Rutgers????

[waltwal]

For some reason i have completely lost interest in the NFL. So i can guarantee that the nfl will never make a dime off me on the new NFL channel tv broadcasts. i am also a Cal guy so i would not have watched the Rutgers game anyway but can anyone explain to me how Rutgers could have finally gotten to a bowl game and then had minimal tv exposure? i have time-warner cable and i have never seen anything about the nfl channel. How could the Rutgers college game have gotten tied up with the NFL channel? I am assuning that very few people had access to the Rutgers game broadcast. it just doesn't make sense. Am i missing something?

[Logan]

The Houston evi1.net (or something like that) Bowl went bankrupt. As a result, it was bought by the NFL and renamed the Texas Bowl. The NFL also teamed up with a couple other bowls (Insight Bowl being one in particular) to secure their broadcast rights, which they wanted to put on the NFL Network to increase their exposure and get on a bunch of cable networks.

And yes, it sucked that the game wasn't originally available to a large portion of our fan base.

[waltwal]

That is really too bad for rutgers fans. But how in the world could Rutgers have had such a fine season and then gotten stuck in a bankrupt bowl. That #@@@$$%%%^ing BCS system has got to go. Notre Dame and Boise State (2 teams that beat nobody) go to big-time bowls and Rutgers plays before 26 people with no tv exposure in a bankrupt bowl.

[ISiddiqui]

Yeah, that was really dumb. Rutgers probably could have gotten some very good ratings on an ESPN (and I'd get it in HD to boot!). It probably would have beaten the pants off the Cal-Texas A&M game last night if it was on ESPN2.

[Logan]

That is really too bad for rutgers fans. But how in the world could Rutgers have had such a fine season and then gotten stuck in a bankrupt bowl. That #@@@$$%%%^ing BCS system has got to go. Notre Dame and Boise State (2 teams that beat nobody) go to big-time bowls and Rutgers plays before 26 people with no tv exposure in a bankrupt bowl.

To be fair, a lot of the problems came from the bowl affiliation negotiations taking place right after Miami/VT/BC left the Big East, so our commish was really in a tough spot. That said, there's still no excuse for our #3 team to go to Houston and to be associated with the International Bowl in Toronto on Jan 6th.

[miked]

Yeah, it's not all the BCS, but a lot of tie-in games as well. Did they deserve to be in the BCS over ND, maybe. But I will bet that they deserved to be in a good bowl over the overrated teams like UGA, Auburn, Nebraska, etc, that went to good bowls. With the matchup this year, the Cotton Bowl will be bankrupt as well. I hear they've had the worst sales of any major bowl.

[MizzouRah]

I was wondering where that game was.

[JonInMiddleGA]

That #@@@$$%%%^ing BCS system has got to go.

Minus the BCS, the #3 (or lower) teams in conferences like the Big (L)East aren't going to fare any better than they do now.

[vex]

This had nothing to do with the BCS and everything with Rutgers losing games.

[Lathum]

This had nothing to do with the BCS and everything with Rutgers losing games.

I'm not sure I understand this? Notre Dame lost games and they are in a BCS game.

[Logan]

Minus the BCS, the #3 (or lower) teams in conferences like the Big (L)East aren't going to fare any better than they do now.

Always cool when the same stale, stupid arguments from 4 months ago keep on living.

[Young Drachma]

Always cool when the same stale, stupid arguments from 4 months ago keep on living.

Have to lie to themselves over and over or else....what will they have?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Always cool when the same stale, stupid arguments from 4 months ago keep on living.

I agree.

I don't know why the handful of whiners simply can't face the reality that hardly anybody gives a rat's ass about the Rutgers & Boise State's of the college football world.

The end of the BCS wouldn't change a thing, as presumably we would simply return to the pre-BCS bowl system.

And that was the reason for my comment. Not a random shot at the conferences like the Big East, that was the whole reason I put the "L" in parentheses this time: trying to make the point that as long as these mid-major (or worse) teams are playing in mid-major (or worse) conferences, bowls aren't going to be eager to invite them regardless of whether there's a BCS or not. They could be the greatest football powerhouses in the history of the game and they still aren't going to generate that much interest at this stage of their development. Without the perception that they're actually worth a damn to begin with, nothing they do on the field in the early stages of success is going to generate a lot of interest.

Casual fans, which many bowls rely upon to sell tickets locally, don't give a damn about Rutgers, Boise State, or Directional State University. They'd rather see teams they've actually heard of, or can at least remember having some success in the past 30-40 years. That's not Rutgers fault, that's not the Big East's fault, that's just the way it is.

[Logan]

Casual fans, which many bowls rely upon to sell tickets locally, don't give a damn about Rutgers, Boise State, or Directional State University. They'd rather see teams they've actually heard of, or can at least remember having some success in the past 30-40 years. That's not Rutgers fault, that's not the Big East's fault, that's just the way it is.

Once again...

Did casual fans clamor for Miami at the start of the 80's?

How about Virginia Tech in the early 90's?

[Klinglerware]

Once again...

Did casual fans clamor for Miami at the start of the 80's?

How about Virginia Tech in the early 90's?

The devil's advocate argument here is--"sure, of course. So why should Rutgers be handed anything to them so early on? Miami and VTech sure didn't get any respect early on either. They also had to claw their way into the national consciousness, as Rutgers has to do now" If Rutgers can win consistently in the next 10 years (I think they can), the casual fan base will build and proper respect will be accorded...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Once again...
Did casual fans clamor for Miami at the start of the 80's?
How about Virginia Tech in the early 90's?

You're making my point: talk to me after several years of success & then you've got a better case.

This isn't anything new. In their first successful season under Bowden, FSU finished 10-2 & in about the same spot in the polls that Rutgers is probably going to end up. Their reward? The mighty Tangerine Bowl.

1980 Miami? Peach Bowl (which was lower profile then than now)
1993 Va Tech? Independence Bowl

For all of these teams, the higher profile bowls came later, not in their first year of decency.

[VPI97]

How about Virginia Tech in the early 90's?
Uhhh...we went to the Independence Bowl to start our run of bowl appearances. I'd rate the Texas Bowl as a better destination than Shreveport.

Only after a couple seasons did we start to go to the big bowls ('95 Sugar, then '96 Orange), and that's only because we won our conference...not finishing third like RU did this season. Anyway, how about you guys actually put together more than one good season before bitching about what bowl you went to?

[Joe]

I'm not sure I understand this? Notre Dame lost games and they are in a BCS game.

all losses are not equal

[waltwal]

Rutgers and Greg Schiano was the feel good story of the year in college football. it makes sense to me that their bowl game should have been able to be seen by any fans whether casual or rabid.

[VPI97]

Rutgers and Greg Schiano was the feel good story of the year in college football. it makes sense to me that their bowl game should have been able to be seen by any fans whether casual or rabid.
and here I thought Wake Forest was...

[waltwal]

good point. i hope i get to watch Wake Forest in a Bowl game as well.

[RendeR]

Always cool when the same stale, stupid arguments from 4 months ago keep on living.


Far be it for me to agree with Jon but what was true then is true now. The voters don't believe in the Big east, period. If Rutgers puyts together a string of 10+ win seasons that might change, but its far harder to change 50 years of reputation in college than it is say, in the NFL.

Let them build a consistant winner and they'll get the big name bowls. until then they'll get relegated to the shyte-style america bowl every time.

Fair? maybe not, true? absolutely.

[Young Drachma]

Rutgers did go to the Insight Bowl last year and lost in a shootout to Arizona State. So they've made two straight appearances. I think they obviously need to sustain their success to have true gripes and it's not as if I'm biased against the system for them, I think it's a crappy system no matter who gets screwed by it.

[waltwal]

to me it is just a mystery that we saw a lesser Rutgers team last year on tv in a bowl game and this year we don't get to see a superior Rutgers team.

Iam also not too sure i agree with the respect factor. if Rutgers was the best team in the nation this year does that mean that we have too see another 5 years of good rutgers teams too see them in a major Bowl. In my opinion if i was representing a major bowl i would have jumped at the chance to have them in a bowl after all the publicity they generated this year. i guess my complaint is not only with the BCS to some degree but with the system that says a 3rd place team goes to a certain bowl against a 3rd place team from a specified conference. i am not too sure how i feel about that system at this point.

my complaint is that while i was going to watch the Cal-A&M game i would have liked to have a game to turn to during timeouts especially a game that had Rutgers in it. i also can't ever recall a Bowl game in the last 20 years that was not available on general tv.

[Passacaglia]

to me it is just a mystery that we saw a lesser Rutgers team last year on tv in a bowl game and this year we don't get to see a superior Rutgers team.

Iam also not too sure i agree with the respect factor. if Rutgers was the best team in the nation this year does that mean that we have too see another 5 years of good rutgers teams too see them in a major Bowl. In my opinion if i was representing a major bowl i would have jumped at the chance to have them in a bowl after all the publicity they generated this year. i guess my complaint is not only with the BCS to some degree but with the system that says a 3rd place team goes to a certain bowl against a 3rd place team from a specified conference. i am not too sure how i feel about that system at this point.

my complaint is that while i was going to watch the Cal-A&M game i would have liked to have a game to turn to during timeouts especially a game that had Rutgers in it. i also can't ever recall a Bowl game in the last 20 years that was not available on general tv.

But wasn't the reason for that explained in post #2? Blame the financial planners, not the BCS.

[Logan]

But wasn't the reason for that explained in post #2? Blame the financial planners, not the BCS.

Well to be fair, the reason it comes down to just money is because all but one of the bowls mean nothing in the grand scheme of things.

And to Jon and others...I typed up a long response that the board apparently ate up, so I'll be really brief. Jon, you're right and I did miss the original point you were making. I don't think RU got screwed, because like I said above, the bowl game means nothing with this setup. I wish we played a better opponent, as I'm confident we would beat all but a small handful of teams in the country. My problem is more that these bowls (Texas and International) are destined to fail. And people will associate the Big East with failed bowl games, which will only keep hurting the conference. Why would the Big 12 want to keep sending their 7th or 8th best team to get destroyed against one of Rutgers/Louisville/West Virginia every year? Who the hell thought it was a good idea to play a low-level bowl game in Toronto on January 6th, in between a bunch of games that people actually care about? Can you reasonably expect a school's fanbase to travel well to Toronto for a game of that magnitude, well after everyone has used up their vacation time during the holiday season? My problem is much more with BE commish Mike Tranghese than the BCS folk.

[Easy Mac]

bowls were going bankrupt long before the bcs.

[Logan]

bowls were going bankrupt long before the bcs.

Was this directed at me? I'm not following...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Jon, you're right and I did miss the original point you were making.

Thanks for acknowledging that. When I'm taking a below the belt shot at that-conference-which-shall-not-be-named, you'll know it ;)

Why would the Big 12 want to keep sending their 7th or 8th best team to get destroyed against one of Rutgers/Louisville/West Virginia every year?

$$

Or at least more $ than the conference gets if they don't send them.

Who the hell thought it was a good idea to play a low-level bowl game in Toronto on January 6th

Now that's a good question.

But I question the sanity of the organizers more than the conferences.
Bad bowl = more money than no bowl at all.

[Logan]

$$

This just jogged my memory of something that really did bother me about this game. Kansas State's payout for the game was $750K. Rutgers got $500K. How do you give an 8th place team more money than a 3rd place team? I'm glad this isn't well known, as it's embarrassing.