Do bowls count when judging conference strength?
- Thread starter mkbrkloster
- Start date
I think non conference games between teams from two different conferences is a good indicator.
Good question and I don't know the answer anymore. With so many players opting out now I guess if somebody made me answer I'd say, sometimes. Top tier bowls, yes. Lower tier, not so much.
Only three teams are rated in the B1G and I would expect only three teams will be ranked by the time it is all said and don…
The bottom line this year in the B1G..
The bottom line this year in the B1G..
I never thought the bowls really told all that much about a conference....PAC/SEC teams more or less have home games, B1G and Big 12 are always the de facto road team...doesn't seem like a level playing field for comparison.
To be fair, I attended the 1996 Fiesta Bowl and the 2002 Rose Bowl...both felt like home games for Nebraska, at least from the attending fan perspective. I'm guessing the 1994/1995 Orange Bowls did not feel anything like a home game for Nebraska.
The opt-outs and transfers make it hard to get much of a read. For example, Wisconsin probably benefited from both starting QBs opting out of their bowl game.
Baylor played Air Force in Fort Worth. (de facto HOME)
OSU played Wisconsin in Phoenix. (de facto NEUTRAL)
Kansas played Arkansas in Memphis. (de fact AWAY)
Texas Tech played Old Mississippi in Houston. (de facto HOME)
Oklahoma plays FSU in Orlando. (de facto AWAY)
Texas plays Washington in San Antonio. (de facto HOME)
K-State plays Alabama in New Orleans. (de facto NEUTRAL)
TCU plays Michigan in Phoenix. (de facto NEUTRAL)
Ha someone always has to bring in facts, well done...ok so SOME of the Big 12 plays more or less home games in bowls....now do the Big 10.
starting on Dec 31 they do
anything prior is an exhibition
anything prior is an exhibition
I was at both too, but the 1996 Fiesta bowl seems like there was way more Nebraska fans…
This exactly. Especially now with so many players opting out of all the other meaningless bowl games.
everything should be taken in context. i believe the txt/ole miss game was probably a fair match as will be the k-state/bama sugar bowl. but arkansas had a ton of guys out yesterday and still beat ku, while the same can be said for oSu being down a lot when losing a tight one to wisconsin.
Wisky had a lot out too the difference in that game was Wisky’s QB was much better than what the pokes had..
Only if the results confirm your opinion of the conference.
In all fairness, if you're a Texas team, you probably get a home game. If you're not, you probably don't.
Depends what your narrative is. If your conference is doing well in bowl games, they mean something. If your conference is doing crappy, they don't mean anything.
I covered the 1984 Orange Bowl for the Daily Nebraskan. It wasn't like a Miami home game at all. They had twice as many Hurricane fans as normal.
Only bowl games that matter now are the playoffs. Many teams DGAF about a lower bowl and many top guys opt out. Its nothing more than a free trip.
This is also true. I have a feeling if the B1G was losing all these bowl games they’d be taking a beating on here and everywhere else 😂
If a conference you like does well, absolutely.
If they do poorly, then no, not at all. The teams were not motivated to be there, the weather was too cold, or the matchups were not fair. Might have had a lot of injuries also.
faster horses, younger women, older whiskey and more MONEY are the only things that count
Bowl game's only validate the SEC's dominance if they win. If they lose they didn't want to be there and unfocused.
Are there more transfers and drop outs in one conference compared to another? Seems like that is universally hitting all of college football. Jon from Corncrazed quipped that when the SEC wins a bowl game, it is because they are the best conference. And when they lose a bowl game, it is only because they didn't care or try.
Never have. The worst measuring stick especially with conference contracts with the bowl games. Make it to where 5 plays 6, 7 plays 8, 9 plays 10 all the way down the line to the final game. These games where its the B1Gs 5th place team vs the PAC-10s 3rd place team or whatever they choose is ridiculous. We al know the SEC is the #1 conference. No arguing it. B1G has 3 good teams then a bunch of teams vying for trailer park rankings. Same with Big 12 and Pac 12. ACC would probably be bottom. I think whoever plays the bowl games should automatically be the 1st game of their seasons.
I mean the SEC has two really good teams this year, then the test are average to hot garbage. Really it’s just Georgia and Bama and even Bama was down this year, by their standards.
Tennessee was not the same without Hooker.
That's a reasonable take. I believe the K-State/Bama game pits the two second best teams in the B12/SEC. The TCU/M game pits the two best in those leagues. Then whatever happens afterwards in the CFP.
Those games tell us about conference strength, the others, not so much and some absolutely nothing. Texas is a shell of itself tonight, for example.
Ha. Texas has played "like a shell of itself" at least three times this season. Something tells me that the team we are seeing tonight, an 8-4, good but far from great team, is EXACTLY what the Horns are this year.
B1G was 7-30 against AP ranked teams this year.
SEC was 33-37 against AP ranked teams.
Big 12 was 16-25
ACC was 13-24
Pac12 was 16-35
SEC is the obvious toughest conference.
Without Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson on offense and D. Overshown on D, Texas is not the same team.
No, they are not. But that is on them.
Some programs have the type of culture where high draft pick players will participate in bowls and some don't. See FSU tonight.
I root for the SEC to lose because they really love boasting about their conference bowl record.
I would bet a lot of the SEC games were against other SEC teams. Kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Hate to break it to you, but BAMA DGAF about playing your little team in that piss ant bowl. There season is already a failure in their eyes. Good luck playing in your superbowl... 🤣
SEC chest thumping. Mizzery is an SEC team yet they get dominated by Wake Forest, an ACC team. I suppose it's because Mizzery didn't want to be there, right?
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