Open Mike
Mike Bianchi takes on the hottest issues in sports.
Bianchi: SEC overruled Capital One Bowl on Johnny Football
Mike Bianchi | Orlando Sentinel Columnist
2:41 p.m. EST, December 12, 2012
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It's never a bad thing to have the runnersup from the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten -- Georgia vs. Nebraska -- in your bowl game, but that's certainly not the game Orlando's Capital One Bowl most desired.
According to two members of the bowl search committee, the Jan. 1 Cap One Bowl reps wanted Texas A&M quarterback and Heisman winner Johnny Manziel to play in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, but the Southeastern Conference essentially forced them to take Georgia -- the loser of the SEC Championship Game. Not only that, but Cap One Bowl reps wanted to match up Texas A&M with Northwestern, but the Big Ten forced them to take Nebraska, which was in the Cap One Bowl last year and was clobbered by Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game.
While Georgia and Nebraska were probably the most deserving teams to be in the Cap One Bowl, Texas A&M would have been more exciting for fans and more lucrative for the local economy. Johnny Football is currently college football's greatest show on turf and it's been more than half-a-century since Texas A&M played a bowl game in the State of Florida. Aggie fans would have flocked to Orlando for the bowl game and many local residents would have bought tickets just for the chance to see Johnny Heisman work his magic.
But with the SEC and Big Ten wielding so much power in college football, the Cap One Bowl bent over backwards to accommodate those super conferences in hopes of keeping its primo spot in the bowl pecking order for years to come.
Steve Hogan, executive director of the Capital One Bowl, doesn't deny that Orlando has to look at the big picture and not just this year's game.
"Without conference partnerships, you don't have the inventory to play your game," Hogan says. "We don't have the groceries, but we have to cook the dinner. ... We are a host destination that wants to continue to be important.
"You have to understant that we've had a 20-year relationship with the SEC and Big Ten where we've had the top (non-BCS) selection from those conferences. That's an important place to be and we'd like to continue that relationship."
Email me at [email protected]. Follow me on Twitter @BianchiWrites. And listen to my Open Mike radio show every Monday-Friday from 6-9 a.m. on 740 The Game.
Topics: Bowl Championship Series, Southeastern Conference, Nebraska Cornhuskers
Mike Bianchi takes on the hottest issues in sports.
Bianchi: SEC overruled Capital One Bowl on Johnny Football
Mike Bianchi | Orlando Sentinel Columnist
2:41 p.m. EST, December 12, 2012
Comments
2 802
It's never a bad thing to have the runnersup from the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten -- Georgia vs. Nebraska -- in your bowl game, but that's certainly not the game Orlando's Capital One Bowl most desired.
According to two members of the bowl search committee, the Jan. 1 Cap One Bowl reps wanted Texas A&M quarterback and Heisman winner Johnny Manziel to play in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, but the Southeastern Conference essentially forced them to take Georgia -- the loser of the SEC Championship Game. Not only that, but Cap One Bowl reps wanted to match up Texas A&M with Northwestern, but the Big Ten forced them to take Nebraska, which was in the Cap One Bowl last year and was clobbered by Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game.
While Georgia and Nebraska were probably the most deserving teams to be in the Cap One Bowl, Texas A&M would have been more exciting for fans and more lucrative for the local economy. Johnny Football is currently college football's greatest show on turf and it's been more than half-a-century since Texas A&M played a bowl game in the State of Florida. Aggie fans would have flocked to Orlando for the bowl game and many local residents would have bought tickets just for the chance to see Johnny Heisman work his magic.
But with the SEC and Big Ten wielding so much power in college football, the Cap One Bowl bent over backwards to accommodate those super conferences in hopes of keeping its primo spot in the bowl pecking order for years to come.
Steve Hogan, executive director of the Capital One Bowl, doesn't deny that Orlando has to look at the big picture and not just this year's game.
"Without conference partnerships, you don't have the inventory to play your game," Hogan says. "We don't have the groceries, but we have to cook the dinner. ... We are a host destination that wants to continue to be important.
"You have to understant that we've had a 20-year relationship with the SEC and Big Ten where we've had the top (non-BCS) selection from those conferences. That's an important place to be and we'd like to continue that relationship."
Email me at [email protected]. Follow me on Twitter @BianchiWrites. And listen to my Open Mike radio show every Monday-Friday from 6-9 a.m. on 740 The Game.
Topics: Bowl Championship Series, Southeastern Conference, Nebraska Cornhuskers
