Cal angry, frustrated after Texas takes Rose Bowl spot

AP via yahoo ^ | 12/5/04 | GREG BEACHAM,

[diogenes ghost]

Sorry, vetvetdoug, your memory fails you. Tennessee has never won the Rose Bowl, but they did LOSE it twice. The Big 10/PAC 10 agreement ran from 1947 until the BCS screwed it up, along with other traditional bowl pairings. The BCS has not improved upon the old method of using one or two polls to determine Nat'l Champs. If it did, we would not be hearing arguments every year about some school getting shafted.

[The South Texan]

A typical response from another UC Bears fan. Coochee, cochee , cooo. HOOK'EM HORNS!!!

[dk/coro]

The big money guys have "jimmied" the college football system to the point now that I refuse to follow the teams. The dollars that have been introduced into college level football in the last two decades has turned the sport into nothing more than Junior Pro Ball. Totally out of control.

For a gent who played for Ara at Miami, Ohio in '52 and '53, and had the privilege of working in a college cafeteria for my room and board, the present system is shameful in the extreme.

To He** with it.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Cal's Rose Bowl drought reached 46 years despite one of the best regular seasons in school history...

Yes, that's right. Thanks for the memory.

My fiance and I were planning to get married at Christmas and attend the Rose bowl on our honeymoon in 1958-9 because my school (Cal) was going to play his school(Northwestern). At the last minute Northwestern lost its chance for a berth at the Rose Bowl and Michigan played instead. We postponed our wedding until the end of my semester (January 30) as a result and honeymooned in Wisconsin.

We're still married and will celebrate our 46th anniversary February 7 (and, by coincidence, now we live in Wisconsin).

[SevenMinusOne]

Actually, they probably aren't overranked.

Get out of town - $$ talk and WI, OSU, LSU, MI, IA, TN, Auburn, VA Tech would all be favored over Texas AM, Tech Tech and Oklahoma State in Vegas - And that is the bottom-line...(they are most certainly over-ranked) - You don't follow lines in Vegas at all to even suggest otherwise - You'd be giving 6 to 10 pts ...period.

[wita]

Finally, someone mentions the team that really got screwed, except for their at least being in the BCS bowl system, instead of outside looking in. It took 11 wins and an unbeaten season to do it. Now we can hope the Utes don't choke on pitt, and remain unbeaten while the rest of the unbeaten are beaten. Not sure if any unbeaten are playing unbeaten in bowl games.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

The team? No, of course not. The school? Without question.

Quite a few conservatives came out of my class at Michigan.

[Binghamton_native]

Here is the basic problem with the BCS. There are 4 or maybe 5 historically important bowl games: Orange, Sugar, Cotton, Rose, and in recent years Fiesta. So, one might think that the 8-10 slots in these games would be filled by the 8-10 top BCS teams. However, if you are a West Coast team this will never happen. Your only chance is the Rose Bowl, or whichever bowl hosts the 1-2 teams if you are #1 or #2. Why? Follow the money trail. The bowl committees know that they will sell more tickets if the schools involved are fairly close to the site of the game. It is 1500-3000 miles for West Coast fans to all of the top games other than the Rose Bowl and the Fiesta bowl. Hence, you will not see a good West coast team invited to the Orange, Sugar, or Cotton bowls, unless under the circumstances described above.

I think Cal got screwed, and I'm a Stanford alum.

[Alberta's Child]

The SEC has five teams ranked among the top 20 in the country, including Auburn (3), Georgia (8), LSU (12), Tennessee (15), and Florida (20). That's pretty remarkable . . . 1 out of every 4 teams in the Top 20 are from the SEC.

In addition to that, consider the teams in the conference -- including Georgia and LSU (both 9-2), Florida (7-4) and even Alabama (6-5) who finished the season with all of their losses to other teams in the conference.

That's what makes the SEC such a tough conference. All the good teams seem to beat each other every year, and the top-ranked team in the conference usually finishes the season with one loss.

[vetvetdoug]

I did see a Rose Bowl Trophy. I think even the loser got a trophy. I didn't say they won, I just saw the trophy. My memory was correct about the trophy, I didn't say they won.

[Dog Gone]

I think Cal got screwed, but it was either going to be them or Texas. But either was more deserving of a BCS bowl than Michigan who lost its last game and had two losses during the season. And don't get me started about Pitt.

Really, there is only one solution to the BCS mess. Let ME pick the bowl matchups.

[dfwgator]

Like I said before, they decide champions in Division I-A the same way they decide who wins in Figure Skating. Might as well have the judges after every game hold up cards with the number of "style points." I would have given USC a "4.5" for their win over UCLA.

[AppyPappy]

I would bet on another co-championship if Auburn thrashes Va Tech and the National Championship game is a snoozer.

Not a chance. VT is #9. And I don't think Auburn will thrash the Hokies. Too much defense.

[AppyPappy]

The conference ties should be severed. It would gurantee 4 great games.

I disagree. The conf champs gives teams that play tough schedules. That's why I think Auburn should be in the big game. If you are undefeated in the SEC, you should play for the big game.

[Mr. Jeeves]

I think Cal got screwed, but it was either going to be them or Texas.

Texas will bring more eyeballs to the TV screen than Cal, so the result was perhaps predictable. Got to keep those advertisers happy. ;)

[saminfl]

And I detest Michigan, so this one will be fun.

I also detest Michigan, but I'll be rooting for them this year after what the BCS did to Cal. I hope the PAC-10 does pull out of the BCS.

[Hoodlum91]

One of the reasons I like I-AA football better than the Big Guys.

They have a playoff system. How novel!!

IMO, I-A football will continue to be a laughing stock as long as a computer decides who's the champion. Sorry to break it to all you college football fans, but the titles are meaningless. Thanks to the BCS, we'll never know who is really #1.

[Edmund Burke]

Don't knock Michigan too much. Michigan has won more games than any other team in the history of football and also has the highest winning percentage.

[Dog Gone]

The effect on the Big 12 is a huge financial windfall. Not only is the Rose Bowl payout going to that conference instead of the Pac-10, but A&M got bumped up to the Cotton Bowl and Tech to the Holiday Bowl.