Rose Bowl tradition breaks
By Paul Trembacki
Sports
Editor
CHICAGO — If Purdue were to win the conference
this year, they wouldn’t qualify for a Rose Bowl berth unless they
were ranked first or second nationally.
Because the Bowl Championship Series rotates the
national championship game between the five major bowls, the Rose Bowl
will double as the national championship game this year.
This is the first year since 1947 that there is
no guarantee of the Pac-10 champion playing the Big Ten champ in Pasadena,
Calif. The game will also be played on Jan. 3, rather than New Year’s
Day, the date it had been played on each year for the last few decades.
"It’s like they’re stealing something
from us," Purdue defensive end Akin Ayodele said.
Ayodele said the Boilermakers want to make a return
trip to Pasadena because the memory of their 34-24 loss to Washington
Jan. 1 hasn’t gone away.
Staying put
Because every Big Ten football team is exempt from
playing two others each year — for example, Purdue will not face
Wisconsin or Penn State this season — some people are wondering
if a change is in order. The fairest way to determine a conference champion,
some argue, would be to have each team play all 10 others during the
season.
However, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said he
doesn’t think the number of conference games will change.
"I think we’ve got the right number of
conference games if you listen to athletic directors and football coaches,"
Delany said. "I don’t foresee us going to a full round robin;
there is little support for that."
Odds and Ends
The Big Ten has signed a four-year contract extension
with the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., to keep a Big Ten team
coming back to the bowl. The contract, according to Delany, is worth
more than $5 million per year. The Big Ten will also send a team to
the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., after the 2002 regular season.
Contracts are also being reworked for the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas,
and the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla. … The status of Indiana’s
Antwaan Randle El is so uncertain that the senior is listed as an athlete
in all of the media guides. The former quarterback could play wide receiver
or quarterback or spend time switching between the two positions. Randle
El also plans to return punts. … The Big Ten set an attendance
record last season, averaging better than 69,000 fans per game. More
than 4.5 million fans entered Big Ten stadiums.
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