3 of 7

Write now Article Tools

Big-10 Football Disadvantage

As a diehard Penn State, and overall Big-Ten fan, I find myself both excited and hopping mad over my team's obtainment of the coveted Rose Bowl. Naturally, my pride swells and my anticipatory excitement grows exponentially day by day; however, there is a lingering anger toward the entire situation that nags at me like an itching bug bite. This anger transforms into nervousness for the performance of my team as game time approaches, not because of their talent level compared to that of their competitors, but rather, from the climate and geographical disparity that could spell doom from my beloved Nittany Lions. And wouldn't you know it, the worse perpetrator will be lining up on the opposite side of the ball on the first of January?

The University of Southern California (USC) has an excellent football program. Their skill on the field has lead them to Rose Bowl performances five out of six years. My major problem is not with the success of the team, but rather where that success takes them. It takes them all the way down the street. In fact, the Rose Bowl stadium is a mere 15 miles (exactly 15, according to Google Maps) away from USC's home stadium at the Los Angles Memorial Coliseum; compare that to Penn State's 2,416 mile trek. Typically, that wouldn't really be an issue; however the environmental challenges that this presents offers an unfair advantage to USC (also most PAC-10, Big-12, and SEC teams) for bowl games. Not only are Big Ten games completed months before the end of the regular season for most of the rest of college football, but they almost always have to travel to a very warm climate to which their opponent is acclimatized. In fact, if you take a look at the bowl games, Northern teams often play teams from the South in the South where the temperature disparity between what the teams are used to is 20F to more than 50F.

Does this really determine who will win the game or not? No, in all honesty there are many, many other factors that will determine the winner of a football game; however, we need to analyze what it is that we really care about with college football. If we truly care about the competitiveness and achievement of these talented young men, then we should desire and attempt to make each contest as fair as possible. However, if the real point of college football has more to do with the profit margin for Fox, ESPN, FedEx, Allstate, Tostitos, Citi, Eagle Bank, San Diego County Credit Union, Sheraton, Meineke, Champs Sports, Papa Johns, Pacific Life, Gaylord Hotels, Chick-fil-A, Outback, Capital One, AT&T, Auto Zone, GMAC, and the like then all of this is moot. But I still hold on to the ideal that perhaps football, at least on the college level, can still be about the football. In which case, we should make every attempt to even the playing field, especially when it comes to a bowl game (until we make a playoff system). Honestly, I don't think that it would be pretty easy, regardless of where you go in the United States, to find a high-capacity stadium that's in between the geographical areas of the two opponents. Almost every major city in this country has one or more large stadiums that could be used for a bowl game. So, with any luck, the bowl committee will come to its senses before the end of this century and explore the radical idea of fairness in bowl games.

Learn more about this author, Chris Wallower.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Why college football programs in southern states have more bowl game appearances?
We want to hear your view. Write now!