Big Ten celebrates a winning bowl record for the first time since 2002 January 6, 2010 Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer - "...The Big Ten doesn't have to hibernate after bowl season this year. For the first time since 2002, the Big Ten finished bowl season with a winning record, officially eliminating the "What is Still Wrong With this Lousy Conference?" idea from the slate of story suggestions next August.
To recap, before moving on, here is the Big Ten's yearly bowl record since then:
2003: 3-5
2004: 3-3
2005: 3-4
2006: 2-5
2007: 3-5
2008: 1-6
That's a total of 15-28 in the previous six years, which is why 4-3 seems like 27-2. But it's not just the wins but the quality of the wins that everyone is talking about..."
Rose Bowl: Ohio State 26 vs. Oregon 17 Recap & Box Score 4:30 p.m., Jan. 1, ABC
Pasadena, Calif. Rose Bowl
Dashing through the bowls December 17, 2009 Source: ESPN - "Pat Forde's take on every bowl game..."Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi Ohio State vs. Oregon...Why to watch: Fabulous clash of styles as ubertraditional Buckeyes meet "Just Do It" Ducks. And Ohio State's No. 5 scoring defense meets Oregon's No. 7 scoring offense...Who's happier to be there: Mutual thrill. Oregon is in its first Rose Bowl since 1995. But surprisingly, Ohio State hasn't been there since '97...Moderately useful Dash fact: Oregon hasn't scored fewer than 37 points since Oct. 10, when it played in the Rose Bowl against host UCLA. Ohio State hasn't allowed 37 points since being embarrassed by Florida in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game...Completely useless Dash fact: In two trips to Los Angeles as coach of the Buckeyes, Jim Tressel (28) has seen his teams score a total of nine points (six versus UCLA in 2001, three versus USC in 2008). Dash pick: Oregon 28, Ohio State 21..."
Predicting the title game and the other 33 bowls December 17, 2009 Source: Campus Rivalry-USA Today - "...Another chance for the Buckeyes to end their BCS jinx. This may be as tough a test as some of their title game opponents with the Ducks offense as talented as any unit in the country. Oregon 34, Ohio State 27..."
Ranking the Bowl Games from Best to Worst December 6, 2009 Source: ESPN - Mark Schlabach ranks all the bowls: "...3. Rose Bowl Game...Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor gets an up-close look at the Oregon offense he might have flourished in if he'd signed with the Ducks.
Intriguing BCS matchups add sizzle to uninspiring college bowl season December 8, 2009 Source: SI.com - Stewart Mandel ranks all the bowls: "...4) Rose (Jan. 1): Ohio State (10-2) vs. Oregon (10-2). Dangerous dual-threat star Jeremiah Masoli is what Terrelle Pryor was supposed to be. But the Buckeyes present the toughest defense the Ducks have faced since Boise.
Bowl Gifts Part of Tradition for Players: "The NCAA permits bowls to provide each player with up to $500 worth of gifts to be awarded at the bowl site. Whether that limit is met is up to the bowls. Whether players select their gifts or the games set up a shopping spree is up to the bowls, too...Here's a complete list of the bowl games that do reveal their gifts; some didn't respond to numerous requests from Rivals.com, so in those cases, responses to other media outlets were used. Those bowls are marked by asterisks..." (Source: Rivals.com)
Small Bowl Games Rob Peter To Pay Peter December 21, 2009 Source: Sporting News - "...A lot of smaller bowls are basically money sinks at this point. How is that possible when the NCAA mandates a minimum payout of $750,000? The bowls are robbing Peter to pay Peter in the form of ticket guarantees: To make the bowl berth official, all [Western Michigan] had to do was buy 11,000 tickets to the game against Rice. The Broncos did so, paying $450,000 to the bowl for the tickets. Go ahead and guess how many tickets Western Michigan sold to last year's Texas Bowl. Too high, too high, too high: 548...Last year, Virginia Tech earned a berth in the Orange Bowl and was required to buy 17,500 tickets at $125 each. It only sold 3,342 of them, leading to a loss of $1.77 million for the university and the Atlantic Coast Conference, records show..."
Cheerleaders of the 2010 BCS Championship Teams – Showdown!: "Well it wouldn’t be a BCS Selection Show without a great deal of controversy...We all know the BCS system is, was and will continue to be complete bullsh*t until a better system is put into place. But rather than wallowing pitifully in things beyond our control, we thought we take a look at the least controversial and perhaps the most awesome thing about the BCS Championship Games…The Cheerleaders. Take a look at how these sexy yell leaders match up..." (Source: CoedMagazine.com)You can vote for your favorite squads
Where the bowls rank in ticket hysteria FanSnap is a search engine for tickets, compiling ticket information from 50-plus sites, and they also rank the Rose Bowl second to only the national championship game in fan interest.
Here are FanSnap's Top 25 bowls:
1. Citi BCS National Championship Game tickets: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Texas Longhorns Average ticket price = $1,400 (get-in price = $799)
2. Rose Bowl tickets: Oregon Ducks vs. Ohio State Buckeyes Average ticket price = $548 (get-in price = $275)
3. Konica Minolta Gator Bowl tickets: West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Florida State Seminoles Average ticket price = $265 (get-in price = $125)
4. Allstate Sugar Bowl tickets: Florida Gators vs. Cincinnati Bearcats Average ticket price = $203 (get-in price = $90)
5. Tostitos Fiesta Bowl tickets: Boise State Broncos vs. TCU Horned Frogs Average ticket price = $250 (get-in price = $34)
6. AT&T Cotton Bowl tickets: Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. Mississippi Rebels Average ticket price = $239 (get-in price = $55)
