Bowl Picture Unclear
December 01, 2002 05:39 PM | General
December 1, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – With Notre Dame and Oklahoma losing games last weekend, the bowl picture is far from being clear.
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| West Virginia University athletic director Ed Pastilong said Sunday that the Mountaineers may not know their bowl destination for another week. |
The Trojans could crack into the BCS at-large picture if they reach the top four in the latest BCS standings released on Monday. And if that happens, the final at-large bid could come down to Iowa or Notre Dame.
The Irish hurt their cause with a disappointing 44-13 loss to USC Saturday night. Notre Dame is 10-2 and an attractive team with its national fan following, particularly to the Orange Bowl.
However, the Hawkeyes own a share of the Big Ten regular season title with a perfect 8-0 record and an 11-1 overall mark. An Iowa-Washington State matchup in the Rose Bowl is being projected by many -- that is if Washington State successfully gets past UCLA next weekend. If that scenario holds true, then USC could wind up in the Orange Bowl instead of Notre Dame.
“I guess we’re rooting for the Bruins this weekend,” joked West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, whose Mountaineer team finished the season 9-3 in second place in the Big East and the conference team in line for the Gator.
Ohio State has already locked up a spot in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and will play Miami if the Hurricanes can get past Virginia Tech next Saturday. The Nokia Sugar Bowl will probably pit Florida State against Georgia if the Bulldogs can win the SEC championship game next weekend against Arkansas. The Orange Bowl could wind up being either USC or Notre Dame against Oklahoma, provided the Sooners can defeat Colorado in the Big 12 title game.
For the Big East and particularly West Virginia, Notre Dame provides the key to the puzzle. If the Irish are sidestepped as an at-large team in the BCS, Notre Dame then falls to Gator.
Then the Insight.com Bowl, the Continental Tire Bowl and the San Francisco Bowl would have to pick from West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pitt and Boston College.
“Once Notre Dame makes their declaration the domino effect will occur in the Big East,” said West Virginia University athletic director Ed Pastilong. “But I’m still confident that Notre Dame will end up in the BCS.”
Conceivably, Big East commissioner Michael Tranghese might have to shop a team around if Notre Dame takes the Gator Bowl slot.
As of Sunday, ESPN.com is projecting West Virginia to the Toyota Gator Bowl to face North Carolina State, Virginia Tech to the Insight.com Bowl to meet Washington, Pitt to the Continental Tire Bowl to play either Clemson or Virginia and Boston College to the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl to play New Mexico.
West Virginia would prefer to play in Jacksonville. Although the school doesn’t directly get all of the $1.6 million payout (the money goes into the Big East pool to be distributed among the rest of the conference members) the Gator Bowl is an attractive game played on New Year’s Day.
“We thought it was going to be the Gator Bowl but Notre Dame didn’t help us by the result of their game yesterday,” said Rodriguez. “We’re still hoping for the Gator but we have to wait and see what happens with Notre Dame.”
West Virginia has had a history with the Gator Bowl having played there three different times in 1982, 1989 and 1996.
After discussions with the Gator Bowl selection committee, Pastilong noted on Sunday that Notre Dame was their first choice should it be bypassed by the BCS. Pastilong indicated that the entire process may not be cleared up until next Monday when the final BCS standings are announced.
“If Notre Dame were to go to Jacksonville then there would be a strong consideration with regards to who would end up in Charlotte and who would end up in Phoenix. San Francisco may commit early, but I just can’t picture the Insight.com or the Continental committing prior to Notre Dame being cleared up.”
So that means West Virginia and the rest of the Big East must wait.
Stay tuned.
