Big Ten Bowl Structure

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

I am still struggling to understand this or find a definitive answer online. I know that we moved to some sort of tiered bowl structure where there are upper tier bowls, middle tier bowls, and lower tier bowls. However, I can't figure out what that means, how teams are split in tiers, or really anything else about it. Does it mean that if there are 3 top tier bowls, then the top 3 teams by B1G record (excluding anyone who works there way into the playoffs) necessarily will be those top tier teams? Basically, what I am wondering is is there any protection against us getting shafted and finishing in a worse bowl than a team that we beat in the standings?

 

[Iceland12]

I am still struggling to understand this or find a definitive answer online. I know that we moved to some sort of tiered bowl structure where there are upper tier bowls, middle tier bowls, and lower tier bowls. However, I can't figure out what that means, how teams are split in tiers, or really anything else about it. Does it mean that if there are 3 top tier bowls, then the top 3 teams by B1G record (excluding anyone who works there way into the playoffs) necessarily will be those top tier teams? Basically, what I am wondering is is there any protection against us getting shafted and finishing in a worse bowl than a team that we beat in the standings?

Kind of.

​Delany said the tiers are more for bowls than teams, although Big Ten teams with the strongest records not participating in the Playoff/Rose/Orange would go to the top-tier bowls. All three bowl agreements the Big Ten has announced include the stipulation that at least five different teams will appear during the first six years of the deals.

Repeat selections have been a problem for the Big Ten and other conferences in recent years. Nebraska has appeared in the Capital One Bowl in each of the past two seasons, while Wisconsin went to Florida for bowl games in six consecutive seasons (2004-09).

Delany expects the league and its bowl partners to agree on team selections more often than not, but the league is definitely taking a more active role in trying to create more attractive matchups.

"Clearly, there'll be some bowls that will select with our approval in advance," Delany said, "but I think you're going to see a lot of movement by teams among bowls. We're fortunate that all these are fantastic destinations, they're world-class cities with opponents coming from world-class conferences.

"We think there are great brands on our side and great brands on the other side, and together, that will produce great bowl matchups."

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/78767/b1g-to-adopt-tiered-bowl-selection-process

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[Jike Spingleton]

So much of this will now be done behind the scenes between the league office and the bowls that it's tough to get a good understanding of the details. But in theory, the teams with the best records will be rewarded with berths in the higher-tiered games. From last week's bowl projections on the ESPN Big Ten Blog:

"The Big Ten really wants to avoid repeat bowl destinations and even repeat postseason areas for teams. The league will ask each bowl to submit its top three choices for participants and then match teams based on where they've been in the past, who the opponent could be and other factors. Basically, the Big Ten is in charge here, not the bowls."

If the Big Ten gets two teams into the New Year's Day games - which I would say is likely as long as Michigan State wins out - it will be interesting to see what happens with the Citrus Bowl. Nebraska played there in the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and Wisconsin was there last year. Both teams would be good fits for the Outback Bowl, as Nebraska has never played in that game and Wisconsin was last there in 2007, but I just can't see the league sending anything less than its best option to Orlando to face the top SEC team not involved in a NYD 6 bowl. Nine wins will be the minimum for participation in the Citrus Bowl, and they'll worry about fan base travel fatigue in future seasons. The Holiday Bowl would then be available for the next Big Ten team to reach eight wins - likely from Minnesota/Iowa/Maryland.