I took a look yesterday at the bowl predictions. I realize the BIG 10 has a lot of tie-ins, but the two guys making predictions seemed to ignore those tie ins when making their predictions. I also noticed, the BIG 10 could easily have 10-12 teams who are bowl eligible. and admittedly, the bowls pick who they want, and sometimes pick a team with the lower record. I don't believe the BIG 10 has 12 tie-ins. So when it comes to that last slot, if you are that bowl game in SF or Dallas or Detroit and you had a choice of a 6-6 Purdue, a 6-6 Nebraska, a 6-6 Northwestern, a 6-6 Minnesota or a 6-5 Indiana, who would you choose?
if I was on the bowl committee, I'd choose the one that has the best offense, the biggest draw(name attraction) and the biggest base of fans that would travel to see the game.
in the past, I believe a bowl selected Purdue because of Drew Brees over a team with a better record. that bowl game had a billing of two great QBs going mono a mono. looing at the past, Purdue has always had a great following for ticket sales at bowl games. of the teams I mentioned, I think Purdue has the best and most creative offense. but if I'm a business man with very little football knowledge, I'd pick Nebraska. based on what they used to be and their name. if Blough can build a name for himself, he also helps Purdue . this weekend will go a long way.
But after this weekend, the road to a bowl game goes through beating IU and Nebraska. if Purdue takes care of business, you won't have to worry about it.
