Northwestern University Athletics
Murphy's Mark: The Latest Bowl Update
11/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
Nov. 22, 2005
Bowl Possibilities
Our football team closed out the season on a high note with a 38-21 victory over Illinois, finishing the season 7-4 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten (tied for third). Now that the regular season has concluded, we can focus on our bowl possibilities. Unfortunately, at this point, the only thing that is certain is that we will not know where we are going to play until Sunday, December 4.
I thought it would be helpful, though, to lay out for our fans the potential bowl options for our team. The Big Ten has relationships with seven bowls, and finished with seven bowl-eligible teams -- Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan, Iowa and Minnesota. Penn State and Ohio State were co-champions, but Penn State earns the automatic bid to a BCS bowl by virtue of beating Ohio State earlier this year. Penn State will likely play in the Fiesta or Orange Bowl, unless USC or Texas is upset and then there is a chance Penn State might play in the Rose Bowl for the national championship.
A key factor that will affect our bowl destination is whether Ohio State is selected as a BCS at-large team. The conference champions of the six BCS conferences all earn automatic berths to the four BCS bowls, and there are two at-large spots. If Notre Dame beats Stanford, it is likely they will be given one at-large spot. The other spot will go to either Ohio State or Oregon. If Ohio State is selected to play in a BCS bowl (most likely the Fiesta or Orange -- whichever one Penn State is not in), this will move all the other Big Ten teams up one bowl.
If Ohio State does go to a BCS bowl, Wisconsin will most likely go to the Capital One Bowl. A bowl can select a team with one less overall win, but not two. Wisconsin is 8-3, and Northwestern, Michigan, Iowa and Minnesota are all 7-4. The Capital One Bowl could select one of these 7-4 teams over Wisconsin (Michigan would be the most probable), but it is not likely. This would leave Michigan for the Outback Bowl. Michigan would be the likely choice based on their tradition, reputation and ability to travel fans.
The next bowl to pick would be the Alamo Bowl. The Alamo will choose between Northwestern, Iowa and Minnesota. A factor for the Alamo Bowl is who will be the opponent from the Big XII conference. The potential Big XII opponents are Oklahoma and Iowa State. Since Iowa and Iowa State played earlier this year, they may not want a rematch, particularly between teams from the same state. So, there is still a chance that the Alamo could select Northwestern, but Iowa is probably the favorite.
This would leave the Sun Bowl to choose between Northwestern and Minnesota. Since Minnesota has made two Sun Bowl appearances in the last five years, and we have never been, that fact works in our favor. Other factors that help us are the Chicago TV market (for CBS) and the fact that it is relatively easy to get to El Paso from Chicago. Moreover, the Sun Bowl has a relatively smaller seating capacity (just over 50,000), so the requirement for a school to bring a large number of fans is not as big a factor. The Sun Bowl opponent would be the Pac-10's third-place team, most likely UCLA. Minnesota would go to the Music City (although they went there last year) and the Motor City would have to choose a non-Big Ten team.
If Ohio State does not receive a BCS at-large bid, they will go to the Capital One Bowl and Wisconsin would likely go to the Outback. The Alamo would most likely pick Michigan. The Sun would then choose between Northwestern, Iowa and Minnesota. We would still be an attractive selection because of the reasons mentioned previously. If the Sun selects Iowa, though, the Music City would then have to make a choice between us and Minnesota. Given the fact that Minnesota played in the Music City Bowl in 2002 and 2004, and that Nashville is an easy destination to reach from Chicago, we feel we'd be appealing to the Music City committee. Since the SEC will not be able to fill its slot and send a representative to the Music City Bowl, our opponent could come from the ACC (Maryland, North Carolina State, Virginia or Georgia Tech).
If the Music City Bowl selects Minnesota, we would play in the Motor City Bowl. We would play a team from the MAC, most likely one of the two teams that play in the MAC Championship game.
I hope that this has been helpful, and not too confusing. Please continue to check our web site, NUSports.com, for updates on our bowl status. It is an exciting time for Northwestern athletics and the successful season is a great tribute to our players, Randy Walker and his staff. We're looking forward to having a strong following wherever we end up.
NCAA Volleyball
Our volleyball team has staged a remarkable turnaround during the second half of the Big Ten season. We have now won six straight Big Ten matches to move our overall record to 18-10, and are in a great position to gain an NCAA bid. Head Coach Keylor Chan has done a masterful job in bringing the team along, and seniors Christie Gardner and Lizzie Carlson have provided great leadership. The team is playing with great confidence now and will head into the NCAA tournament with momentum.
Happy Thanksgiving!
