I posted this comment in another forum, but I wanted to open a new chain because I am curious about people's opinions of my idea. It may be stupid, it may be genius, it may belong in the general maelstrom of everyday ideas.
Why don't we move the Rose Bowl to be the first game of each new season? Make it the previous years B1G and P-12 champs against one another. Since the B1G and P12 have their agreement to have a challenge every year, there won't be any schedule issues- the other teams/games are simply scheduled for that same week.
Imagine the pagentry of the Rose Bowl parade and game if every year it was the very first thing that opened college football season. Right now the season sort of opens with a whimper. There are some games here and there and then a relatively full slate weekend where who faces who is based on schedules sets years and years ago. Let's market college football.
This allows for a playoff at the end of the year on whatever terms end up happening, mantains the B1G-P12 challenge that has been signed, possibly improve the modern day status of the Rose Bowl, and creates a marketing success for the beginning of each season.
It doesn't sound bad but it kind of sweeps the purpose of the Rose Bowl under the rug. The Rose Bowl is viewed as a championship in its own right, between the two conferences. Rewarding a team for the previous years accomplishments when most of those players that contributed to that success are likely already gone seems pointless.
I don't always take names when I kick ass but when I do, they most often belong to a Wolverine.
Like your idea of a Big Ten first game of the season event. Don't think it should be the Rose Bowl though.
Delany wants to break into the NYC/northeastern corridor. I think he should focus on scheduling a Big Ten team against another marquee program in NYC before the rest of the conference starts playing. Like the old Kickoff Classic but with the B1G as the host and with a B1G focus.
#fistpumpgobuckeyes
NC BUCK, who would the marquee NYC team be? College around the Jersey NYC area is not followed the way it is here. They usually do not fill the small stadiums they have. They seem to follow their professional sports out there much more than they do college.
There is a reason the old Kickoff Classic bit the dust. Piss poor attendance and ratings. Fans did not want to travel to any destination at the end of August for an early "bowl" game. It was just an all around bad idea.
The Rose Bowl has been successful for many reasons - many outside of football. To a good number of the residents in southern CA the game is simply a by product of a week long celebration that takes the full year to plan. It is a celebration of the new year. That is the pageantry of it all. Yes, there is a tie in to the two conferences, but even without that, the celebration of the rose would still go on.
Moving the Rose Bowl to earlier in the season encompasses much more than just playing a football game. It's kind of like saying "let's move the Times Square New Year count down to July because we would have better weather and more daylight." Yes, the new playoff format and future mutations may diminish the importance of the game. But, it will still be involved in the year end post season football configuration in one way or another. Right now, the B1G and Pac12 like being involved - that is what the schools are telling us. That may change, but the Rose celebration will go on with or without the conference affiliations.
@BT (That is you right? Why the ID change?) Any marquee team. (I really don't think there is a northeastern marquee team.)
Maybe it would be better attended if it was Ohio State vs Oregon? Or Michigan vs Alabama (instead of Cowboys Stadium which is where that game is this year)? Or Penn State vs Oklahoma? How about Nebraska vs USC? We would need to make it an event, of course. And the first couple of years might be rough but once we get a decade under our belt, I think it could turn into a tradtion. Like the ACC–Big Ten Challenge has become.
#fistpumpgobuckeyes
@NW Wiki says the Kickoff Classic was undone by the NCAA rule changes which prohibited season opening 'extra games'.
Looks like the attendance for Big Ten teams while not stellar wasn't terrible either. I'm more concerned that we only won 5 out of 11 of them.
Year Att Teams
1983 71,123 Nebraska vs Penn State
1986 68,296 Alabama vs Ohio State
1987 54,681 Tennessee vs Iowa
1988 58,172 Nebraska vs Texas A&M
1991 77,409 Penn State vs Georgia Tech
1992 46,251 NC State vs Iowa
1994 58,233 Nebraska vs WVU
1995 62,711 Ohio State vs Boston College
1996 77,716 Penn State vs USC
1997 51,185 Syracuse vs Wisconsin
1999 73,037 Miami vs Ohio State
2000 78,902 USC vs Penn State
#fistpumpgobuckeyes
NC - you hit the nail on the head - attendance was not stellar (I do not know what the TV ratiings were - only know that no one was bragging about them at that time). Had it been, most likely the NCAA would have siezed the opportunity to invovle more teams to maximize potential income. As it was, only two teams played early, and they were afforded an earlier start of summer practice to accomodate their appearance in the preseason "bowl". Other schools really did not like the early start and additional regular season game for the selected two schools in the KC. Hence, the members of the NCAA sought the rule changes to keep everyone on approximately the same summer practice and regular season schedule.
@NW - actually there was a second pre-season game called the Pigskin Classic that started out on the west coast. The B1G's record in that was better.
Year Att Teams
1994 27,134 Ohio State vs Fresno State
1995 101,444 Michigan vs Virginia
1997 29,307 Northwestern vs Oklahoma
1998 56,623 USC vs Purdue
1999 97,168 Penn State vs Arizona
2001 77,443 Nebraska vs TCU
2002 100,037 Ohio State vs Texas Tech
Only lost once out of seven games. Should be noted that Disney ended their affiliation in 94 so after that all but 98 was hosted on the Big Ten home field. (Actually 97 was at Soldier Field but I'm counting that as a home game for Northwestern.)
#fistpumpgobuckeyes
NC - Yes, they started out with games in Anaheim from 90 to 94. The 94 game with OSU vs Fresno was played there, hence the low attendance. Starting in 95 they moved the game to campus sites and did get better attendance, but it was not stellar. This whole thread started with the suggestion of playing the Rose at the beginning of the season. Thanks to your research I think you have pretty much proven that the market at the beginning of the season is not as healthy as what it is at the end of the season. For what it is worth, I just don't like the idea of moving any bowl to the beginning of the season (rewarding this year's team for last year's success just does not make any sense). Give me a remote with a large screen on any New Years Day! Start moving the bowls to earlier in the season, and our New Year's Day smorgasbord could be limited to the 2 semi finals.