Just a little something to ponder, you can see the list compiled below. Since 1980, we've played in a bowl 28 times…in 11 bowls. That's right, we've played in only 11 different bowls in the last 31 years. That means we've been to most bowls. 2-4 times.
Since 1984, we've played in 24 bowls against only 15 opponents. We've played:
Twice:
FSU
Wisconsin
Purdue
Arkansas
BC
Three Times:
Michigan St.
Virginia
These are by biggest gripes with the bowl system. Every other school mostly has the same problem. South Carolina went to the Outback to play Ohio St. for 2 straight years. I don't really know the answer. The SEC has the best bowl tie-ins. It's not like we're going to send fans out to the Holiday Bowl or something. But I wish something could be done about the opponents. Could we get more Big 12 matchups, could we squeeze in a Pac-10 match-up somewhere? What about more ACC matchups that include us not playing a team from Virginia or Boston or FSU? How in the world have we not played Clemson or North Carolina in a bowl? Or Miami? How in the world have we not played Penn St. or Michigan all the times we've been to the Ouback or Cap One?
The best answer is to go to Big Time Bowls. Since '80, our matchups in the Sugar or Cotton have been: Notre Dame, Pitt, Penn St, Texas, FSU, WVU, and Hawaii. Not all great tradition schools, but the variety is much better than the standard UVA or Wisconsin matchup.
Year Bowl Opponent
1980 Sugar Notre Dame
1981 Sugar Pitt
1982 Sugar Penn St.
1983 Cotton Texas
1984 Citrus/Cap One FSU
1985 Sun Arizona
1986 Hall of Fame/Outback BC
1987 Liberty Arkansas
1988 Gator Mich. St
1989 Peach/CFA Syracuse
1990 N/A N/A
1991 Independence Arkansas
1992 Citrus/Cap One Ohio St.
1993 N/A N/A
1994 N/A N/A
1995 Peach/CFA Virginia
1996 N/A N/A
1997 HOF/Outback Wisconsin
1998 Peach/CFA Virginia
1999 HOF/Outback Purdue
2000 Oahu Virginia
2001 Music City BC
2002 Sugar FSU
2003 Citrus/Cap One Purdue
2004 HOF/Outback Wisconsin
2005 Sugar WVU
2006 Peach/CFA VaTech
2007 Sugar Hawaii
2008 Citrus/Cap One Mich. St.
2009 Independence Texas A&M
2010 Liberty UCF
2011 HOF/Outback Mich. St.
The conference tie-ins are the underlying problem and that goes to the money question. Slive doesn't care about who goes where only how much money is coming into the SEC's coffers and out to the member schools. The schools don't care about where they go because the coaches want the extra practice time and the bonuses, and the ADs want the cash to support non-revenue sports. The players & fans are the only ones who care about location & opponent. We all know what college football is about and it's not the players & fans.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking the loser of the SECCG should be 'protected.'Our Dawgs should be in NOLA for the Sugar Bowl.Tampa is a fine city but I prefer NOLA.That being said, CA$H Money is what drives all of this.As edethomas said:"It's not the players and fans." Sad that it has come down to this.It all makes perfect sense,explained in dollars and cents...other than that,it makes no sense at all.
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