[FarmBoy]

My only reaction is that it seems funny to do it so publicly. The "deciders" for these bowl games are a handful of people that I'm sure the AD and Conference Commissioner have on speed dial. Trying to convince the general public that Stanford draws well seems like an unnecessary and losing battle. The general public is not going to understand the subtle reasons why Stanford, even as a top 10 team for 3 years running, can't fill it's 50K stadium nor will they understand why that doesn't matter for Stanford as a bowl participant.

But who cares about the perceptions of the general public? Put together a nice glossy brochure with all the charts and figures showing how well Stanford fans travel, how much they spend of food and lodging when they show up, and distribute them to the BCS selection committees in November of each year. Heck, by now, we'll have participated in 3 of 4 BCS bowls and they'll have the direct experience themselves on which to base the decision. The only people without direct experience are the overseers of the Sugar Bowl. When the opportunity comes, I'm guessing they'll jump at the chance to invite a top rated Stanford team to play the SEC champ/runner up because they'll either erroneously assume it means (a) an easy win for the SEC and/or (b) more tix for the SEC representative fans who will sell out the game no matter if they're playing an FCS opponent.

[FarmBoy]

My only reaction is that it seems funny to do it so publicly. The "deciders" for these bowl games are a handful of people that I'm sure the AD and Conference Commissioner have on speed dial. Trying to convince the general public that Stanford draws well seems like an unnecessary and losing battle. The general public is not going to understand the subtle reasons why Stanford, even as a top 10 team for 3 years running, can't fill it's 50K stadium nor will they understand why that doesn't matter for Stanford as a bowl participant.

But who cares about the perceptions of the general public? Put together a nice glossy brochure with all the charts and figures showing how well Stanford fans travel, how much they spend of food and lodging when they show up, and distribute them to the BCS selection committees in November of each year. Heck, by now, we'll have participated in 3 of 4 BCS bowls and they'll have the direct experience themselves on which to base the decision. The only people without direct experience are the overseers of the Sugar Bowl. When the opportunity comes, I'm guessing they'll jump at the chance to invite a top rated Stanford team to play the SEC champ/runner up because they'll either erroneously assume it means (a) an easy win for the SEC and/or (b) more tix for the SEC representative fans who will sell out the game no matter if they're playing an FCS opponent.