the Rose Bowl.
timboy6
May 21st, 2012
11:56 am
Just a ploy (and a profitable one at that) to leverage with the Big 10-PAC 12 partnership.
George Stein
May 21st, 2012
11:56 am
Who would have been in it last year? Kansas State vs Arkansas? Snooze.
PMC
May 21st, 2012
11:56 am
If they really want to do it, start putting games against each other again on one day. Then it would be enjoyable and the real chips can fall where they may.
Speed Racer
May 21st, 2012
11:58 am
Glad I’m not the only one who quickly realized that the two champions will (most likely) never play. I read an ESPN.com article today that seemed to paint this game as an earthquake that might cause the ACC to be swallowed by the Earth. Not sure it will be that dramatic.
B
May 21st, 2012
11:59 am
Please, please, please give us playoffs. It will be HUGE!
William Satterwhite
May 21st, 2012
12:05 pm
While bowl games might be even more devalued with the playoff, this game guarantees that whatever value is to be derived from bowl games, the SEC and Big 12 have assured that they (along with the Rose Bowl duo) will control a major share of that value- in essence they are restricting everybody else to whatever share of the playoff money they decide to share and whatever ESPN decides to pay out for content filling games in December. And for all the talk about this game not featuring actual champions, has it hurt the Rose Bowl any when it has featured second place teams from it’s hub conferences?
Brad
May 21st, 2012
12:08 pm
Game will be bigger than watching another boring SEC BSC game. Championships are mean to be across different conferences.
Ted M
May 21st, 2012
12:10 pm
Yep, that’s exactly why you go straight to a 16 team playoff.
ptdawg04
May 21st, 2012
12:21 pm
For years the argument has been that the regular season matters in college football. I favor the use of a plus-one model at the end of the bowl season, with the bowl season ending on Jan. 1. Let the confrences set-up these “champions bowls” and let them serve as a pseudo semi-final round. Otherwise what is the point of having conference championship games? They serve more as an opportunity for a team to play itself out of a national championship. Also let the current BCS formula dictate who those two teams are at the end of the bowls so that politics are minimized and things like quality wins/strength of schedule matter. Debate will always be a part of the system either who is 4th vs 5th or 2nd vs 3rd. At lease with this system, teams would have to win when it matters the most & would have to play a tough schedule to remain relevent. I am not an Alabama fan, but I do feel that it is good for CFB when they are in the conversation, but the regular season should matter more than success in past seasons. But last year with them getting into the national championship game made their previous game against LSU & the SEC championship game significantly less relevant.
Beast from the East
May 21st, 2012
12:22 pm
I would be willing to bet it will still be one of the most watched bowl games of the season. Will it be in Atlanta or Dallas? That’s what I’d like to know.
Gray Grantham
May 21st, 2012
12:24 pm
…..some believe the so-called Champions Bowl could slide into the BCS playoff grid as a host site — SEC commissioner Mike Slive told the Birmingham News his new game “can be in the BCS or outside the BCS” …..
I think you are missing the all important information “between the lines”.
The SEC and Big 12 are going to own and operate this game. The only role any “hosts” will have is to provide the stadium.
Could the Cotton Bowl fill that role? Sure, but they will be competing against Jerry Jones to make the same offer and Jerry can obviously make the deal sweeter than the Cotton Bowl simply by cutting out the middle man (Cotton Bowl)
Take Cotton Bowl out of that equation and plug in any other Bowl Committe and you get the same result.
The Champions Bowl will not be hosted by a Bowl Committee it will be hosted by a Stadium Owner. The SEC and Big 12 are going to squeeze the Bowl Committees out of the picture and show the rest of the FBS that the old Bowl model is broken and they don’t need it anymore.
These money hungry FBS execs have known for years that the lions share of Bowl Committee profits were a ripe plumb waiting to be picked in much the same way as corporate raiders view pension funds and stockpiles of cash.
When Mike Slive said “can be in the BCS or outside the BCS” what he was broadcasting telepathically that you failed to pick up.. ” and by in the BCS, I mean, it will no be hosted by any Bowl Committee, this will be a property owned and operated by a joint venture between the SEC and Big XII” meaning: Jerry World Yes – Cotton Bowl No, Super Dome Yes – Sugar Bowl No Georgia Dome Yes – Peach Bowl No, Raymond James Yes – Outback No, Sun Life Yes – Orange No
Could be in BCS simply means the BCS Bowls will have the same oportunity to bid on hosting the game that the Stadium Owners they ease the stadium from will, who do you think will win that bidding war? won’t be a Bowl Committee.
Rockchalkwombat
May 21st, 2012
12:27 pm
The significance of this new game is that, unlike the other bowls, it is owned by the two conferences, not the BCS and not a corporate sponsor. This is a message from the SEC and the Big 12 that the traditional bowl system is dying and that the BCS had better be serious about creating a viable playoff system or they too will become a thing of the past. This game may or may not end up happening, but regardless of that announcement is still a serious development in college football.
Box
May 21st, 2012
12:29 pm
You’re missing the point. This is a bowl that will be owned and operated by the two conferences the will do the TV deal and they will receive all the proceeds. If you are one of the traditional bowls, you now know who is calling the shots.
Bill
May 21st, 2012
12:32 pm
Thanks Mark again for info..sounds fishy to me.
Ted Striker
May 21st, 2012
12:32 pm
This is step backwards. It’s exactly what college football doesn’t need right now.
Marty Graw
May 21st, 2012
12:38 pm
The match-ups produced by this game won’t be such that fans will forget about the Rose Bowl. The story continues to be that nobody does money grabs like Slive. I just wished he had done this last year and maybe the SEC’s silly expansion into the mid-west would never have happened.
Jacket99
May 21st, 2012
12:40 pm
Mightn’t is an awesome contraction! I rank it right up there with oughtn’t. Good job, Mark.
Sonny Clusters
May 21st, 2012
12:41 pm
We’ve been approached about a possible “Clusters Bowl” next season. We’re not sure just yet but we would definitely invite Clemson because we was almost a Clemson Tiger when we ended up going on second shift instead. We could see a Clusters Bowl being very successful like us.
Buckeye
May 21st, 2012
12:42 pm
How about a match up between the winner of the SEC!SEC! Least and Conference USA??
FL Dawg
May 21st, 2012
12:43 pm
The Big 12 and SEC have for the most part ensured that this bowl will have two top ten teams play each other. With a four team play off, the BCS will yield the four top teams. Even if that takes away the top team in each conference, will the 2nd best team not be in the top 10? I bet more often than not you will end up with 5/6 vs 8/9 match up. Taking away two more of the top ten teams for the remaining bowls and thus, making them even less meaningful. As competitive/attractive games for sponsors become less, bowls will dissappear over time and we will end up with broader playoff system. If the NCAA won’t make a playoff, the big conferences will by trivializing the other bowls.
LT
May 21st, 2012
12:48 pm
The Rose Bowl hasn’t had any significance for years; but, it generates big profits for mediocre Pac 12 and Midwest teams. This is an excellent idea. It gives the premier conferences the ability to showcase (and reward) worthy teams that may not be the best; but are very near to it. It will bury the Rose Bowl in ratings.
GT fan
May 21st, 2012
12:55 pm
I thought college football was “about the kids”
7576DAWG
May 21st, 2012
12:59 pm
A few years ago when the Rose Bowl picked a Big -10 opponent over Georgia said that other than the championship game the Rose bowl would not do the right thing and match the next best game when they had the chance. They would always pick another Pac-10 against a Big -10 even if one is ranked in the top 10 and the other is not even ranked.
I love this agreement with the Big -12 because at least the next best SEC team not counting those that get into the 4 team playoff will now get pared against a Big -12 team that will end up in the top 12 and a great very deserving team in the SEC that wasn’t quite good enough to end up in the playoff won’t have to settle for a game against Hawaii or Boise State and they will play Oklahoma or Texas.
Auburn Grad
May 21st, 2012
1:03 pm
Tactic to make the NCAA move ahead with a playoff.
juice sourcer
May 21st, 2012
1:03 pm
Let me get this straight….A new bowl game between the champions of the SEC and the Big 12 that will never have the two champions play in it because they will almost always be in the Final 4 playoff. Makes about as much sense as the BSC crap we have been putting up with forever.
WhoCares?
May 21st, 2012
1:07 pm
Could we pause for moment to reflect on the poor and getting poorer ACC? Despite their “fabulous” TV contracts, seems to me they are even closer to losing some teams. Like FSU, for one. Even after getting pitt and Syracuse, how many teams will want to remain in a football-second class league? Clemson? Doubtful. Miami? Probably not. Others? The ACC stands to be further marginalized, I believe, and I’m wondering how they will respond.
GTBob
May 21st, 2012
1:10 pm
It will bury the Rose Bowl in ratings.
The National Championship barely beats the Rose Bowl in ratings. This game won’t come close.
Suckeye
May 21st, 2012
1:11 pm
SEC “Least” >>>>>>>>> Ohio State
Paul in NH
May 21st, 2012
1:12 pm
Using the criteria for this new bowl last year would have resulted in Arkansas playing Kansas State. Wait a minute – that game actually happened and somehow, even though it was an evening game it had lower ratings than the Rose Bowl and one of the teams ended up at #15 – behind 3 Pac XII teams and 3 B1G teams.
sogadog
May 21st, 2012
1:16 pm
They should call it the “Runners Up Bowl”. 90% of the time the SEC Champion, and / or the Big 12 Champion will be in the 4 team BCS playoff. Therefore, at least 90% of the time a runner up will be in this new bowl.
The SEC raids the Big 12, picks up Tx. AM and Mizzou then agrees to a Champions Bowl game with the Big 12? This is just weird.
Beast from the East
May 21st, 2012
1:19 pm
Paul,
I think UGA would have been condisered the second place team in the SEC.
Paul in NH
May 21st, 2012
1:24 pm
Beast,
I was going by the rankings. Is this bowl going to be for the teams that lost in the conference championship games (assuming that the champions are members of the new Gang of Four) or for the next best teams?
hans kershaw
May 21st, 2012
1:25 pm
I agree the SEC champ will never be available. We have the Cotton Bowl, so I don’t understand what purpose this will serve.
William Satterwhite
May 21st, 2012
1:29 pm
Paul in NH, that Cotton Bowl matchup took place on a Friday night 5 days after New Years Day- play that same game as the prime time showcase game on New Years Day and I guarantee you it will be a ratings killer. Even if another bowl game decides to head to head with it in the same time slot, the match up alone guarantees this game will win out as no one will be able to top it (at that point a non-playoff qualifying ACC champ vs a non-playoff qualifying Notre Dame is the best alternative anyone could put together).
Stinger 2
May 21st, 2012
1:32 pm
Nice to see Clusters on a non-Brave blog and without negative comments.Actually that was a good funny one Sonny.
JSS
May 21st, 2012
1:32 pm
College Corrupt Bowl! You only hope games sell out because of the local economic impact… However, it is where money is made, sponsorship and TV right is where the real money comes from… Let the corruption adulation continue! So sad!
William Satterwhite
May 21st, 2012
1:33 pm
Beast from the East, it most likely would be the next highest ranked SEC team, not necessarily the title game loser. Depending on just how the playoff works itself out, it’s possible (not likely, but possible) Alabama could have have been the representative last season.
Banker Bob
May 21st, 2012
1:34 pm
This was a great move by the SEC and Big 12. It does three things:
1. It serves the same purpose as the Rose Bowl – so when the Big 10 and Pac 12 balk at some post-season proposal because they want to keep the Rose Bowl going….. the Big 12 and SEC can say that they are in the same boat with this Bowl.
2. The powers that be made the Big East die. The ACC made what they thought were ‘power moves’, but now, they are the ones in trouble. The cold hard fact is, ACC football has been pretty bad, and quite overrated. I would even argue that the Big East was better (BCS wins – West Virginia 3, entire ACC 1). Then the ACC turns around and tells West Virginia that they aren’t good enough for the ACC? Really? The ACC is getting what they deserve.
3. It puts more pressure on Notre Dame, Florida State, Miami, and Clemson to leave a football-irrelevant conference (ACC), and join the power four conferences. This is a major power grab, and John Swofford is starting to look like John Marinatto – inept, and lacking foresight.
In 10 years, the Big East will be basketball only, and the ACC will be as relevant as the Mountain West in football.
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl
May 21st, 2012
1:44 pm
Bring me back!!!
I’m sure we could get the Houston Cougars to play in our bowl again.
fitzgerald
May 21st, 2012
1:44 pm
SEC and Big 12 are the beginning of super conferences that will compete for the national playoff championships. At least 4 and possibly 5 super conferences to be involved. Some of the major colleges (Florida State and Notre Dame for sure) will make the move. Perhaps lesser conferences will continue to have some kind of bowl set up. If there is a 16 team playoff system, the conference championship games can be eliminated and teams have playoff games to make the final 16. Just some thoughts added to all the other opinions.
Boise Dawg
May 21st, 2012
1:49 pm
Mark,
For once I agree 100% with you. With a potential 4-team playoff I don’t see how this bowl will be much different from the existing Cotton Bowl. I don’ see too many scenarios where the SEC champion and Big 12 champion are not in a 4-team playoff. Maybe a slight upgrade from the Cotton. I guess the real news here is the SEC is saying they don’t care about the Sugar Bowl tradition and the Big 12 is saying they don’t care about the Fiesta Bowl tradition, which I find sad. While I am in favor of a playoff, I will miss the tradition of the Sugar Bowl…. while maybe it doesn’t have the quite the Rose Bowl luster, it has been THE bowl for SEC fans. Who doesn’t love Munson’s Sugar falling from the sky call? Tradition is what makes the bowl games special and I think Slive is underestimating the value of the Sugar Bowl brand.
I also agree with the notion that we may only be at halftime with all the conference realignment. Everyone assumes that one reason for realigment is being triggered by the desire to be in BCS confernce and that by doing away with automatic qualifier status. I can speak for Boise State and say joining the Big East has nothing to do with trying to join an automaitc qualifer conference and everythign to do with $$. Despite the state of the Big East, their progam is going to make about 4x the amount of money they would if they stayed in the Mountain West.
7576DAWG
May 21st, 2012
1:53 pm
Banker Bob
I agree especially with your #3. I use to really like Florida State but the send off they gave Bobby Bowden, one of the greatest coaches of all time and a great individual, can never be forgiven.
Ray Goof's Hat
May 21st, 2012
2:03 pm
Do y’all think that Mike Slive, a man who will be as influential as anyone in designing the new playoff format, may – just may – have considered some of these “issues” and that his reasoning may become clear once this all plays out? I seriously doubt that he would read this blog and say, “Oops! Why didn’t I think of that before agreeing to this whole new bowl idea?”
George Stein
May 21st, 2012
2:04 pm
C’mon, 7576DAWG. Everything can be forgiven.
7576DAWG
May 21st, 2012
2:05 pm
If Georgia ended up #5, 6,7 or 8th in the polls this will guarantee they will play a # 5,6, 7 or 8th Oklahoma or Texas or Oklahoma State. It sure beats the he– out of playing a # 7 Boise State or Hawaii who only played one top 100 team all year in the first game and pulled out a win. I will not bother going to a game with Boise State but will go to a one or two lost Texas or Oklahoma.
DIT
May 21st, 2012
2:15 pm
Sounds like the same old Cotton that has been played in the past. Doubt very much that you will ever get the Champs out of either league to play in this one.
This is nothing but showing a flex of muscle from both leagues. It’s the same Bowl!
Delbert D.
May 21st, 2012
2:15 pm
A few key points:
1) This is a good first step toward BCS-busting.
2) Since the Bowl/Conference hosts pick the teams without input from the BCS, there would not likely be a matchup of a Kansas – Arkansas (based on last year’s teams.)
3) If the playoff includes only conference champions, and had it been in effect last season, the SEC would have selected Alabama for the game, again looking at last year’s teams. Until the playoff expands to 8 teams, the selection of only 4 of the 6 primary conferences will be controversial.
4) In an 8-team playoff, 2 at-large selections would fit. Again, among last year’s top contenders and 8 teams, that would be Alabama and probably Stanford, seeded 7th and 8th (if champions get the first 4 seeds; not a given.)
Buckeye
May 21st, 2012
2:18 pm
Texas and Oklahoma will eat the dogs for lunch.
Beast from the East
May 21st, 2012
2:18 pm
Paul in NH,
You may be correct, but I’ve always considered the loser of the SECCG to be the “official” second place team in the SEC, even though the BCS rankings rarely are in line with that. Not sure exactly what criteria they’ll use to determine who is the second place team, but you’re probably correct that they’ll take the highest ranked team.
LHarding Dawg
May 21st, 2012
2:27 pm
The last time Georgia played Texas, Georgia won 10-9. Just thought the uninformed might like to know.
Delaney is a Fathead
May 21st, 2012
2:29 pm
I think the goal is for the Rose Bowl and this bowl to serve as the semi-final playoff games. That would be a logical outcome of the consolidation into four superconferences. In that case, the SEC and Big 12 conference champs would play in the game every year, and it would be a huge money maker.
Delbert D.
May 21st, 2012
2:30 pm
The last time Texas played anybody, they were 7-5; after the game with Cal ended they had 8 wins.
Delbert D.
May 21st, 2012
2:34 pm
@Delaney – That seems to be the easiest solution; 4 superconferences, 64 teams.
Archie
May 21st, 2012
2:52 pm
This game is not what the Cotton Bowl was. The Cotton Bowl got the first non-BCS pick of SEC West teams, and they got the first pick of non-BCS Big 12 teams. However, Big 12 bowl tie-ins never picked based off conference standings, they frequently chose whichever team was closest. So the game was almost always a matchup of 3rd or 4th place teams at best.
The significance of the game isn’t which two teams end up playing. For one, the two conferences own the game, it’s not owned by some shady non-profit corporate entity that only exists on paper only and keeps half the proceeds of the game themselves and gives out the other half to the teams. So every last penny the game is worth goes back to the two conferences. So it’s not a bowl game in the traditional definition.
Most importantly, it further distances the major conferences from everybody else. It clearly defines those conferences as the SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten, Pac 12. The ACC is done as a major conference. If any of the teams in the ACC want to continue being in a major conference, then they have the phone numbers of the other conference commissioners.
7576DAWG
May 21st, 2012
2:56 pm
This makes Notre Dame irrelevant unless they can end up in the top 4. Unless they are willing to schedule 3 or 4 top match-ups a year their arrogance in not joining a conference just bit them in the rear end.
Delbert D.
May 21st, 2012
2:59 pm
@Archie – And vice-versa. The conferences with holes to fill are the Big 12 (4), PAC-12 (4), the SEC (2) and the Big Ten (4). That is 14 additional teams. Every entity will scramble for the best fits. The SEC won’t likely dawdle at going to 16 because they want to pick the best plums. The Big Texas (sorry, the Big 12) looks to grab 2 really soon, but Texas is on the record that they do not want a CCG. They seem to get their way.
GTBob
May 21st, 2012
2:59 pm
@Delaney – That seems to be the easiest solution; 4 superconferences, 64 teams.
If they actually do this then the anti trust lawsuits and congressional interference is going to be huge. 64 teams cant just decide they are the only ones who matter. There would have to be a new NCAA subdivision created.
Delbert D.
May 21st, 2012
3:00 pm
Notice I already ceded FSU and Clemson to the Big 12 in my numbers.
Charlie
May 21st, 2012
3:05 pm
Clever move by Slive. The presidents dont want to rock the bowls(yes all thirty of them) and wont until forced. This puts tremendous pressure on the presidents to get something done. Using the existing bowl structure for an eight team play is logical and doable. Only espn and a few 6-5 teams will be disappointed.
7576DAWG
May 21st, 2012
3:07 pm
The more I look at how significant this move is the more I like it. I think the purpose of this is ” SMALL MOVES ” will in the end get rid of the BSC calling the shots completely and we will have an 8 team playoff. About ten of the bowl games need to disappear which will leave a group of descent match ups with the ranked teams that are left. I really think the first thing that needs to happen is to say you are not BOWL ELIGIBLE unless you win at least 7 games. A 6 win year does not deserve post season play.
SEC Observer
May 21st, 2012
3:11 pm
Buckeye
May 21st, 2012
12:42 pm
“How about a match up between the winner of the SEC!SEC! Least and Conference USA??”
And what bowl do you predict Ohio State will be in this season? Oops forgot, they’ll be sitting at home during the post-season.
BravesFan79
May 21st, 2012
3:50 pm
No one cares about any game thats not the national championship game anyways! If the Nets and Bobcats played in a “exhibition” game during the playoffs and they called it a bowl… would anyone care! HELLNO! I feel the same about college football, have for about 10 years.
Two Bits
May 21st, 2012
4:00 pm
@ Braves – I agree that there is bowl fatigue, but it’s crazy to say that no one cares about any bowls other than the NC game. An 8-4 FSU team played an 8-4 ND team in late December in Orlando last year, and a sellout crowd of over 68,000 showed up. Two teams with a combined 5 losses played in the same venue a few days later and more than 61,000 were in attendance. No NC ramifications whatsoever, and yet about 130,000 people combined cared enough to travel to those games.
mexdawg
May 21st, 2012
4:02 pm
Mark what happens to the Sugar Bowl?I`d much rather go to NO than Dallas.
Delbert D.
May 21st, 2012
4:24 pm
The Sugar Bowl took Michigan and Va. Tech. In the BCS, who knows what they will do?
GFJacket
May 21st, 2012
5:48 pm
Two Bits, you are correct – - it all depends on the fan base. Rabid fans from a large alumni base will always support their team.
With the plethora of bowls, we need to acknowledge the other end of the spectrum. I propose the Ty-D-Bowl, where the two worst teams in college will face off to see which program is really in the toilet. Besides the namesake sponsor, Clorox, Scrubbing Bubbles, etc. would also dump money on this game…
LakeDawg
May 21st, 2012
6:14 pm
I agree, Mark. I don’t get what the hype is all about. I don’t even see how it helps the SEC/BIG12 position themselves in the playoff picture. Oh well. Should be a good game no matter what. Unlike you, I enjoy almost all of the bowls whether a championship is riding on them or not.
Rick James
May 21st, 2012
6:16 pm
The SEC champion will more than likely be in the four team playoff for the national championship.Then what? The loser of the SEC championship game? I guess the same will hold true for the Big 12..I’m sure the game will rotate between Atlanta an Dallas which would be nice.
Snoopdawg
May 21st, 2012
6:37 pm
What does it matter, anyway? UGA isn’t going to be winning championships as long as they have incompetent coaches. Bama is cleaning Richt’s clock in recruiting btw.
Brian VanGorder's Pornstache
May 21st, 2012
6:49 pm
GTBob, if the 4-conference 64-team scenario played out, there would likely be a secession of sorts from the NCAA, with the power schools forming their own organization.
Hillbilly D
May 21st, 2012
7:34 pm
So the Big 12 Champion will meet the SEC champion on New Years Day, except for when they don’t?
Beast from the East
May 21st, 2012
7:38 pm
Hilbilly D,
Exactly!
Score Check
May 21st, 2012
9:48 pm
Coach Sick Satan = SCUM
Coach Sick Satan = SCUM
Coach Sick Satan = SCUM
Tweak your knee and he leaves you twisting in the wind
Doug
May 21st, 2012
10:43 pm
ND is in the acc bob? What an idiot
GTville
May 21st, 2012
10:44 pm
Everyone is saying how great the B12 is…but why? They have TX and OK.. and who? What if in this new bowls first year they get Iowa State and Old Miss? What a fabulous game. The only way the B12 will be great as a conference and not as just two great programs is if many of the ACC teams and Notre Dame join them. Otherwise, if ND joins the ACC, then you have the entire Eastern USA and ND…you cannot leave that much of the country out of consideration for the new playoff.
The upper tier SEC is just awesome, the lower tier is good to adequate. 6 teams were NC’s since 1980’s…many won multiple times; ACC has 4; B12 has 2.
fds
May 21st, 2012
10:48 pm
yeah i wouldn’t want to play boise either dawg. last time you did, you got the crap beat out of you.
niedermeyer
May 21st, 2012
11:01 pm
Time before that, douchebag fds, we sent Jared packin fudge back to potato Land!! lol
niedermeyer
May 21st, 2012
11:04 pm
Snoopfart: Dont smoke too much my colored brother…rooseters bout to come out and crow!!
GT Bob, Jr.
May 21st, 2012
11:06 pm
Dad hides in the Varsity corner snortin down chilli cheese dogs when pressured…
jimmycrackcorndog
May 21st, 2012
11:10 pm
This is hilarious….2nd hand smoke in the AIR…will never amount to a hill of beans….serves ZERO purpose for SEC!
Dave
May 21st, 2012
11:14 pm
How do you get college presidents to agree to a playoff structure when 90% of them will never see that 4 team playoff? Guaranteed bowls outside the playoff. If a playoff is really going to kill off bowls, then you won’t get the votes you need to make a playoff happen.
Step 1 is a lucrative landing spot for conference #2, since the Big 4 typically send 2 teams to BCS bowls with BCS payouts. I am sure we’ll see an expansion of the conference-owned bowl game concept as we roll down the road.
It also in essence represents a shot across the bow of ESPN. No accident that the two conferences currently in negotiations with the WWL are basically showing the resolve to take their post-season act elsewhere, if necessary.
Leverage on multiple fronts.
Tdawg
May 21st, 2012
11:59 pm
Folks the ACC ain’t going anywhere. The West Virgina snub was a big time screw up on their part though. The ACC will get stronger that is if Miami and FSU hang around. North Carolina I think is a team waiting to explode onto the scene. That is, if they can stop tripping over their own feet.
Another bowl? Why the heck not. One more crap bowl won’t make a difference. I have a stunning idea that would at least make the bowls more worth watching. How about opening all the bowls up for the best possible match ups. In other words get rid of those stupid bowl conference tie ins. How about just getting the best two teams on the field and let them play each other. I mean please. You gonna give the Big East an open invitation to the Orange Bowl or is it the ACC winner to the Orange bowl? That use to be the best Holiday bowl match up of the lot. Now it has been regulated to a joke.
Tdawg
May 22nd, 2012
12:13 am
LHarding correct and you may want to add that the last time Georgia and Ohio State tangled, the Buckeye took their butts home with a L also.
Look In The Mirror
May 22nd, 2012
12:35 am
GTBob
May 21st, 2012
1:10 pm
It will bury the Rose Bowl in ratings.
The National Championship barely beats the Rose Bowl in ratings. This game won’t come close.
You are a Reeee-Tard!
The Rose Bowl numbers have been falling for years in ratings on a FREE national broadcast, while the BCS CG is on a cable channel….but still draws major higher numbers than the Doze Bowl.
Once again your jeolousy of the Big Boy conference is eating you inside out.
BCS ESPN 14.01
Rose ABC 10.0
Look In The Mirror
May 22nd, 2012
12:37 am
Score Check
May 21st, 2012
9:48 pm
Coach Sick Satan = SCUM
Coach Sick Satan = SCUM
Coach Sick Satan = SCUM
Tweak your knee and he leaves you twisting in the wind
Infatuated with the man who owns college football…is your real name Michael Carvell?
rw
May 22nd, 2012
12:41 am
I can’t help but wonder if this might mean the BCS is leaning towards a plus one model – play the bowls and then #1 and #2 after the bowls play a week later. The Big 10/PAC-12 and Big 12/SEC bowl games become defacto semi-final games most years; but without any anti-trust problems. Legally, if Boise State finishes #2 they are in the title game so there are no anti-trust issues. In practice, the winners of the Rose and SEC/Big 12 games will be #1 and #2 almost every year. (I am assuming that the top 2 to 4 ACC football schools end up moving to the Big 12.)
mike shula
May 22nd, 2012
12:52 am
LOOK: Coach Saban = Wins and Natl. Championships…lol
mike shula
May 22nd, 2012
12:55 am
rw..Quit reading too much into this hoopla.
Look In The Mirror
May 22nd, 2012
1:42 am
mike shula
May 22nd, 2012
12:52 am
LOOK: Coach Saban = Wins and Natl. Championships…lol
AMEN!!
Thomas Brown
May 22nd, 2012
6:13 am
Sugar Bowl in New Orleans has been a DUD bowl game for The SEC because of the Rose Bowl and the BCS; there has not been a significant match-up at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans with the BCS pitting us against whomever, and I do mean whomever.
This is the most significant news of the entire bowl game history now because the Big XII and The SEC will now pit our own opponents, not that whom is dictated to us by the BCS and Rose Bowl.
Michigan
Virginia Tech
Cincinnati
Utah
Hawaiʻi
Notre Dame
Florida State
Miami of Florida
Texas A&M
These are the type teams we’ve been getting for Sugar Bowl opponents.
NO MORE.
Huge.
Thomas Brown
May 22nd, 2012
6:24 am
Mark Richt has a LOSING RECORD to Nick Saban.
Nick Saban signed 8 Georgia kids 2012 of 4-stars or more while Mark Richt signed only 5 in-state of 4-stars or more. Our recruiting class 2013 already clearly is a whole lot of the lesser kids, while our state continues to be raided for the top football players. Look at our average number of stars and you will see, or look at the top players in-state and see how few of the top players we are signing.
This is why we find that while The SEC has Won 33 games against teams achieving top 10 in the polls since we last won The SEC Championship Game way back in 2005, eight (8) seasons ago now 2012 season, we’ve won only 1 of the 33.
Only Vandie and Missy State have fewer wins over teams achieving top 10 in the polls after 2005 than us of all SEC teams.
Of course when you over-sign 109 toward our only 85-man limit as we have and have 33 attrition, leaving you with only 76 remaining of the last 109 signed, you have self-imposed the most ardent NCAA Probation on yourself.
It makes no sense that Mark Richt has had the most NFL drafted players and yet is # 6 of just 2012 SEC teams in won/lost record after 2005.
We’re not beating the top teams and the recruits have noticed. This does not mean shut me up; because the recruits all noticed it anyway already long ago; it means do something about (1) recruits in-state and (2) beating top teams.
We’re not doing either, are we ?
my humble guess...
May 22nd, 2012
7:06 am
This is how the BCS will get rid of the automatic bids. The will start a playoff system. This will go to the highest bidder, bowl, stadium whatever. They will dump the other BCS games, but the money will now go to this game, the Rose and other big bowls without mandatory Big East and ACC teams.
Thomas Brown
May 22nd, 2012
7:22 am
Of the top 100 recruits 2013 according to Scout.com this morning, we have a skinny QB way down the list who only has 5 other offers when we have 5 QB already on the roster all of whom return for him to compete against 2013, and all of them are higher rated than he. He hasn’t thrown the football yet when in our pass-happy offense, his 4.81 speed as a skinny QB means he is slower than every SEC defensive lineman, when the rap on him is that he stands around in the pocket unaware. He is the only in-state commitment we have of the top 100 overall recruits 2013 according to Scout.com this morning.
The only other “commitment” we have of the top 100 Scout.com national recruits is a rotund running back who wants to play running back when we have 5 of the top running backs in the nation, all kids on our roster already all of whom he would have to compete with for a carry if at all in 2013. Should some of the top RB we have already have good seasons 2012, and how could they not with only 1 opponent all season long who made any top 25 poll at all, this over-sized running back will bolt, won’t he ? And, if he doesn’t who do you take carries away from for him to get a carry 2013 ? Reasonably, these are the 2 positions we DON’T NEED ANY COMMITMENT AT.
Alabama has 5 of the top 100 Scout.com recruits 2013 committed, having already won 2 of the current 3 NC, and having won 6 games against top 10 teams after 2005 when we last won The SEC Championship Game, while we’ve won 1.
So, we are losing ground in recruiting when that is our only strength, not winning games against top teams.
When you don’t beat top teams and everyone knows it, that doesn’t mean shut up those who dare to say it out loud, like the recruits are so stupid they will not find out if it just wasn’t said.
We’re not playing in this new bowl game, even with our 11 cupcake schedule of 12 games with no home game worth driving to Athens for, not 1. And, if there were 1, we wouldn’t win it.
Cash In
May 22nd, 2012
7:30 am
the big10/pac10 champs play in the rose bowl—very big. the SEC/Big12 champs will play in this new bowl—probably in Jerry Jones new stadium in dallas–could be big, but there is no tradition like the rose bowl. Main advantage–SEC/Big 12 pockets all the profit instead of some corrupt bowl game committee getting a big chunk.
Hal
May 22nd, 2012
7:34 am
This is like an auto manufacturer introducing a car that gets 12 miles per gallon.
Thomas Brown
May 22nd, 2012
7:58 am
No, Hal, this is like 2 of the 4 football conferences pitting ourselves against each other, just as the PAC-12 and Big Ten do in the Rose Bowl. And, it is, has been and will be a more significant bowl than the Rose Bowl – making this game the Grand Daddy of them All.
Will there be a Plus One ? Well, that’s what I’ve called for and NOTHING ELSE for years. Pitting 2 SEC teams against each other in a re-match, is what caused it now finally. I could care how, all I know is that all I’ve ever said on the topic is now the case.
In the meantime, we have a bowl opponent for The SEC who clearly is going to be higher ranked than the cruddy opponents the BCS assisgned to us such as 5-Loss Florida State for Georgia in 2002.
Bea Bea Ess
May 22nd, 2012
8:29 am
With all the sports in Athens last weekend, the media completely missed the story of the UGA library burning down. Not to worry, though. Both books were covered by insurance and will be replaced.
Brand Awareness ................it ain't the hapless ACC
May 22nd, 2012
8:51 am
ACC, less FSU and Miami ( two well known NATIONAL brands) will have to merge into a league made up of Furman, Millsaps College, Elon College and maybe even College of Charleston and georgia State ( for the Allanta tv market) and U of Chattanooga.
Their bowl revenue will consist of Two ( yes two) Cheeseburgers, fries and Coke at the Varsity. Their game with be played at Gray High School’s stadium.
Thomas Brown
May 22nd, 2012
9:03 am
“FSU and Miami ( two well known NATIONAL brands)”
___________________________________________
# 51 Florida State
# 58 Miami of Florida
Win Percentage after 2005
are not exactly national brands.
UGA is # 21 and this is not acceptable for # 11 all-time in wins.
Georgia tek is # 30 in Won/Lost Record after 2005 by direct comparison.
http://football.stassen.com/cgi-bin/records/calc-wp.pl?start=2006&end=2011&rpct=0&min=0&by=Win+Pct
This is NOT a STAT; it is what is known as your WON/LOST RECORD.
Miami and FSU, what a joke – like all the ACC and Big East.
Old Dawg
May 22nd, 2012
9:17 am
Spot on, as usual, Mark.
Delbert D.
May 22nd, 2012
10:16 am
@7:06″This is how the BCS will get rid of the automatic bids.”
This is how they get rid of the BCS. Their contract expires with the 2013 season, and it would be a really swell idea to keep them out of the picture.
Thomas Brown
May 22nd, 2012
12:38 pm
They haven’t been in the picture except for their one 2-team play-off – like that ever made any sense whatsoever. They don’t give a hoot about the other 4 BCS bowl games, and prove that with their pitiful match-ups they offered the Sugar Bowl for The SEC the dominant football conference. How in the world is even # 2 or # 3 determined when the BCS offered up SEC Champion and # 3 AP Poll Georgia a 5-loss FSU 2002 ?
It is high time that the BCS or whatever is next, chooses at least + 1 and has 4 teams playing 1-4 and 2-3 about December 20, the winner of those to play each other about January 2. If the bowl games get shoved to nothingness as a result, it is the fault of the Rose Bowl to force The DOMINANT CONFERENCE, SEC, to follow-suit like this. Our game will be FAR BETTER than the Rose Bowl. Wins by PAC-10 teams against the hapless Big Ten NEVER MEANT ANYTHING to college football. Grand Daddy of them All in name, only. This game puts that game, to shame.