The 6-6 Scenario
By Lake The Posts on
We as fans have a lot of Nebraska left to rehash, but the players have moved on to Rice. I know where your head is at so I’ve called in bowl correspondent “Green Jacket” to lay out the scenario should we win two of our last three.
Ladies and gents, we all know Rice is at hand and this is a team that beat Purdue, so we can’t take anything for granted. However, the team is in “1-0 this week” mode, we as fans can look down the road. If we win out, we’re going bowling, but what if we go 2-1 to end up 6-6? Everyone has been asking me, what happens? Well, I’m not the expert on everything so I brought in someone who is. I turn it over to our bowl expert, “Green Jacket”…
If you’re a crazy person like me, you made hotel reservations for Indianapolis, Pasadena , all the way down to Detroit way back in August. No matter how much you prepared, Saturday threw a surprising wrench in to the best laid plans.Before we discuss the twists and turns of bowl scenarios, I project the following: Northwestern would be selected ahead of a bowl eligible Purdue if both teams finish with identical records.
You’re used to, almost spoiled, by having two B1G teams in the BCS year-after-year. This season it’s a long shot at best. The only viable route is having Penn State run the table and then lose in a close B1G Championship Game making them an attractive at-large BCS selection.
Failing that, there will be nine or possibly 10 conference bowl eligible teams if you include Northwestern.
With eight conference affiliations, it’s beginning to feel like 2007 all over again. Remember those magical days of yesteryear when gas was $3.17 a gallon and your house was worth more? Here’s the feel-good news. There are more bowls on the landscape now and therefore a greater opportunity for selection outside the conference tie-ins.
If Northwestern finishes 6-6, I’m projecting the ‘Cats would be the final selection on the board (save Purdue) and would head to a bowl outside the B1G arrangement.
If Northwestern runs the table, finishes 7-5 on a five game win streak, including two games against ranked opponents, then every scenario of moving up is possible. Not likely, but possible.
Can a B1G-affiliated bowl select a 6-6 team over a 7-5 team? It depends on the individual bowl contracts. I’m fairly certain the lower tier bowls can, but I don’t see it happening based on this season.
Let’s start looking at bowls that may not fill out. All 7-5 teams must be off the table before a 6-6 team can be selected.
MACtacular
In recent years the MAC is the de facto conference for filling open spots. There are currently NINE teams in the conference with four or fewer losses. Some of these teams will get to seven wins and it’s guaranteed the MAC will have more bowl-eligible teams than contracted slots (three or four depending on how the ACC fares).
Wild and WACky stuff
The WAC may not fill out its spots (Hawaii has to win seven by virtue of a 13 game schedule) and may open up a slot in Hawaii or possibly Idaho.
PAC you very much
Two-of-three Pac-12 teams need a sixth win for the conference to fill out its slots. The New Mexico bowl may have an opening.
Hail to the Chief
Army and Navy have to win out (one won’t obviously) to secure bowl bids. That opens up the Kraft Fight Hunger and/or Military bowls.
Big 12 – 2-2=8
If Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both get in the BCS and Iowa State loses out (Oklahoma State,@Oklahoma, @Kansas State) and ONE of the these teams goes sub .500 (Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Missouri, Baylor), then a spot opens up in the Pinstripe Bowl.
At the end of the day, a 6-6 B1G team should be going somewhere even after all 7-5 teams are off the
table.
The Green Jacket
At the end of the day, a 6-6 B1G team should be going somewhere even after all 7-5 teams are off the table.
- The Green Jacket
LTP TIDBITS
Bowl Game Postscript
We’ll need to root against Purdue who at 4-5, has three games left as well. They have Ohio State, Iowa and Indiana on their slate. Getting two wins will be tough. As The Green Jacket pointed out, the Big Ten has had two teams in the BCS for years and this streak could very well snap should the 2-loss teams continue to mount. As of now, it appears the Big Ten would get one BCS entrant, the Rose Bowl, which would mean the following seven bowls are in play:
- Capital One Bowl (Orlando, FL) - January 2, 1pm et – ESPN
- Outback Bowl (Tampa, FL) – January 2, 1pm et – ABC
- Progressive Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, FL) – January 2, 1 pm et – ESPN2
- Insight Bowl (Tempe, AZ) – December 30, 10 pm et – ESPN
- Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas (Houston, TX) – December 31, 12 pm et – ESPN
- TicketCity Bowl (Dallas, TX) – January 2, 12pm et – ESPNU
- Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl (Detroit, MI) – December 27, 4:30 pm et – ESPN
Penn State Debacle
Also, with the resignation of the Penn State AD, Tim Curley, amid the Jerry Sandusky nasty sex/children exploitation scandal you might be wondering what my thoughts are on that topic. Well, like you, the first instinct is “horror story”. I’m still gathering my thoughts and will weigh in at some point this week. Just awful all the way around.
NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL EXHIBITION TONIGHT!
That’s right, basketball season is here! Northwestern hosts NAIA power Robert Morris at Welsh-Ryan Arena tonight at 7pm ct. The game can be found on BTN Digital which means no traditional TV. Tickets are just $10 and students are admitted free. It will be the first chance to see how Shurna, Crawford, Cobb, Luka and Alex mix with the freshmen in the post-Juice world. I will not be attending, but I look forward to your firsthand accounts. Click here for all the details on NUSports.com
Ebert Nabs National Offensive Player of Week Award
Senior WR Jeremy Ebert was named the Walter Camp Offensive Player of the Week for his 6 rec, 147 yard effort agasinst Nebraska. Ebert’s 81-yard TD reception, the second longest in school history, will be enshrined by NU fans as the exhibit “A” to anyone who questions our speed.
Rittenberg is projecting NU for the Pizza Bowl vs. a MAC team, and I’m sure he’s not assuming we’ll beat MSU since he’s got both MSU and Wis in BCS bowls. Why does he think B1G will have 2 BCS slots?
I’m not sure, I’m 99.9% certain MSU doesn’t get a BCS bid any way except winning out including the CCG.
I doubt Wisc gets an at large with 3 losses. Although I guess having only road/neutral losses would help both teams.
As an MSU fan who follows all this real closely I have a hard time giving MSU a much better shot than 50/50 in any of @ NU, @ Iowa, PSU/Wisc/tO$U in the CCG.
You don’t have to be a stats major to figure out those odds aren’t #PersaStrong
Haven’t won @ Iowa since Bush I was prez.
@ NU on SR day sounds like zero fun.
What’s with the Capatchas from Hell?
st8:
MSU doesn’t have to win out to get to the title game if both Iowa and UNL also pick up another loss (which I’d say is more likely than not). Wiscy likely heads to a BCS bowl if they win out but miss the title game (possible if PSU’s only remaining loss is to Bucky).
Any updates on Persa?
That looked like a collarbone if I had to guess.
Hope he’s OK, even though I don’t want MSU to have to deal with him, he’s been through enough.
During the game it was reported as “soft tissue damage” in the left shoulder. I’d imagine we’ll get some kind of an update today as Fitz has his presser in the early afternoon. We may just end up getting a “questionable” but it’ll be something.
In any case, I think NU fans and the team itself are fairly confident with Colter (and/or Siemian) at the helm after last week’s W. But, for Persa’s sake, I hope he can play a good amount the rest of the way.
..for the rice game…I’m still not sold on Colter the full-time dropback passer.
I concur, I think Colter’s role is clear and Siemian will get more playing time this year. Siemian had the costly INT in the end zone (he had to contend with the wind and a tight spot in which to throw) but has otherwise done rather well in very limited time this year. Meanwhile, it’s clear Colter is doing well at WR as well and it would be crazy to limit his role at this point.
They need to get colter the ball in space…i dont care where or how. I do like Sieman a lot. The pick was a combo of a bad decision, colter got yanked out of his break, and I have no idea why there was a safety behind that play. The guy was out of position, but them’s the breaks.
If Penn St goes 11-1 and then loses the championship game, I don’t know if they’ll get an at-large bid, given the sickening news that came out this weekend. They might be toxic to a bowl committee.
I think it’s 7-5 or home for the holidays.
Unless the sickening news from Happy Valley keeps PSU fans from traveling, they’d still be attractive to bowls. Especially if JoePa announces his retirement as well.
Who is ready for some irony then? … Army and Navy may not be bowl eligible. So the Wildcats might jump the Knights for a bowl spot.
I assume that Rittenberg is assuming the following
- Penn State loses to Wisconsin, but still goes to the Big 10 championship game with the best record in the Leaders division
- Wisconsin wins out in dramatic fashion, including beating Penn State, but is still behind the Lions (7-1 vs 6-2) and stays home on the first Saturday in December with a 10-2 record
- MSU wins the Legends division (not sure if they have to win out, but everyone keeps knocking each other off to the extent that MSU goes to the championship game)
- MSU beats Penn State for the championship and goes to the Rose Bowl
- Wisconsin — with a 10-2 record, Russell Wilson and Montee Ball — gets an at-large BCS win.
Obviously, the BCS standings will change greatly in the next month. But, right now, the Badgers are no No. 18 in the BCS poll. I believe (although I have not checked for sure) that a conference can only send two teams to BCS bowls in any one year. If that is true and you look at the BCS standings now, there are five SEC teams and four Big 12 teams ahead of Wisconsin. Also, Wisconsin will leapfrog Penn State under this scenario (and possibly MSU). That puts Wisconsin — if they win out — at No. 12 or better. Someone ahead of Wisconsin will probably lose a game and drop down.
So, if it ends up as a choice between Wisconsin and, say, Houston for the last BCS at-large bid, who would you choose?
I still thing the Big 10 will probably send only one team to a BCS bowl as everyone seems to be knocking everyone else off, but I think Rittenberg can make a case for two teams in in the BCS bowls.
The key rules for BCS at large berths:
- There are 4 at-large berths. To be eligible teams must be in the top 14 of the BCS & have at least 9 wins.
- Boise State looks poised to fit the non-AQ criteria and therefore guarantee itself one of those spots (I won’t go into the details of these rules, but it’s looking fairly certain at this point).
- A conference can have a maximum of 2 participants in the BCS games. It’s looking more and more likely that the Big XII & SEC will send 2 participants. That leaves 1 spot.
- Contenders for the final at-large spot would mainly be the Pac-12 & Big Ten (depending on how things shake out). The loser of Oregon @ Stanford (this Sat.) would likely not fall that far and would be eligible for a bid.
In the Big Ten, only PSU is in the top 14 right now, though MSU, Wisconsin, and Nebraska are 17-19. Those teams will be involved in a lot of tough games before the end of the year (including the championship game). The key will be getting a 2nd (non champion) into the top 14, which remains quite possible as some others will likely lose.
IF the Big Ten can get a non-champion into the top 14, they’ll have a good shot against that Pac-12 team, but a lot likely depends on the bowl slot available. If it’s an east coast slot (Orange) they’d be more likely to take a Big Ten school.
But, we’ll see, there’s a LONG way to go.
At-large (non BCS bowl) spots:
I know there used to be a rule about having to select teams with a winning record (i.e. 7+ wins) over .500 teams (i.e. 6-6), BUT I believe they did away with that rule last year. I just checked last year’s football postseason handbook and didn’t see the rule anywhere.
Conference affiliated bowl spots:
This varies depending on the contract with the conference, but for the Big Ten – beyond the top couple of non-BCS bowls (Capital One, Outback), the bowls are not obligated to take teams with better records (even if there are multiple games separating their W/L records) nor are they obligated to take a team with a winning record over a .500 team. BUT, they will usually honor records and on-field results (see NU being taken by the Alamo in 2008, Outback in 2009, and Texas taking Illinois in 2010).
Final note:
There’s a lot of football left to be played. But, if NU can get to 6 wins, they will almost certainly go somewhere with 70 slots to be filled and most bowls with open “at-large” spots are left scrambling to find someone (or hoping there are enough eligible teams – like last year, which came very close to not having enough).
Thanks, LTP and Green Jacket. I really don’t see Penn State winning out given everything that is happening in their program right now. I think they lose 2 games and don’t make it to Indy (believe Wisconsin gets the tiebreaker then). That puts Wisconsin and MSU or Nebraska in the B1G game, with no hope of getting two BCS teams. I surely hope a 6-6 team isn’t left at home; let’s also hope we can get to 6-6.
Minor point, LTP, I think your bowl game dates are off. I believe all New Year’s Day bowls are on the 2nd of Jan this year and the LCP Bowl is the 27th.
@Wildcat86 – the bowl dates and times are taken from the official Big Ten site – http://www.BigTen.org – straight from the 2011 media guide.
Huh, not sure why the media guide is wrong, but Wildcat86 is right. Check the individual bowls’ websites:
http://fcsports.com/CapitalOneBowl.aspx
http://www.outbackbowl.com/
http://www.gatorbowl.com/
http://www.ticketcitybowl.com/
Yup. All college New Year’s Day games are on Monday, Jan 2 because the NFL gets Sunday. Would have been interesting if the NFL lockout never got resolved. Would there have been no football on New Year’s Day?
I hope we can all agree that these 8 (Illinois, Iowa, Mich, MSU, Nebraska, OSU, PSU and Wisconsin) all will get picked ahead of us this year. Gophers and Hoosiers are ineligible and Purdue is a coin toss staring 5-7 in the face given their remaining schedule.
A B1G team gets picked for an at-large in the BCS = we go to the Pizza Pizza Bowl
No B1G at-large = we get picked to fill another conference’s slot because the 8 schools above fill out the 8 Big Ten tie-ins
Also, don’t be surprised if the SEC fails to fill a slot this year. The SEC has 9 tie-ins (10 if you assume their usual at-large BCS).
I’m not sold on Illinois being picked ahead of NU for a bowl. It’s realistic to believe the Illini loses its last three, resulting in a 6-6 record and ending the season with a six-game losing streak. I can then see NU being picked ahead of them, with us finishing the season winning 4 out of 5 (assuming we lose one more).
Illinois closes at Minnesota. So while the Zooker’s troops could easily be basking in the glow of 5 straight losses at that point, I’m willing to give them a win in Minneapolis and a 7-5 record. I’d love to see Illinois end on a 6 game skid, don’t get me wrong.
If there is a BCS eligible B1G team they will be selected and we’ll get 2 in. It is a virtual lock. How likely there is a non-champion eligible team, I have no idea. Northwestern beating Nebraska makes it less likely. Penn State harboring repeated sex offenders makes it even more unlikely.
Per the other bowls, I wouldn’t worry about getting passed over. If they somehow go 3-0 they’ll go to a bowl somewhere in the middle of the B1G list – I know the Gator Bowl would love them, and might even jump them if they lose the MSU game but it is close.
The more likely scenario of 2-1 is more dicey, but the chances of not getting to another bowl outside the conference are remote. I would bet Phillips would prefer to get out of the Pizza Bowl and go play someone else anyway. The field is currently projected to not have enough qualified teams nationally, something that has not happened before and I dont think they have a contingency plan. So getting to 6 and not getting in won’t happen.
I think you’re right that 6-6 should have us bowling somewhere. However, even at 7-5, the Gator Bowl is just not going to happen, given the strength of the conference.
It’s Pizza Pizza time or at-large in Idaho or New Mexico, most likely.
But first thing’s first. If they don’t take care of business against Rice and Minny (not to mention play MSU tough and hopefully bid for an upset), it’s a moot point.
Minnesota scares the bejesus out of me.
just win baby! if we don’t win, all the scenarios of bowl games that need us and Penn State won’t win more games and won’t get whatever don’t matter.
what could matter for the future is that if I were the parent of a kid committed to Penn State, I would go elsewhere. Persa, dial up your friends. the Penn State college newspaper has a very comprehensive article on line. it’s worse than most reports say…..the counsel for the creepy charity was a Penn State counsel back at the time of allegations. State Penn.
The Insight (picks before Gator this year), Meineke, TicketCity, and Little Caesar’s can select any team except when picking a 6-6 team would leave a 7-5 team without a Big Ten affiliated bowl.
I wouldn’t worry too much about Purdue, but they’re worth keeping an eye on. It’s quite possible the TicketCity bowl would take Purdue over NU, but I’m still guessing they’d rather see NU down there again. We’d still likely travel better and any bowl committee would absolutely love our offense.
With that said, I think we’re going 7-5. As of right now, I’d favor us against Michigan State at home any day.
There’s also still a realistic chance we could jump Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, or Michigan State. Nebraska and Ohio State probably isn’t likely even if they do lose out. Here are their remaining schedules:
Illinois (6-3) – vs. Michigan, vs. Wisconsin, @ Minnesota
If they only win their finale, they’d be 7-5 but having lost 5 of their last 6. Not much excitement around the team and Meineke would probably pass on them. If they lose out, we likely pass them even if we both finish 6-6. Bowl committees want fans and ratings. The head-to-head loss won’t really matter.
Iowa (6-3) – vs. Michigan State, @ Purdue, @ Nebraska
Also not an easy schedule. They’d probably have to lose out for us to be selected ahead of them.
Michigan (7-2) – @ Illinois, vs. Nebraska, vs. Ohio State
There’s a very real chance they could lose out and finish by losing 4 straight and 5 of their last 6.
Michigan State (7-2) – @ Iowa, vs. Indiana, @ Northwestern
Losing at Iowa and in Evanston would leave them at 8-4. If we finish 7-5 with the 5th straight win being over the Spartans, we jump them.
Hell, Penn State could be passed, as well. There’s no telling where the investigation will go right now and bowl committees might want to stay away from that sickening situation. And despite standing at 8-1, they have games against Nebraska, at Ohio State, and at Wisconsin remaining. IF we go 7-5 and finish on a 5 game winning streak and Penn State loses their last 3, we could still be selected ahead of them.
As has been mentioned, we’ll have to keep our fingers crossed on getting a 2nd BCS bid for the conference. But right now, don’t just assume we’re headed to Detroit. There are a lot of things that can happen.
We’re not jumping Michigan, Iowa (with their legions of traveling fans) or an MSU team with a better record than us. I’m sorry, but that’s just crazy talk.
Under the given scenario of NU finishing 7-5, it’s quite possible. If Michigan loses out, I think we jump them. I don’t know about Iowa, but if we beat Michigan State and they finish 8-4, I think we jump them, as well. Michigan State doesn’t travel well and we’d have the energized fanbase. We jumped Wisconsin in 2009 when they were 9-3 and we were 8-4 and Wisconsin travels better than the Spartans.
The odds of jumping those schools goes up when you take factor in the likelihood that it might be the decision of a bowl committee that recently had the other schools but not us.
So you have MSU losing to Iowa and NU but Iowa losing to PU and UNL.
Pretty much all 4 of those games have to go the way you want them to, and even if they do, I think any bowl would take Iowa with the same record before us.
I also don’t know where you get the idea that MSU doesn’t travel well.
In 2008, MSU had the same record as us. They went to a better bowl than us. that year, Iowa had a worse record than us. They also went to a better bowl than us.
Those aren’t scenarios where everything must happen. They’re individual scenarios, by team, if NU finishes 7-5.
NU had no reputation for traveling well in 2008. We did in 2009, which is why we went ahead of Wisconsin.
Michigan State sold around half of their allotment to the Alamo Bowl in 2009 (close to 6,000 tickets). MSU officials even told them up front that they wouldn’t sell out. They’ve traveled well to the Capital One Bowl because it’s a top bowl, but if Michigan State ends their season on a down note and is looking at middle-tier bowl bid, fans won’t be as willing to travel.
Highlights:
If any of those 4 games don’t go the way you want, then, unless IU upsets MSU, either MSU would be at least 9-3 or Iowa would be at leat 8-4.
Bottom line: I don’t see NU jumping any team besides Illinois, and then only if we have the same records.
Thank you all for your thoughtful comments and responses.
Your propositions about two B1G BCS teams is what I like to call “the Nebraska rule” or not winning your own division and getting in to the championship game. If Alabama could do it this year, why not the B1G?
I’m projecting based on limited known factors. If Wisconsin runs the table and is ranked high enough, they could get an at-large. But what if Oregon beats Stanford, Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State and Boise wins out? You could have SEC, SEC, Big 12, Big 12, Pac 12, Pac 12, ACC, Big East, Boise, B1G 10.
The important thing to remember is this: a 6-6 Northwestern is in great shape, much more so than 2007, to get to a bowl game. The only question is where. That depends more on the college football landscape than Northwestern’s field of play.
What really helps when compared to 2007 is that then there were 64 bowl slots and now there are 70. NU would almost definitely have gone bowling in ’07 if those extra 6 spots existed back then.
Yes, that is what I posted initially. The field may shrink next year as bowls go under and the moratorium for certification continues.
Though it’s worth noting that the NCAA is proposing to take its hands off of the certification process, instead leaving it to the conferences contractually affiliated with the bowls. The NCAA will instead just do compliance audits. The driving factor behind the number of bowls is TV demand (note that ESPN owns/operates a number of the lower tier bowl games and carries all but a couple games on its networks) and I don’t see that going away. As long as there are enough eligible teams I don’t think the NCAA will be hard-pressed to force elimination of games.
Also, there was a “down” cycle of bowls a few years ago when some games lost certification (notably the Hawaii bowl) but things seem to have picked up recently – thanks to the aforementioned TV dollars plus almost every team getting essentially a free W every year from those FCS teams after the scheduling rules changed permanently in 2006 (at which point 6-6 teams were also allowed in).
I’m a (state of) Michigan guy and I in no way argue that Detroit is better than Chicago (or that it’s even close). But Detroit has a lot of great areas left and Ford Field is outstanding and the Foxtown/Greektown casino district around there is also excellent.
Detroit in December is obviously not exactly Orlando or Tampa Bay but it’s an easy drive for any Midwestern fans and INDOOR at an first class venue.
Trust me it could be a lot worse.
Agreed regarding Detroit and the Pizza Pizza. I went back in ’03 and had a nice time. I’d probably rather spend two days in Detroit than Boise, though I’ve never been to the latter and have heard it’s a nice town. I think there’s some tongue-in-cheek razzing of the Pizza Bowl because it is, after all, a cold-weather midwestern city in December as a “reward” for a mediocre season, but I would venture to guess that most NU fans (myself certainly included), given the season we’ve had, would happily beg, borrow, or steal their way to Detroit if it means ending The Drought, which I think is a very likely possibility if we can just hit that six-win plateau. Also, Ford Field is one of the best bowl venues, period.
The biggest downside to the Pizza Bowl is that it’s on a Tuesday night. It will be impossible to get time off to attend the game. As such, I’m still rooting for an outside chance at an at-large bid to a Saturday bowl, though beggers can’t be choosers.
If any of you ski, Boise is a great bowl destination.
Totally agree with Ford Field being a quality site for a football game. Not so certain about the Greektown casino in Detroit. Managed to have some fun there in 2003, but also crossed the river and stayed in Windsor, Ontario. A few pluses: easy travel, weather permitting, by automobile, and not so expensive. Awful short flight from Chicago too.
If I am right, Northwestern and Purdue may be the only B1G member teams to have played there (Motor City Bowl, now Pizza Bowl). Do not think this bowl has much clout in wrestling for teams due to its low rank in the picking order.
I can see Northwestern “jumping” another team if the Cats win out and close the finale against MSU in dramatic fashion. That was the formula when we took out Wisconsin in the last game of the conference season and then bumped the Badgers out of the Outback Bowl. Tampa was fine, but I still think that I would have preferred the easy opponent that Iowa had across state in Florida since I am sure NU would have won that game.
Let’s take care of business on Saturday against Rice.
Off subject question: Did the “Motor City Bowl” have to change its name after losing several car manufacturing sponsors as part of Obama’s “bailout” of General Motors?
The owner of Little Caesar’s Pizza, Mike Ilytch, is a big player in Detroit sports. He jumped in and grabbed the naming rights for the bowl game. As a Chicagoan, I never had occasion to sample his product, but what passes for pizza in the hinterlands is deplorable.
The Penn State debacle is disgusting, and action at the university does not need to wait for the courts to play out. They already got their 10 years to sit on this horror show.
The courts can take their time to decide whether Sandusky is a pervert, a monster or worse…have fun with that. But this is a cover-up of the highest order, and of the most disgusting back drop. This isn’t a “one guy” thing. University police, Paterno, the AD, and THE FREAKING PRESIDENT all knew about this and did literally nothing! In fact, they enabled it by providing him with facilities (offices, showers, etc.). And are you telling me the other coaches didn’t know anything about the cover up? Even McCreary is still coaching there – knowing that his university covered it up and enabled the guy!
Paterno fulfilled his obligation? Really Mr. Paterno? The AD is your superior? And that’s all the chops you got at Penn State? You sir, are disgusting.
I can’t watch a minute of a penn st event while that president stays employed and paterno is slurping tapioca in the box.
strongly agree. Paterno did the minimum. The university counsel back then is the counsel for the “charity” now. The alleged pervert was a player and a coach. the AD was a walk on. the Penn State college paper has a timeline on those involved and the incidents and the timeline is a shock. a boy in the shower at the facility? how is this not reported to the NCAA?
Paterno should have retired several years ago. This scandal is going to tarnish his career, reputation and legacy.
He ought have used his considerable influence and pushed to have the assistant coach fired immediately –his actions seem like a minimal C. Y. A. approach.
I’m not willing to blame the President so much as, from what I’ve read, he didn’t hear the details; he just accepted the recommendation from the AD to ban Sandusky from bringing kids in to the sports complex without asking why (maybe he should have?)
is that a rhetorical ‘maybe he should have?’ President of a university, issue gets brought to you about banning kids from being around someone. Not your problem right?
Agree w/ db.
This is much worse than the OSU debacle where people showed they’d lie and others would say “gosh, we have such a great football team that I’m worried the coach might fire me.” I understand this is an infinity times more serious than the OSU stuff.
I’m not read to judge Joe Paterno until more details come out. I’ve participated in civll cases as a lawyer where the media reports were totally out to lunch. So, given Joe’s showing integrity in so many other areas I’d reserve judgment. Also, look at the media reports regarding Mike Leach and then read the pleadings and depositions that were available (at least at the time) online. Leach didn’t do anything wrong. Also, Pelini is Nebraska’s Bobby Knight. Someone better read him the riot act and get him under control. But heads should roll at PSU and at OSU.
Also you need to fix your standing at the bottom of the page.
MSU has a Legends Division Loss… @ UNL.
Thanks!
A number of sites are projecting NU vs Cal in Kraft Bowl. SF would be nice site.
New Year’s in San Francisco? Yes, please!
Did anyone else find it interesting that NU stuck with the picture posters to signal plays against UNL? The explanation for using them against Indiana was that Indiana had former NU coaches that might decipher the hand signals. But that risk shouldn’t have presented itself against UNL. Perhaps it was just easier to stick with the new system once it was implemented. However, maybe NU suspected that their signals had already been compromised by other teams. There were a few plays against Michigan where it seemed that the few times NU ran a corner blitz, Michigan always seemed to run on an option to the other side of the field.
Do they use them on defense?
I did see Hank on the field again. That might be a good idea.
I sure like Si.com’s prediction: Cats replacing, ironically, Army, in the Bowl Game in Frisco on New Year’s Eve. Nothing against Detroit, but……
@All – please take the time to check out JHodges and the work he is doing over at HailToPurple.com . He has a poetic post on what it means to be a Wildcat. I will link to it in a later post.
Thanks for the speculation, banter. Personally, based on our Army showing, I’m liking the scenario of the Pinstripe Bowl. The quota on Joe Girardi references and the east coast purple mafia would be quite a great scenario. Uh-oh…does Sailgate work in the winter?
LTP, an alternative– San Francisco, Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, 12:30pm kick-off on New Year’s Eve… Sailgate 2 in the Bay/under the Golden Gate before the game, wild New Year’s party/victory celebration on the boats after the game.
But we’re all way ahead of ourselves.
One Word — ICEBREAKERS!!!! I’m sure Scott Sloane will be able to charter 4 or 5 of them from Nova Scotia!!!
@LTP: Belated thanks for the shout out (I haven’t had time to read through all the comments as of late), but note that the article to which I believe you are referring was penned by “GoUPurple” who runs HTP. The Nebraska special edition page is still available for everyone’s enjoyment.
Doesn’t all of this call into question the circumstances surrounding Sandusky’s “retirement” to spend more time with his charity? The timeline suggests the first reported case was before that.
To those that are not following this closely, this is not a case of a President maybe or maybe not taking responsibility for actions taken by people that work for him. He was part of it all! And on top of it, 36 hours ago declared his full fledged support for the AD and university police in the matter?
The law requires you to report this up to your superiors. Then isn’t the requirement of a president to report it to the police?
Not only does the PSU prez lose his job…even odds jail is in the conversation. Presume he will lawyer his way out of it, but ultimately all of these guys are going to point at each other and at some point the music stops. And the Prez and Paterno are vile figures in this scheme.
agree. there are so many people involved in this one. and, yes, Joe Pa seems to have told him you will never be the coach and he left, all right after the allegation.
Higher ups should know better and should call police who are not affiliated with the school. Notre Dame, Marquette, and now Penn State. did Penn State have any other problematic cases with sexual assault?
yep, Penn State has had issues before.
in 2003 a football player accused of sexual assault was allowed to play in a bowl game.
in 2006, Joe Paterno comments about allegations of sexual assault by the opposing team’s player for a bowl game :
Paterno replied by talking about past suspensions of Penn State players. He then added: “There’s some tough — there’s so many people gravitating to these kids. He may not have even known what he was getting into, Nicholson. They knock on the door; somebody may knock on the door; a cute girl knocks on the door. What do you do?”
“Geez. I hope — thank God they don’t knock on my door because I’d refer them to a couple of other rooms,” Paterno continued. “But that’s too bad. You hate to see that. I really do. You like to see a kid end up his football career. He’s a heck of a football player, by the way; he’s a really good football player. And it’s just too bad.”
he sounded clueless about the issue back then, he allowed a player accused of sexual assault to play almost 10 years ago, and now this situation. insensitive and stupid.
just imagine if a VP of Business and an AD at NU were arrested and a coach passed the buck. horrible.
wow
All involved need to be held accountable. This is a horrible crime: Paterno and others “followed protocol”. What about fulfilling your moral obligations Joe: what about protecting innocent children. Paterno needs to resign.
ESPN has a good article up right now by McGregor…the rest of it…Greenberg comparing raping children to nixon/watergate? Schaap’s “we don’t know the details of what paterno was told” is typical espn garbage.
Really Jeremy? What low level of detail could Paterno have known that made him bar having children around him, but relieves him of taking appropriate action. Schaap just trashed his rep with that garbarge report, IMHO.
Not good for us though as Spanier is an NU alum.
10-2 Wisconsin or 11-2/10-3 PSU would beat out an 10-2 Oregon team for any bowl. Maybe the Fiesta would take a 11-1 Stanford (though the eastern bowls would take the B10 team over even a 11-1 Stanford, IMHO), but I think so long as there is a non-champ B10 team with 10 wins, the B10 will likely pick up 2 BCS bids.
As someone else noted as well, the SEC very well will not have 10 bowl-elgible teams, which, considering that they’re going to get a second BCS berth, will mean a slot will open up in the bowl in Birmingham.
BTW, just because the B10 may well have more bowl-elgible teams than bowl slots doesn’t mean NU heads to SF or DC while Iowa or Illinois heads to Detroit. Non-B10 affiliated bowls may well find the Hawkeyes or Illini more attractive, leaving NU with Detroit.
Based on locale, I’d say that the SF bowl would like the Illini the best (plenty of U of I engineers in Silicon Valley), New Mexico would prefer Iowa and Illinois (plenty of retirees in AZ), Birmingham would prefer Iowa (within a day’s drive for RV’ing Hawkeyes), but NU has the edge for a DC bowl berth (& NYC, but I think the B12 fills that slot) due to our heavy East Coast alumni prescence. NU also has the edge for a Hawaii Bowl berth due to our higher average incomes. NU, Iowa, & Illinois all have an edge on PU. If PU becomes nbowl-elgible, Detroit is almost certainly the best they can hope for.
I’m not a bowl representative, of course, but I’d imagine it comes down to selection order. Since LCP Bowl is a Big Ten tie-in bowl, they get to choose their most desired team before the non-Big Ten bowls get a chance to choose from what’s left over. So it wouldn’t matter if the folks in SF would rather take Illinois than NU, if Detroit wants Illinois over NU, they get Illinois.
I believe this is correct, someone knowledgeable?
You would have to assume the B1G bowl selection order goes first, before others can pick at the carcasses.
That said, I’m sure there is some co-mingling on the decisions, such as if the Pizza Bowl wanted NU, but we wanted to be somewhere else, and Purdue was happy with the Pizza Bowl, and the bowl was ok with that, etc etc.
You have to assume Phillips will do whatever he can to keep us out of Detroit. I assume those conversations can’t happen for a few weeks though…our department has gotten ahead of the product a few times this year already…
Pretty certain that if a team and a bowl agree, the team would just could just accept the non-affiliated bowl’s bid. The Motor City Bowl is guaranteed a B10 team, but if Illinois decided to turn down Detroit for SF, what will the Motor City Bowl do? Stop inviting B10 teams?
I guess the question would be, would Illinois be breaking some conference rule/breaching some contract if it turned down LCP Bowl but went ahead and agreed to the KFH Bowl in SF?
I would imagine (but obviously don’t know) that the conference tie-in contracts would require the schools to honor the selection order… but then again, something like this probably hasn’t really come up before for the Big Ten.
Those tie-ins are rock solid. If you are invited to a conference affiliated Bowl, you are locked in, period. No team has the right of refusal for a better offer.
If that’s true, I’d root for Purdue to become bowl-elgible, so that NU can head elsewhere if we finish 6-6 (yes, I’m sure that bowl spots elsewhere will open up and the B10 will be about to beat out BE/CUSA teams for them).
BTW, unlike the Green Jacket, I believe the Pizza Bowl is the only one that would take PU before us.
playoffs ?…..who said anything about playoffs ?
The Pinstripe bowl would be extremely full of purple fans. Knowing I’ll be in DC over the holidays, I’d love it if we were in NY or somewhere on the east coast.
Go Cats!
The bowl in DC is a far more likelier possibility than the bowl in NYC for NU.
Yankee Stadium, bro. Hence Pinstripes. And, yes, you can take a boat to get there …
As a HUGE Wildcat fan from before the “glory days” I would love to go to ANY bowl game. I moved to NY and had to give up my season tickets…anyone know how to secure bowl game tickets outside of paying a scalper??
NU ticket office. Pretty certain any bowl we go to will have plenty of tickets available.
there will be no shortage of tickets available
Agree with what the others said. I would not be worried about ticket availability for whatever bowl NU would make this year. Just get them through the NU ticket office at the appropriate time so NU can continue to showcase its ability to sell its allotments.
thanks to db for the reference to the ESPN article by McGregor. I think that Schaap’s first comments…..the ones on video….were tougher than I expected, but he backed off a bit on Mike and Mike. as for Greenberg, I think the comment about Watergate is shorthand and often given for what did someone know and when did they know it.
I do think that the folks at ESPN are taking the State Penn matter seriously, and it looks like they will hit Paterno hard with questions. here’s hoping reporters will question him about all sorts of looking the other way on sexual assault that was literally touching by his program.
Again, until we know what Paterno was told and what he knew lets reserve judgment.
not just the case at hand. the player being allowed to play in a bowl game after an allegation and Joe Pa’s comments re another player and an alleged sexual assault. it seems to me there is a pattern of taking such allegations lightly.
Have no guesses about where the Cats could go bowling. But this is what I think I know…that a week ago today, there probably weren’t a whole lot of us expecting to have this conversation this week. Go Cats.
AMEN!
@all – updated the bowl dates to be accurate. Sorry for the erroneous info before.