Iowa 24, Georgia Tech 14 (final) Orange Bowl

[Coqui]

No, Iowa would not have won at all had it been back then, because Stanzi was out and they were trying to get by with Vandenberg (is the Mandenberg).

Iowa would've been obliterated by GT if this game had been two months ago. On the plus side, we would've gotten a lot of long TV shots of Vandenberg's mom. Total MILF.

The defense is what won the game for Iowa, not the offense. And Vandenberg held his own against OSU's defense. Why couldn't he score against a lesser defense?

 

[ochre]

No, Iowa would not have won at all had it been back then, because Stanzi was out and they were trying to get by with Vandenberg (is the Mandenberg).

Iowa would've been obliterated by GT if this game had been two months ago. On the plus side, we would've gotten a lot of long TV shots of Vandenberg's mom. Total MILF.

 

[Gatorubet]

Percentage of BCS games played in conference's region:

SEC: 90%
ACC: 100%
PAC 10: 87%
Big 10: 0%

And please, no talk of fans in Atlanta rooting for a Big 10 team before rooting for ANY team from the CSA.

The "Conference Region" argument is asinine.

Playing LSU at the Dome? Hell yes it is a home field advantage.

Playing the Gators in Atlanta? If you lose, then the guys in the mirror is the only excuse for losing, not the fact that the game was in Georgia.

A bowl game in Georgia pitting the Gators versus any Big-10 team is not chock full of Georgia fans rooting for the Gators. It will be filled with Gators and that Big-10 team's fans. The "Region" argument has legs when Miami plays at Miami, or LSU in New Orleans. Should Vandy ever make it to the Sugar Bowl versus - say - Cinci, there will be more Cinci fans in the Dome than Commodores (just like there were more Cinci fans than Gators last week), and the resulting win or loss will have everything to do with the team on the field, and nothing to do with the "region".

 

[Coqui]

The "Conference Region" argument is asinine.

Playing LSU at the Dome? Hell yes it is a home field advantage.

Playing the Gators in Atlanta? If you lose, then the guys in the mirror is the only excuse for losing, not the fact that the game was in Georgia.

A bowl game in Georgia pitting the Gators versus any Big-10 team is not chock full of Georgia fans rooting for the Gators. It will be filled with Gators and that Big-10 team's fans. The "Region" argument has legs when Miami plays at Miami, or LSU in New Orleans. Should Vandy ever make it to the Sugar Bowl versus - say - Cinci, there will be more Cinci fans in the Dome than Commodores (just like there were more Cinci fans than Gators last week), and the resulting win or loss will have everything to do with the team on the field, and nothing to do with the "region".

2007 was the worst year for this though.
Purdue played Central Michigan in Michigan
Penn State played Texas A & M in Texas
Michigan played Florida in Florida
Illinois played USC in California
Ohio State played LSU in Louisiana

That year is what stemmed a lot of the complaints. Only 2 bowl games for the Big10 were in "neutral" sites.

 

[ochre]

The "Conference Region" argument is asinine.

Playing LSU at the Dome? Hell yes it is a home field advantage.

Playing the Gators in Atlanta? If you lose, then the guys in the mirror is the only excuse for losing, not the fact that the game was in Georgia.

A bowl game in Georgia pitting the Gators versus any Big-10 team is not chock full of Georgia fans rooting for the Gators. It will be filled with Gators and that Big-10 team's fans. The "Region" argument has legs when Miami plays at Miami, or LSU in New Orleans. Should Vandy ever make it to the Sugar Bowl versus - say - Cinci, there will be more Cinci fans in the Dome than Commodores (just like there were more Cinci fans than Gators last week), and the resulting win or loss will have everything to do with the team on the field, and nothing to do with the "region".

In their bowl game, Miami had heaters on the sidelines.

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

In their bowl game, Miami had heaters on the sidelines.

And the Badgers were in short sleeves I remember chuckling about that one during the game.

 

[localyokel]

One thing I found funny, the stadium had no coffee ( at least in the upper deck) and they stopped selling hot chocolate just after halftime because beer sales were lagging. That is South Florida mentality for ya, cold beer for a cold night.

Some stadiums worry about fans getting too drunk.
Apparently, the Orange Bowl worries about fans getting too wired.

This just in to TVOJ News: At 4AM, police were summoned to quell a post-Orange Bowl disturbance, as thousands of wide-eyed fans paced city streets while rapidly chanting "Big Ten, Big Ten".

 

[Dryden]

The "Conference Region" argument is asinine.

Playing LSU at the Dome? Hell yes it is a home field advantage.

Playing the Gators in Atlanta? If you lose, then the guys in the mirror is the only excuse for losing, not the fact that the game was in Georgia.

A bowl game in Georgia pitting the Gators versus any Big-10 team is not chock full of Georgia fans rooting for the Gators. It will be filled with Gators and that Big-10 team's fans. The "Region" argument has legs when Miami plays at Miami, or LSU in New Orleans. Should Vandy ever make it to the Sugar Bowl versus - say - Cinci, there will be more Cinci fans in the Dome than Commodores (just like there were more Cinci fans than Gators last week), and the resulting win or loss will have everything to do with the team on the field, and nothing to do with the "region".

You don't think it's an advantage when one team has a 45-minute flight or long bus ride to a venue they've probably visited several times before in high school all-star games, state championships, conference championships, regular season conference games, etc ... while the other team has to fly 1,200 miles to a venue they're seeing for the first time in their lives?

Familiarity plays a huge factor, even if both bowl participants are from out of state.

Take this past Rose Bowl for example. It's certainly no "home field" advantage for Oregon, yet they do enjoy the benefit of playing in that stadium at least once every other year, and maybe a quarter of their roster took visits to (officially or unofficially) or 'camped' at UCLA, not to mention whatever percentage of their roster actually hails from the southern half of California. Those kids and their staff, even though it's not their "home field" per se, have a routine and a comfort level when preparing for a trip to LA.

Midwestern kids are happy to see a palm tree, an ocean, get a free ticket to a Disney theme park, and maybe enjoy a one week break from the snow. For some of these, it may be the first and only time in their lives they'll have such a travel experience.

 

[jwinslow]

The "Conference Region" argument is asinine.

Playing LSU at the Dome? Hell yes it is a home field advantage.

Playing the Gators in Atlanta? If you lose, then the guys in the mirror is the only excuse for losing, not the fact that the game was in Georgia.

So if Florida had to play Michigan in Chicago, or Wisconsin in Minneapolis (TCF Bank), it wouldn't be advantage for those teams? I highly doubt that.

Should Vandy ever make it to the Sugar Bowl versus - say - Cinci, there will be more Cinci fans in the Dome than Commodores (just like there were more Cinci fans than Gators last week), and the resulting win or loss will have everything to do with the team on the field, and nothing to do with the "region".

Gator fans were disappointed to be in that bowl. Cincinnati almost never gets that opportunity, and that brings us to your bizarre Vanderbilt example. Assuming there actually are Vanderbilt fans out there, they have an 8.5 hr trip to get to Nawlins. How exactly do they fit the 'home region advantage' tag?

 

[cincibuck]

The "Conference Region" argument is asinine.

Playing LSU at the Dome? Hell yes it is a home field advantage.

Playing the Gators in Atlanta? If you lose, then the guys in the mirror is the only excuse for losing, not the fact that the game was in Georgia.

A bowl game in Georgia pitting the Gators versus any Big-10 team is not chock full of Georgia fans rooting for the Gators. It will be filled with Gators and that Big-10 team's fans. The "Region" argument has legs when Miami plays at Miami, or LSU in New Orleans. Should Vandy ever make it to the Sugar Bowl versus - say - Cinci, there will be more Cinci fans in the Dome than Commodores (just like there were more Cinci fans than Gators last week), and the resulting win or loss will have everything to do with the team on the field, and nothing to do with the "region".

Sorry, but prior to this year the Big 10 was something like 10 and 21 in the Rose Bowl. I just do not buy that Pac 10 teams are twice better than the Big 10. There is something to be said about playing out of your region, especially when played on fields where one team has had actual playing experience and where the local fans, who represent a significant chunk of any bowl game audience, will be with the regional team.

 

[jwinslow]

where the local fans, who represent a significant chunk of any bowl game audience, will be with the regional team.

This is an excellent point for the non BCS-bowls. Most of these bowls aren't filled to capacity and made up of a lot of local fans just looking for a good game.

If another conference (save for Texas) was playing in Cincinnati or Columbus against the big ten, I would definitely go and root on our brethren, assuming the ticket was affordable.

 

[buckeyesin07]

Jesus the ACC is complete [censored] in football. It looked like Tech didn't even want to be there today.

What makes you say that it looked like Tech didn't even want to be there? The fact that Iowa was dominating them in just about every aspect of the game? I guess it couldn't be that a slow Big Ten team was just better in all aspects of the game; rather, it must have been that Tech didn't show up.

 

[jwinslow]

What makes you say that it looked like Tech didn't even want to be there?

Getting beaten, bruised and dominated will do that to you. Going 2 games without a 3 n out and then doing so 6 times (at the half?) will as well.

 

[BigWoof31]

A bowl game in Georgia pitting the Gators versus any Big-10 team is not chock full of Georgia fans rooting for the Gators. It will be filled with Gators and that Big-10 team's fans. The "Region" argument has legs when Miami plays at Miami, or LSU in New Orleans. Should Vandy ever make it to the Sugar Bowl versus - say - Cinci, there will be more Cinci fans in the Dome than Commodores (just like there were more Cinci fans than Gators last week), and the resulting win or loss will have everything to do with the team on the field, and nothing to do with the "region".

Gator - probably not gonna get anywhere with the sisphyean argument. It seems like we schedule one every three months at BP. We'll never reach a consensus with them on this issue and it's the perfect "agree to disagree" argument.

Shake their hand with your fingers crossed behind your back and take a look at National signing day and spring practice.

 

[BigWoof31]

What makes you say that it looked like Tech didn't even want to be there? The fact that Iowa was dominating them in just about every aspect of the game? I guess it couldn't be that a slow Big Ten team was just better in all aspects of the game; rather, it must have been that Tech didn't show up.

Don't read too much into it. As a native Atlanta - I've watched the team play for the better part of the season and this wasn't even close to an A effort from the jackets.

This wasn't a knock on the BIG10 conference or on Iowa and my cred around BP should convince you that I don't push those types of buttons around these parts.