ACC vs Big Ten - let's hear the excuses.

[Rocktheworld]

That's very commendable. FWIW, Toledo usually brings a good crowd to that bowl as they are 1 hour south of Detroit. Not saying UConn didn't or can't represent, but the Motor City bowl should be reserved for at least 1 MAC school to keep up good attendance.

You're just grasping now.

 

[CoastAtlantic]

Congratulations to PSU and RU for their bowl wins. That BC-PSU was a good game, though.

 

[Sea Goat]

B C goes up in smoke - I'm good.

 

[Gfunk]

BIG finishes 5-1 against the official ACC this year, 2-0 in bowl games. Sadly, the BIG may not win another bowl this season, esp since they'll have no more games against the ACC.

BIG finishes 6-3 against the ACC-ND partial membership. I'll take a NW upset in South Bend over a ND win over a horrible Michigan team. And who expects Purdue to beat ND - without Drew Brees?

The BIG gets the last laugh as well, VT did not spoil OSU's playoff berth.

Anyways.

 

[Seaa Blue]

But at least they're better than B1G in their native sport of basketball (so they say)...

 

[pj]

But at least they're better than B1G in their native sport of basketball (so they say)...

This year they are better at the top with Duke, L'ville, Virginia ... but if Kentucky wins the title no one will remember they had some good teams.

 

[billybud]

Who will beat Kentucky? The Power Indexes say that they have an 80% chance against every remaining opponent.

 

[BoatShow]

They'll lose some BS SEC game to an Ole Miss or Auburn

 

[Gfunk]

This year they are better at the top with Duke, L'ville, Virginia ... but if Kentucky wins the title no one will remember they had some good teams.

I don't know if Va beats Md with a healthy Wells and Smortcyz, neither played during the ACC-BIG Challenge. And in the past when both played they beat Va more than not, including last year. Both are playing again.

Md may win the BIG in their inaugural season. They're pretty experienced, have some nice wins this season, and have excellent freshmen. Md basketball needed a new start. Well they got it.

I also won't be shocked to see Md beat Stanford in their bowl game.

But I do agree, as of now the BIG only has one elite team that already lost to Duke - but I'm curious to see a rematch between the two. Bo was outcoached on his home floor, that rarely happens again - rarely. I've seen this guy coach too much over the years to know adjustments and won rematches are part of his success.

I also agree, this year's top tier of the ACC will likely be forgotten if Ky wins it all. Still a lot of basketball left to be played, young teams have more to work into and injuries happen. Conference slates also start exposing personnel and coaching holes.

 

[btstimpy]

I don't know if Va beats Md with a healthy Wells and Smortcyz, neither played during the ACC-BIG Challenge. And in the past when both played they beat Va more than not, including last year. Both are playing again.

Md may win the BIG in their inaugural season. They're pretty experienced, have some nice wins this season, and have excellent freshmen. Md basketball needed a new start. Well they got it.

I also won't be shocked to see Md beat Stanford in their bowl game.

But I do agree, as of now the BIG only has one elite team that already lost to Duke - but I'm curious to see a rematch between the two. Bo was outcoached on his home floor, that rarely happens again - rarely. I've seen this guy coach too much over the years to know adjustments and won rematches are part of his success.

I also agree, this year's top tier of the ACC will likely be forgotten if Ky wins it all. Still a lot of basketball left to be played, young teams have more to work into and injuries happen. Conference slates also start exposing personnel and coaching holes.

Virginia has a 3-1 record against Dez Wells. His only win was in overtime the last game of the season last year after Virginia had already clinched the ACC regular season title and was looking forward to the post season. The only thing Dez Wells accomplished by missing that game this year was another loss on his resume to Virginia. That game wasn't close enough for Dez Wells or Evan Smotrycz to make any difference. That same overtime win last March is the only one Smotrycz has too.

Actually, Virginia is 7-1 against Maryland in basketball since 2011. There is a long list of other ACC teams Virginia has had to worry about before Maryland. Now we don't have to worry about Maryland at all unless ESPN continues to force them onto our schedule. But I agree that Maryland might win the Big Ten this season. Wisconsin would be the favorite at this point IMO.

 

[RioDog]

B C goes up in smoke - I'm good.

I was trying to imagine a way that both could lose...

 

[Ldandy]

Virginia has a 3-1 record against Dez Wells. His only win was in overtime the last game of the season last year after Virginia had already clinched the ACC regular season title and was looking forward to the post season. The only thing Dez Wells accomplished by missing that game this year was another loss on his resume to Virginia. That game wasn't close enough for Dez Wells or Evan Smotrycz to make any difference. That same overtime win last March is the only one Smotrycz has too.

Actually, Virginia is 7-1 against Maryland in basketball since 2011. There is a long list of other ACC teams Virginia has had to worry about before Maryland. Now we don't have to worry about Maryland at all unless ESPN continues to force them onto our schedule. But I agree that Maryland might win the Big Ten this season. Wisconsin would be the favorite at this point IMO.

Don't you have some trolling to catch up on over on Audibles?

 

[btstimpy]

Don't you have some trolling to catch up on over on Audibles?

I looked. It's Spartacus arguing with some posters from Ohio State with an inflated view of the Big Ten and that schedule they play along with one naive PSU student. Spartacus appears to be handling it very well on his own. Spartacus makes an excellent presentation. Nothing else really new going on that I can speak to. I can't speak to the bad officiating gripes.

 

[NickyNewark]

Don't you have some trolling to catch up on over on Audibles?

OMG there too? I usually saw him on Cuses board touting the superiority of the ACC.

 

[pnow15]

Aren't all of these bowl games just for the gamblers?

 

[billybud]

Aren't all of these bowl games just for the gamblers?

No..they are commercial television enterprises that enrich ESPN...

ESPN is not moaning about poor attendance..

"That's because even though ticket demand is relatively low for lesser bowls, millions of viewers keep watching, even if it's the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., a game that drew just 20,256 fans last week but attracted an average television audience of 1,114,000, according to ESPN.

Last season, schools and conferences again struggled to sell their bowl ticket allotments and were required to pay for a record $23.8 million in unsold tickets, according to NCAA financial records. Many bowl games in recent years also have tried to offload tickets on discount sites such as Groupon.

But on television, bowl games are a sure thing, having drawn much larger audiences than other sports programming, not to mention other content on other channels. And that's what really matters these days.
"Fans are voting with their remotes and with their eyeballs," said Ilan Ben-Hanan, ESPN's vice president for programming and acquisitions. "I take issue with the notion of judging what's a good idea based on how many people are in the stands. There are a lot of sports out there that would kill to have tens of thousands of people in the stands."

By owning the games, Charlotte-based ESPN Events can sell tickets and sponsorships to the games and not have to pay an unaffiliated company for TV broadcast rights. It's an investment that usually pays off with a big live TV audience attractive to sponsors.

"We've built a very viable business that we're really pleased with," said Pete Derzis, senior vice president and general manager of ESPN Events.

ESPN declined to reveal financial figures, but the comparative viewership figures show why there's a bull market for bowl games. Consider ESPN's first day of bowls last Saturday. ESPN broadcast four games, including three owned by ESPN Events: the New Mexico Bowl, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and the inaugural Camellia Bowl.
All drew at least 1.1 million television viewers on average, even though the stadium attendance didn't top more than 29,000 for any of those three games. Air Force beat Western Michigan Saturday in the Famous Potato Bowl 38-24, a game that drew an announced stadium crowd of only 18,223. On television, ESPN said the game still drew an average of 1.45 million viewers"

 

[btstimpy]

This bowl should be given back to The MAC. Their teams are closer by, and might actually want to play in it. TV has destroyed the concept of bowl games as rewards for great seasons and as destinations for fans. There are twice as many as there should be, and way too many located in God Awful places like Detroit or Boise.

The ACC shouldn't be involved with this bowl in Detroit. I can't think of any ACC fan base that would be attracted to that destination over the holidays. The MAC and Big Ten make the most sense as it is in the heart of both conference's footprint.

I actually went to one Bowl in Boise when UVA played Fresno State. That was a surprisingly great experience. That is a fun town and the Blue Turf is very interesting to watch a game on. The local community fills up the stadium for that event. Each of the schools only brought about 3000 fans each because Boise is in the middle of nowhere, but it was close to capacity.

 

[CAHUSKY]

The ACC shouldn't be involved with this bowl in Detroit. I can't think of any ACC fan base that would be attracted to that destination over the holidays. The MAC and Big Ten make the most sense as it is in the heart of both conference's footprint.

I actually went to one Bowl in Boise when UVA played Fresno State. That was a surprisingly great experience. That is a fun town and the Blue Turf is very interesting to watch a game on. The local community fills up the stadium for that event. Each of the schools only brought about 3000 fans each because Boise is in the middle of nowhere, but it was close to capacity.

Boise is an awesome town. I always laugh when I read posters bashing the potato bowl and saying the town sucks. Sure, it's cold in December and you have to change planes to get there but the town is great and the bowl is very well supported most years.