ESPN: Big Ten Bowl Changes

In the coming years, the Big Ten’s reputation as a football league will largely be shaped by what happens on one day — New Year’s Day.

The league’s new proposed bowl lineup ensures this, as the Big Ten and the Gator Bowl are expected to finalize a four-year agreement beginning in 2010, sources close to the negotiations told ESPN.com. With both the Capital One Bowl and the Outback Bowl expected to remain in the Big Ten’s rotation, the league will have teams in three New Year’s Day bowls in different Florida cities (Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville), all leading into the Granddaddy of Them All in Pasadena. 

Recapping the changes to the Big Ten’s bowl lineup:

• Rose, Capital One, Outback, Insight and Motor City are all expected to remain tie-ins. The Big Ten isn’t expected to continue with both the Champs Sports and the Alamo bowls.
• The Insight Bowl moves up in the selection order and will alternate with the Gator Bowl in picking the No. 4 and No. 5 teams. The Insight Bowl is enhancing its profile and will likely make a significant increase in its payout.
• A bowl game for the Big Ten’s No. 6 team, previously the Insight, has not been determined but likely will be played in Texas. The Texas Bowl in Houston seems like a good possibility to land the Big Ten, which wants to maintain a presence in the Lone Star State and would continue to face a Big 12 team. 

So if things go through as planned, the league’s lineup will look like this:

Rose/BCS: BCS vs. BCS
Capital One: Big Ten No. 2 vs. SEC No. 2
Outback: Big Ten No. 3 vs. SEC (3/4/5)
Gator: Big Ten No. 4/5 vs. ACC No. 3
Insight: Big Ten No. 4/5 vs. Big 12 No. 4
Texas/Meineke Car Care/TBA: Big Ten No. 6 vs. ??
Motor City: Big Ten No. 7 vs. MAC No. 1/2

Though it’s tough to lose the Alamo Bowl, which is always one of the most-watched and well-attended bowl games, the proposed lineup has more pros than cons.

• New Year’s Day isn’t what it used to be, but it can belong to the Big Ten if things fall right. Anyone who watches football that day will get his or her fill of the Big Ten. Only five bowl games will be played on Jan. 1, 2010, and the Big Ten would be playing in four of them if the agreement held for this year.  
• The league needed to soften the lineup a bit, and the addition of the Gator does that. Also, a more even matchup against the Big 12 in the Insight — versus an always tough one in the Alamo — should help the postseason record. 
• Arizona might be the best setting for bowl games anywhere in the country. If the Insight Bowl follows through and raises its profile, Big Ten fans will love heading to Tempe every year.

Source: ESPN.com

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