Big time payouts for big time teams. You know, like Bosie State and Utah. No real ranking here as they are pretty much all the same.
2nd Tier Bowls
These are for the teams with a decent season, but couldn't find a way to either win the conference or squeeze into an at-large BCS bid. Good payouts, good matchups. All over $2 million. Maybe perhaps not on New Year's Day, but that's really not a measure of quality anymore.
3rd Tier Bowls
While also standing out in the bowl scene, these bowls fall under the $2 million mark. Again, good matchups for some. I'm still not sure how the Big 12 #7 or #8 and the SEC #8 can get $1.2 million a piece, but whatever, it's a party.
Your Season Sucked
Think you had a good year? Got a winning record? Going to a bowl? Well, if it's one of these, you can stop patting yourself on the back right now (unless you're Rice University).
Other facts about college football's illustrious post-season:
-# of teams in D-1A football: 118
-# of teams that get to the post season: 64 (54%)
-# of teams in D-1A and AA basketball: 326
-# of teams that get to the post season: 96 (29%)
-Of teams in the postseason, average # of games played in football postseason: 1.00
-Of teams in the postseason, average # of games played in basketball postseason: 1.96
-# of basketball National Champions decided like a figure skating competition: 0
In other news, the Carnegie Mellon Fighting Calculators were eliminated from a real live college football game this past weekend. They will certainly never live this down, even with 8 figure incomes.
10 comments:
Carnegie Mellon's actual mascot is the Tartan. If I had to choose between Fighting Calculators or Tartans, I'd choose the Calculators. Although, very few people know what the hell a Tartan is so it does carry some mystique about it. Hey, at least we're not the Crimson Tide, Maroons, Bearcats?, Rainbow Warriors, or HOKIES. Thank you.
so wait...the Big-12 7 or 8 goes to the Independence Bowl for 1.5 mil...
But the Big-12 #6 goes to the Insight Bowl for $750K??
Adam Y., while "Fighting Calculators" would be good, "Fightin' Calculators" would be better. In either case, I do know what a Tartan is and would prefer to see Mellon keep that name, as then the annual showdown between CMU and my alma mater's squad, the Case Western Reserve Spartans (officially the Academic Bowl -- now that is dorky) could continue to be called "The Battle of the 'Artans" by the CWRU newspaper's sportswriting staff.
For what it's worth, another school that should change its mascot is Kennesaw State University, which should obviously be the Fightin' Saws.
Tartan is a cloth -- wait, actually it's a particular weave that makes a plaid pattern representing a particular Scottish clan (Andrew Carnegie was straight-off-the-boat Scottish).
Okay, so it's not the greatest college mascot, but I bet CMU's bagpipe band can kick the ass of your crappy school's bagpipe band!
Yeah, I'm not quite sure how that works in the Big 12 like that, but that's what is listed on every bowl site I've found. It doesn't really matter though, the payouts split evenly over all teams in the conference. Except if you're Notre Dame. Then your greedy Irish ass gets to keep it all.
I'm also pretty sure I had a pop-tartan for breakfast this morning.
Is it wrong that I went to a Calculators' playoff game this year?
Perhaps.
Although I did overhear some students talking about the quantum theory and I loved the band in their little kilts. I do believe there may have also been a football game going on.
I'm not really sure if you can call a 37-0 loss to the Mighty Wolverines of Wesley a football game. Can't knock the support, though.
So if a team like the aforementioned Utah or Boise wins their conference, perhaps going undefeated in conference play and ends up in the bowl for the MWC or WAC #1, you're saying their seasons sucked? I'm sure they could go head to head with a #7 SEC team or #8 Big 12. If those BCS schools actually played BCS-league competition in their non-conf. schedule they might not automatically get 4 gimmes and would then be ineligible for these gimme bowls.
CM should change their mascot to the Tauntaun. Then they could split him open and crawl in when they are getting embarrassed on the football field.
I think the payouts he lists are prior to this year. Most bowl contracts expired after last year, and much higher payouts for the conferences resulted. I'm pretty sure Champs Sports, Insight, and Music City jumped "tiers". Also, I'm pretty sure there's much more money floating around in general.
I'd trust the payouts at this page more, though they're still unsourced.
http://mattsarz44017.tripod.com/2006/bowls.html
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