Random Question about an Ohio State Bowl Game

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BigAppleBuckeye's avatar

BigAppleBuckeye

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Sep 1, 2010 10:17 AM
No idea why this thought popped into my head, but it did. So back in 1993 (my freshman year at Ohio State), OSU was the co-champion of the Big 10 with Wisconsin (finishing 10-1-1 overall, 6-1-1 in the conference), with guys like Korey Stringer, Joey Galloway, and Big Daddy Wilkinson.

Yet, for some reason, they wound up playing a December bowl game in the Holiday Bowl against 6-5 BYU. Why the hell did they get such a sucky bowl matchup after winning a share of the conference title?
Sep 1, 2010 10:17am
BigAppleBuckeye's avatar

BigAppleBuckeye

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Sep 1, 2010 11:26 AM
I guess this question is more for the "old timers" haha ... anyone?
Sep 1, 2010 11:26am
sleeper's avatar

sleeper

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Sep 1, 2010 11:29 AM
Look, Ohio State is one the premier Universities in the country, both on the field and off, and they probably wanted to play BYU so they made it happen. There really is not much else to it.
Sep 1, 2010 11:29am
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enigmaax

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Sep 1, 2010 11:38 AM
Because the Big Ten's tiebreaker at the time (and may still be, I'd have to look it up) included a "last team to play" element. Wisconsin and Ohio State tied in their head-to-head game, had identical records, etc....so all of the normal tiebreakers were exhausted. Since Ohio State had been to the Rose Bowl more recently, the Badgers got the nod. And I don't recall specifically off the top of my head, but I think there was a similar rule regarding the Citrus Bowl, which was probably the #2 Big Ten bowl at the time - you couldn't play in the Citrus Bowl two years in a row. Since the Buckeyes played there in 92, they were bumped down yet another notch.
Sep 1, 2010 11:38am
BigAppleBuckeye's avatar

BigAppleBuckeye

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Sep 1, 2010 11:39 AM
I get that, my point was, why was the Big 10 champ forced to play an inferior bowl game? Just seems odd. Can you imagine if OSU split the Big 10 crown this year and had to play an unranked team in December for its bowl game?
Sep 1, 2010 11:39am
BigAppleBuckeye's avatar

BigAppleBuckeye

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Sep 1, 2010 11:40 AM
enigmaax;468072 wrote:Because the Big Ten's tiebreaker at the time (and may still be, I'd have to look it up) included a "last team to play" element. Wisconsin and Ohio State tied in their head-to-head game, had identical records, etc....so all of the normal tiebreakers were exhausted. Since Ohio State had been to the Rose Bowl more recently, the Badgers got the nod. And I don't recall specifically off the top of my head, but I think there was a similar rule regarding the Citrus Bowl, which was probably the #2 Big Ten bowl at the time - you couldn't play in the Citrus Bowl two years in a row. Since the Buckeyes played there in 92, they were bumped down yet another notch.

Ahh, didn't realize that. But didn't OSU play in the Citrus back-to-back years in 1995 (Alabama) and 1996 (Tennessee)?
Sep 1, 2010 11:40am
OneBuckeye's avatar

OneBuckeye

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Sep 1, 2010 11:42 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:1993_Big_Ten_football_standings

Well it looks like Michigan got the outback bowl bid for some reason and Wiscy got the Rose bowl. Maybe the Holiday bowl was for the big ten #2 that year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Rose_Bowl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outback_Bowl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_One_Bowl

Also penn state went the citrus...
Sep 1, 2010 11:42am
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enigmaax

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4,511 posts
Sep 1, 2010 11:49 AM
Actually, I think they may have changed that Cirtrus Bowl rule because of that. Could be wrong, but I have a vague memory of that discussion.

The Outback Bowl used to be called the Hall of Fame bowl and I'm sure thats what it was that long ago. It actually wasn't as "good" of a bowl as the Holiday Bowl was perceived at the time.

The Holiday Bowl was the WAC Champion's bowl, as well. I don't remember for certain (again), but I'm pretty sure BYU was playing a pretty good non-conference schedule at that point and the fact that they were 6-5 probably had a lot to do with losing games to what we'd now call BCS conference schools. In other years, that might not have looked like such a bad matchup.
Sep 1, 2010 11:49am
BigAppleBuckeye's avatar

BigAppleBuckeye

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Sep 1, 2010 11:55 AM
Thanks for the feedback fellas ... not even sure why this came to mind, I was thinking of past OSU bowls and remembered this random bid to the Holiday Bowl.
Sep 1, 2010 11:55am
OneBuckeye's avatar

OneBuckeye

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Sep 1, 2010 11:59 AM
I would ask the guys at www.buckeyeplanet.com for the answer to this question. I can't find it anywhere googling.
Sep 1, 2010 11:59am
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enigmaax

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4,511 posts
Sep 1, 2010 12:00 PM
So, found this:

http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-23/sports/sp-59858_1_holiday-bowl

"November 23, 1993|From Staff and Wire Reports
Ohio State will play in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 30 if Wisconsin beats Michigan State on Dec. 4 and gains a Rose Bowl berth.

The second-place Big Ten team usually would go to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., to face the Southeastern Conference's second-place finisher on New Year's Day. But Mark Rudner, assistant conference commissioner, said Monday a team could not make a repeat trip to the Citrus Bowl. The Buckeyes lost to Georgia in last year's Citrus Bowl, 21-14."

Penn State finished third (after Wisconsin and OSU) and played in the Citrus Bowl.

Also saw somewhere else that 1993 was the first season the Big Ten had a bowl agreement with the then-Hall of Fame bowl which is another good reason why it wouldn't have had the next pick over the Holiday Bowl.
Sep 1, 2010 12:00pm
OneBuckeye's avatar

OneBuckeye

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Sep 1, 2010 12:05 PM
good find.
Sep 1, 2010 12:05pm
BigAppleBuckeye's avatar

BigAppleBuckeye

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Sep 1, 2010 1:25 PM
enigmaax;468097 wrote:So, found this:

http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-23/sports/sp-59858_1_holiday-bowl

"November 23, 1993|From Staff and Wire Reports
Ohio State will play in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 30 if Wisconsin beats Michigan State on Dec. 4 and gains a Rose Bowl berth.

The second-place Big Ten team usually would go to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., to face the Southeastern Conference's second-place finisher on New Year's Day. But Mark Rudner, assistant conference commissioner, said Monday a team could not make a repeat trip to the Citrus Bowl. The Buckeyes lost to Georgia in last year's Citrus Bowl, 21-14."

Penn State finished third (after Wisconsin and OSU) and played in the Citrus Bowl.

Also saw somewhere else that 1993 was the first season the Big Ten had a bowl agreement with the then-Hall of Fame bowl which is another good reason why it wouldn't have had the next pick over the Holiday Bowl.

Nice work man! thanks for digging that up, good stuff. This will make for an interesting trivia question at the bar this season while watching football, good stuff.
Sep 1, 2010 1:25pm
darbypitcher22's avatar

darbypitcher22

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Sep 1, 2010 2:09 PM
That OSU team was pretty stacked too.. too bad we got whooped in the Big House
Sep 1, 2010 2:09pm
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enigmaax

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4,511 posts
Sep 1, 2010 2:37 PM
BigAppleBuckeye;468200 wrote:Nice work man! thanks for digging that up, good stuff. This will make for an interesting trivia question at the bar this season while watching football, good stuff.

Yeah, well, here's another thing you might find interesting. Ohio State missed the Rose Bowl for the same reason in 1998....again to Wisconsin.

OSU, Wisconsin, and Michigan all tied for the league title. OSU beat Michigan and Michigan beat Wisconsin, but OSU didn't play Wisconsin. So once again, it came down to the who-hasn't-been-there and the last Wisconsin Rose Bowl was that same 93/94 game (OSU and Michigan had gone in 96 and 97).

For the record, I am in Madison, Wisconsin this week. You guys wire me some money and I'll do some damage for you.
Sep 1, 2010 2:37pm