Syracuse and the Bowl Scene; Part 2
By Jake Crouthamel
12/24/00 1:18:01 PM
With the Orange sports schedule slowing down as student-athletes take final exams and head home for semester break, www.suathletics.com is presenting a series of feature articles that take an exclusive, inside look at the SU Athletics Department
The BIG EAST in The National Picture
The BIG EAST is part of this process. We followed the lead of the SEC, Big Ten and Big XII in guaranteeing bowl opportunities for league schools. As a member of the original Bowl Coalition, now the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), the BIG EAST was successful in negotiating guaranteed spots in the Gator, Carquest (now Micron) and Liberty Bowls. Today the league has five committed bowl spots, including the Gator, Insight.com, Music City, one of the two Hawaii Bowls, and our conference champion playing in a BCS game.
As is the case with each conference in its bowl arrangements, there is a pecking order of team selection by the bowls. When the bowl games are listed before participating teams are announced, you will see, for example, the Holiday Bowl pits Big XII #3 against Pac 10 #2. That doesn't necessarily mean that the Big XII third-place team will play the second-place team in the Pac 10. It means the Holiday Bowl is third in priority selection for a Big XII team, and second for the Pac 10. This allows flexibility in the selection process to create a good match-up that will best drive attendance and TV ratings. In the BIG EAST, the champion goes to the BCS bowls with the Gator Bowl selecting next. The Insight.com Bowl is second, followed by the Music City and Hawaii. These bowls are at liberty to choose whatever teams they wish, as long as they are bowl-eligible (a record of 6-5 or better in an 11-game season and 7-5 in a 12-game year).
Where We Are Today
This year there are 13 bowl-eligible teams that will not participate in the post season. However, as a conference the BIG EAST has a greater percentage of its teams playing in a bowl game than any other conference except the SEC. In the nine-year history of the BIG EAST Football Conference we had one year with three bowl-eligible teams, five years with four bowl-eligible teams, and three years with five bowl-eligible teams. This year is the first that six teams qualified for bowl participation. It could be argued that the BIG EAST was remiss in not seeking to receive a commitment for a sixth bowl spot. However, negotiating with a bowl for a guaranteed spot is not very encouraging when the possibility exists of not being able to deliver a team.
The Benefits of Bowl Games
During the 1950's and early 60's with players like Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Jim Nance and Floyd Little, Syracuse played twice in the Orange Bowl, twice in the Cotton Bowl and once in the Liberty, Gator and Sugar Bowls. Indeed, Manley Field House was constructed to give Ben Schwartzwalder an indoor practice facility to prepare for post-season play. Along with the Rose Bowl, these six were the granddaddies of the bowls. At that time, there were only some 12 bowls in business, so an invitation to participate in one of them was significant. As the proliferation of the bowls increased, bowl participation lost some of its luster for the general public and fans. If one gets accustomed to playing in New Orleans, Phoenix, Miami, Jacksonville, etc., then anything else seems meaningless.
While that may be true for the fans, be assured it is not the case with the teams and coaches. In fact, all teams participating use a good portion of their preparation time in the development of redshirt freshman, scout team players and other young players whose participation was limited during the season. Thus, while there may be considerably more glamour for our fans in playing in the Fiesta Bowl compared to the Music City Bowl, the preparation value to the players and the staff is the same.
In addition, bowls have considerable value for the community hosting the bowls and the many non-profit organizations and hospitals that benefit from the affiliation. Host communities support these events, establishing civic pride and showcasing the area. The same is true of similar efforts in our own community when we host the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Hospitalized children receive visits from players and coaches from the participating schools and these efforts can do more for the ill than some of medicine's best can. We simply can't put a price tag on what that means to the children, their families and the communities.
The 2000 Bowl Picture
The Syracuse football program has had 14 consecutive winning seasons, which only four other Division I-A teams in the country can boast. It is an accomplishment that has been passed over blithely as inconsequential. On several occasions during this stretch it has been represented in the local media that SU is undeserving of a bowl invitation, sometimes even before those invitations are extended. That's an interesting observation because it is totally subjective on one hand, and on the other, infers that all the others invited to participate are deserving. Consider the following 2000 bowl teams, by league affiliation:
| School | Overall/Conference Standing | Bowl |
| ACC | ||
| Virginia (6-5) | 5th/4th | Oahu Bowl |
| N.C. State (7-4) | 4th/5th | Micronpc.com Bowl |
| Big Ten | ||
| Minnesota (6-5) | 6th/5th (tie) | Micronpc.com Bowl |
| Big Twelve | ||
| Texas Tech (7-5) | 7th/7th (losing record in conference) | Galleryfurniture.com Bowl |
| Texas A&M (7-4) | 6th/5th (tie) | Outback Bowl |
| Pac 10 | ||
| Arizona State (6-5) | 4th (tie)/5th (tie) | (losing record in conference) Aloha Bowl |
| UCLA (6-5) | 4th/5th (tie) | (losing record in conference) Sun Bowl |
| SEC | ||
| Arkansas (6-5) | 9th (tie)/9th (tie) | (losing record in conference) Las Vegas Bowl |
| Mississippi (7-4) | 7th/7th (tie) | Music City Bowl |
| Mississippi St. (7-4) | 4th (tie with four other teams)/6th (tie) | Independence Bowl |
These teams are all playing in bowls solely because they are bowl-eligible, and their conferences have bowl agreements sufficient to place them. Last year it was said that Syracuse was undeserving as well, a direct slap in the face to the Music City Bowl and the University of Kentucky. SU beat an offensively potent team in a very close and entertaining game that came right down to the wire. If there were only 15 bowls instead of 25, it would be said that one or two teams with 8-3 records are undeserving. Undeserving is not an observation that anyone but the bowls can make if, indeed, they have a choice. In most cases, because of conference commitments, they don't have the choice. In the end, for the conferences, the schools, the bowls, the communities and the young patients in the hospitals, every team is worthy, regardless of record, and every bowl means something.
