Nov. 14, 2003
Columbia, Mo. - As we head into the holiday season, those of us involved in Tiger Athletics are very excited that our football team has already become eligible for a post-season bowl game, by winning six games. While we're all looking forward to the possibilities, I want to clear up a common misconception that exists among college football fans that just because a team is eligible for post-season, that it will automatically receive an invitation to a bowl.
In the case of the Tigers, it has been five years since our fans have had a chance to root for their favorite team in a bowl game. We all have witnessed tangible, measurable progress since Coach Gary Pinkel took over the program almost three years ago. But the coach would be the first to tell you there is still a lot of work to be completed. Not only this season but beyond, as he tries to deliver to you a program of which we can all be proud. Coach Pinkel has said many times, "We want to get to a point where each season ends with a trip to a bowl game."
The Big 12 Conference is aligned with the Bowl Championship Series and seven other bowl games. Those games include the Plains Capital Fort Worth Bowl (December 23rd), the Mazda Tangerine Bowl (December 22nd in Orlando, Fla.), the Houston Bowl (December 30th), the Mainstay Independence Bowl (December 31st in Shreveport, La.), the Alamo Bowl presented by Mastercard (December 29th in San Antonio, Texas), the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl (December 30th in San Diego, Calif.), and the SBC Cotton Bowl (January 2nd in Dallas, Texas).
The league's agreement with these eight bowls provides for an order of selection and generally enables the bowls to select the teams of their choice to participate in their games. The conference champion automatically qualifies for the Bowl Championship Series. Teams that finish in the top 5 of the BCS Standings are also guaranteed a place in the BCS, which includes the Sugar, Fiesta, Orange and Rose bowls. If the season were to end today, both Oklahoma (as the number one team the nation) and Texas (ranked number five in the latest BCS Standings) would receive bids to a BCS game. If that happens, that would allow every Big 12 team that is bowl eligible to move up one spot in the order of selection.
After the Big 12's BCS representatives have been selected, the remaining bowls will begin the selection process. In order, the Cotton, Holiday, Alamo, Independence, Houston, Tangerine, and Fort Worth bowls will select from the remaining bowl eligible teams.
The Cotton Bowl in most years would select the team that loses the Big 12 Championship game. But the Cotton is not bound to make that its automatic choice. Theoretically, it could skip that team and take another that might provide them with a better match up. The Cotton could not however, by rule, bypass a 9-3 team to take a team with a worse record. All 9-3 teams must be selected before an 8-4 club is picked. Similarly, all 8-4 teams must be selected before a 7-5 team and so on.
What this means is that just because a team finished the regular season at 6-6, they are not guaranteed a spot in a bowl game. For instance, if a Big 12 team finished 6-6, and there were eight other teams in the league with records of at least 7-5, that team would not likely go to a bowl game. This means that no-one can afford to let down their guard just because they have the "bowl-eligible" tag next to their name, and I assure you that our coaches and players will do nothing of the sort.
This selection process and the numbers of tie-ins the individual conferences enjoy virtually eliminates the old school "back-room" lobbying of days gone by. We have all heard the stories (some of legendary proportion) of the powerful athletic director and conference commissioner twisting arms to guarantee the best locations for their teams to be sent. That simply does not happen anymore. Certainly, athletic directors do some lobbying of bowl representatives, presenting their individual cases. But our influence really is limited in this day and age, and I believe that is for the best.
Missouri has sent 21 teams to bowl games, dating back to the 1924 Christmas Festival in Los Angeles against USC. As you know, with only three bowl trips in the last 20 years, Tiger fans are restless. But good news is on the horizon. It appears Missouri will send a 22nd team to a bowl game this season. Once that happens, our fans can sit back and enjoy, because it appears trips to bowl games are about to become commonplace at Mizzou!
As always, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this article. If you have any questions about this or anything else relating to Mizzou Athletics, or college athletics in general, please don't hesitate to contact me via e-mail at aldenm@missouri.edu. Go Tigers!