FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Bigalke said 12/05, 04:40 PM
This indicates a problem inherent in the bowl structure more than it does any legitimate "stiffing" of the Beavers. If you have read, for instance, Stewart Mandel's bowl projections throughout the season, bowls are not obligated to pick teams based on their finishing slot in their conference. The "Pac-10 #4" you see for the Sun Bowl indicates merely that this bowl gets the fourth pick of bowl-eligible Pac-10 teams. And, while the Pac-10 does have contractual agreements with their representative bowls to take teams in order, the bowls also hold a right of refusal for teams that would be repeat entrants.

Oregon State, en route to their "historic" ten-win season (as all the OSU commercials on local television proclaim), narrowly defeated this year's BCS-jilted team, Missouri, in -- you guessed it -- the Brut Sun Bowl. Because Oregon State had been to El Paso last season, the bowl felt it was in its best interests to take a different team with a different fan base more likely to travel to the region.

Bowls were never created to reward teams in a logical fashion... they were designed to create the matchups the bowls wished to present to the public.

Bigalke said 12/06, 08:05 PM
The problem that the bowls had with Oregon State, furthermore, stems from the fact that, while it won eight games and played well in each of the victories, the Beavers were never close in any of their defeats. They were embarassed 34-3 at Cincinnati... and while the Bearcats proved to be a better team than expected, they were not expected to smack a ten-win team so badly. A twelve-point loss at Arizona State bears no shame, nor does a twenty-one point loss at USC; but losing to Jekyll/Hyde UCLA -- at home by 26 to a team who had a worse conference record -- does.

Basically, Oregon State suffered from the late-season tarnishing of the Pac-10's luster. The season-finale Civil War victory over Oregon lost its merit when Dixon went down. The Beavers never went above and beyond the mediocrity which pervaded many teams this season. And the Sun Bowl had no desire to take a repeat entrant unless they proved to be THAT glamorous that they could not refuse.

The Beavers had their chances to impress pollsters and improve their standing in several contests; the fact that they couldn't hang with the top teams in conference and in their biggest non-conference game yields Terrapins and Emeralds.

Bigalke said 12/08, 09:56 AM
There are several factors contributing to Oregon State missing out on a date with the Baby Bulls of South Florida:

1. They have been outscored 142-42 in their four losses this season... a NEGATIVE-100 point differential. Like UCLA this season, Oregon State has been either VERY hot or VERY cold... there is no middle, consistent ground with this squad.

2. Oregon State understood right of refusal and bowl acceptance procedures when it came time for the games to choose. The Sun Bowl had Missouri-Oregon State last season. Regardless of the excitement generated by last season's game, the Sun Bowl knew it would be taking a risk on lower fan participation if it readmitted the Beavers. Bowls are designed to sell tickets first and foremost; team reward is a secondary concern, and the Sun Bowl wondered if Corvallis would want to come to El Paso for a second straight year.

3. Precisely because Oregon State was so good last season, the bowls are expecting that little bit more this time around. Both the offense and defense are less spectacular than their 2006 counterparts.

4. The ability to say it was pitting two former #2 teams was too much for the Sun Bowl to resist...