Bowls under the old, old system

[Lumas Etima]

With the discussion about what a 12-team playoff would look like if it was in place this year, I thought it also might be interesting to look at what the bowl picture would be like under the old, old system from the 1980s, when polls determined the national champion and bowls were mostly free to invite whoever they wanted, aside from a few automatic tie-ins.

As a reminder, back then, the only automatic bowl tie-ins were as follows:

• Big Ten champion: Rose Bowl
• PAC-10 champion: Rose Bowl
• SEC champion: Sugar Bowl (vs. at-large)
• Big 8 champion: Orange Bowl (vs. at-large)
• Southwest champion: Cotton Bowl (vs. at-large)
• WAC champion: Holiday Bowl (vs. at-large*)

For the sake of this exercise, we are mostly going to assign teams to their 1980s-era conferences. There would be no "Playoff Rankings," so the AP poll and the UPI poll (coaches poll) were what guided the system.

I imagine the bowls would look something like the list below. It's impossible to really know what the at-large selections would be, as each bowl was free to seek out the matchup it wanted. For this list, I just generally used the AP rankings to create the best matchups, with the exception of Notre Dame jumping up a bunch of spots, because it seems like Notre Dame always got a good bowl back then, if they were halfway decent.

• Rose Bowl: #2 Michigan vs. #8 USC
• Sugar Bowl: #1 Georgia vs. #4 Ohio State
• Orange Bowl: #11 K-State vs. #19 Notre Dame
• Cotton Bowl: #3 TCU vs. #5 Alabama
• Fiesta Bowl: #6 Tennessee vs. #9 Penn State
• Holiday Bowl: #7 Utah vs. who cares*

As far as the championship went, I imagine that as long as Georgia won the Sugar Bowl, they would be national champions. But if Georgia lost, Michigan would surely be crowned champion with a Rose Bowl win. However, if Michigan lost, and OSU beat Georgia in the Sugar, I think OSU would likely jump to the top spot, regardless of what TCU did in the Cotton. But that's where the controversy would come into play.

(*- Note: Some folks might remember the Holiday Bowl having a tie-in with the Big Ten for a few years, which resulted in Iowa getting screwed out of a New Year's Day bowl during the 1991 season. That affiliation didn't begin until the early 1990s, so I didn't include it in this scenario.)

 

[Lone Clone]

I think you have too many "olds" in your subject line.

When I saw it, I thought you were going to talk about the '50s and '60s, or even the '70s. There weren't very many bowls. I remember the first time ISU went to a bowl was in 1971. The team was 8-3, with the three losses to the teams that finished 1-2-3 in the AP poll, and there was a serious question of whether they would get a bowl bid.

 

[Lumas Etima]

I think you have too many "olds" in your subject line.

When I saw it, I thought you were going to talk about the '50s and '60s, or even the '70s. There weren't very many bowls. I remember the first time ISU went to a bowl was in 1971. The team was 8-3, with the three losses to the teams that finished 1-2-3 in the AP poll, and there was a serious question of whether they would get a bowl bid.

Old = BCS system
Old, Old = 80s era bowl/poll system
Ancient = the stone-age stuff you are talking about. 😉

 

[MeetTheFerentzes]

Florida Citrus Bowl took the ACC champ from 1987-1991. Maybe you could add Clemson vs. Washington for that game.

Also, I'm sure the Bluebonnet Bowl would have had a dandy blue-blood matchup this season between Texas and Florida State.

 

[NI hawk]

I think you have too many "olds" in your subject line.

When I saw it, I thought you were going to talk about the '50s and '60s, or even the '70s. There weren't very many bowls. I remember the first time ISU went to a bowl was in 1971. The team was 8-3, with the three losses to the teams that finished 1-2-3 in the AP poll, and there was a serious question of whether they would get a bowl bid.

1976 ISU was 8-3 and finished ranked in the top twenty and got no bowl bid.
I believe 12 bowl games then.

 

[Lone Clone]

1976 ISU was 8-3 and finished ranked in the top twenty and got no bowl bid.
I believe 12 bowl games then.

Yep. That was when the bowl invitations were routinely shopped around and decided fairly early. ISU was supposed to go to the Bluebonnet, but Oklahoma upset Nebraska at the end of the season and created a shuffle. Cyclones got left out.
On the other hand, in '72 the invitations were made much earlier, and as soon as ISU was invited to the Liberty Bowl, the Cyclones proceeded to lose the rest of their games and finish 5-5-1.

 

[ChosenChildren]

I remember in 1981 Iowa had a very strong team. The Rose Bowl before the final game of the season was an extreme long shot, but the Hawkeyes were definitely being considered by the Liberty Bowl. Iowa fans were ecstatic about going to a bowl game, because it had been 22 years since they had gone to one.

Fast forward: Iowa earned 14 bowl bids under Fry and now has earned 20 under Ferentz.

 

[NI hawk]

Yep. That was when the bowl invitations were routinely shopped around and decided fairly early. ISU was supposed to go to the Bluebonnet, but Oklahoma upset Nebraska at the end of the season and created a shuffle. Cyclones got left out.
On the other hand, in '72 the invitations were made much earlier, and as soon as ISU was invited to the Liberty Bowl, the Cyclones proceeded to lose the rest of their games and finish 5-5-1.

YEP. I remember that.

 

[LarryMullenJr.]

I thought it was more fun when you had absolutely NO IDEA where the Hawks would go. Those were the OLD days.

 

[mustang_hawk]

At one time, didn’t Norte Dame not let their team go to bowl games? Something about extending the season by a month was not best for the players?

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

In the 80's this year's Iowa team would not go to a bowl. My level of excitement would be about the same.

 

[Lumas Etima]

In the 80's this year's Iowa team would not go to a bowl. My level of excitement would be about the same.

Maybe.

But we went to the Peach Bowl in 1982 at 7-4, the Freedom Bowl in 1984 at 7-4-1, and the Peach Bowl again in 1988 at 6-3-3. In 1993, we went to the Alamo Bowl at 6-5.

It used to be that 7-4 would generally get you to a bowl most years. At least a Big Ten team like Iowa.

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

I remember in 1981 Iowa had a very strong team. The Rose Bowl before the final game of the season was an extreme long shot, but the Hawkeyes were definitely being considered by the Liberty Bowl. Iowa fans were ecstatic about going to a bowl game, because it had been 22 years since they had gone to one.

Fast forward: Iowa earned 14 bowl bids under Fry and now has earned 20 under Ferentz.

Yes, but Iowa was very similar to this year's Iowa team- strong defense and not much on offense. We beat Michigan 9-7 on 3 field goals, beat the 4 worst teams in the conference and Wisconsin 17-7. Only Iowa and *O$U played 8 conference games, everyone else played 9. We went to the Rose because *O$U had gone last, another outdated rule that worked to Iowa's advantage that season. Of course were embarrassed and shutout in the Rose Bowl 28-0...

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Maybe.

But we went to the Peach Bowl in 1982 at 7-4, the Freedom Bowl in 1984 at 7-4-1, and the Peach Bowl again in 1988 at 6-3-3. In 1993, we went to the Alamo Bowl at 6-5.

It used to be that 7-4 would generally get you to a bowl most years. At least a Big Ten team like Iowa.

Wow - I was an active fan back then but I didn't remember it being that easy to get a bowl bid. Revisionist history going on in my brain!!!

Thanks!

 

[Sett1997]

I think you have too many "olds" in your subject line.

When I saw it, I thought you were going to talk about the '50s and '60s, or even the '70s. There weren't very many bowls. I remember the first time ISU went to a bowl was in 1971. The team was 8-3, with the three losses to the teams that finished 1-2-3 in the AP poll, and there was a serious question of whether they would get a bowl bid.

I remember Dexter Green. 😀

 

[NI hawk]

I remember Dexter Green. 😀

Dexter was not on the 1971 team. Good player 1975-78 years. Only 46 when he passed away.