Nick Daschel is a veteran sports writer and columnist who has worked on the West coast for nearly three decades. Nick has covered the Pac-10 for about 15 years, primarily focusing on the Northwest schools.
When it comes to bowl matchups, frankly, I rarely go past a shoulder shrug. I mean, as long as you understand that college football and bowl cities are satisfied being elbow deep in each other’s pockets and couldn’t care less about determining a national champion through a playoff, why get worked up over Team A vs. Team B in a bowl game?
Ah, the old exception. Which I’m about to use.
Do I care who plays in the Alamo Bowl? The Yum! Brands Nutella Classic? No. But those bowls have piddling payoffs that barely cover the participating teams expenses.
A BCS bowl, and in the case I’m about to launch, the Fiesta Bowl, is handing out bags of cash. The payout for a 2010 BCS bowl game is $17.5 million, unless it’s the second team from a conference, and then it’s $4.5 million. Still, that’s almost double what the Pac-10’s most lucrative non-BCS bowl – the Holiday – paid out in 2008.
So when it comes to money, and with money, credibility, I care a little. Which caused me to shake my head this week while looking at several amusing media bowl predictions. On at least two occasions, prominent experts projected Penn State to play Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.
I have zero problem with Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. In fact, I endorse it. If the Broncos run the table, they deserve to be in a BCS game, even if Texas Christian does the same.
But Penn State? Over Southern California?
It’s not even close between those two, unless the sole criteria are the number of hotel room Nittany Lion fans can fill in the greater Phoenix area. Otherwise, it doesn’t add up.
Postseason production? If it’s this decade, no one is better than the Trojans.
Game attractiveness? You tell me which game the country would rather watch: Boise State vs. Penn State, or USC vs. Penn State? No wait, I’ll tell you. Trojans-Broncos would be the most watched bowl game of the season, outside of the BCS Championship game.
The story lines are rich. It was one thing for Boise State to knock off Bob Stoops in its first Fiesta Bowl trip. But getting Pete Carroll? That would be one for the ages. In Carroll and Chris Peterson, two of the best coaches in the game with time to prepare, going at it. Two hot young quarterbacks in Kellen Moore and Matt Barkley. Taylor Mays’ college finale.
You’d rather see Vanilla U. against Boise State? Not me, and my guess is, not that many people outside of Pennsylvania would, either.
Beyond that, what is the fascination with Penn State? Talk about a team that has taken a paved road to an 8-1 record. The Nittany Lions have played one Top 25 team to date, and lost – at home! In using CBSSportsline’s 120 rating of Division I teams, Penn State’s opponents to date have an average ranking of 70.
Is the goal here to play a representative Division I schedule, or play teams with rankings around the same age as JoePa?
Meanwhile, four of USC’s eight opponents are in this week’s Top 25, and another is just outside. Saturday, the Trojans hit the road for the sixth time in nine games, at Arizona State. Sure, it’s a ridiculous schedule and someone’s head at Heritage Hall should roll for putting it together.
I expect Penn State and USC will win out. And technically, the Nittany Lions will have a better record, 11-1 vs. 10-2. But the accomplishments do not compare. Penn State does not, and should not, be rewarded for playing an embarrassing non-conference schedule, particularly knowing it plays in a weak conference like the Big Ten.
If bowls still care a little about compelling matchups, it’s hard to believe the Fiesta Bowl would be interested in Penn State if USC were an eligible participant.
Isn’t the Big Ten’s annual doormat act in the Rose Bowl enough of a BCS bowl game eyesore?
It is time to punish teams who play creampuff OOC schedules. Let the teams who play real teams get the prize. That brings up Florida's OOC. They should get marked down also. When will the humans start looking at those stupid games against NW Nanny School and start discounting teams for playing them? Most of the SEC is guilty of this. Shame on them. They are afraid to play real teams while USC plays tOSU and Notre Dame. Can you say "Chicken"?
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