Can We Please Stop The “Big Ten Teams Have To Play In Hot Weather At Bowl Time” Nonsense?

May 17th, 2012 10:42 AM║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink ║ Schools: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Tags: Big Ten, Deep South, New Year Day, SEC

This morning I was reading a razor-sharp attack on the Big Ten’s undying allegiance to the Rose Bowl by Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports. In it, Wetzel treads awfully close to an argument that’s been used by dozens of Big Ten supporters during the recent push to put the semifinals of a new college football playoff — if we actually get a new college football playoff — on campuses, rather than at bowl sites:

“And what about the chance for the Big Ten to finally stop playing games in SEC/Pac-12 country, maybe see if one of those sunshine programs can handle a few flakes of Midwest snow?”

Ah, yes, the weather. You know the line as you’ve probably heard it/read it as many times as this writer has: “SEC teams should have to go play in the cold instead of Big Ten teams always having to go play bowls where it’s hot.”

Whether you like the idea of on-campus semifinals or not — and the SEC would have hosted more games than any other conference under such a set-up, by the way — it’s time to drive a stake through the heart of the “it’s the heat” myth.

Currently, the Big Ten plays three bowl games against SEC teams in the state of Florida — the Capital One in Orlando, the Outback in Tampa, and the Gator in Jacksonville. All are played on New Year’s Day. According to Weather.com:

* The average high in Orlando on that day is 71 degrees with an average low of 50.

* In Tampa, the average high on New Year’s Day is 70 degrees and the average low is 52.

* In Jacksonville, the average high is 65 degrees with an average low of 41.

I’ll buy that Big Ten schools have farther to travel than their SEC counterparts when it comes to bowling in the Sunshine State. I’ll freely admit that the crowds on hand for those games are likely to have a pro-SEC slant. I’ll even admit that seeing SEC teams play in the snow of January would be darn fun.

But the idea that Big Ten teams melt in 50-70 degree temperatures like the Nazis in “Raiders of the Lost Ark?” Sorry, not buying it. Even the average afternoon humidity in January in those three cities is in the 53-57% range.

Look, if the bowl games were played in Florida on August 1st instead of on January 1st, those many Big Ten folks who’ve been beating the “we have to play in their heat” drum would get my support.

As it stands, however, not even the Saskatchewan Roughriders should wilt at 71 degrees.

Folks who want to make the case for on-campus semifinals — an idea which appears to be dead anyway — can pick from any other number of good reasons. They just need to drop the bit about Big Ten teams playing in Deep South heat. ’Cause in January, there is no Deep South heat.

Unbelievable Update — Those of you who read this site know that we often link you to the work of Jon Solomon of The Birmingham News. We think he’s sharp as a tack (probably because we agree with most of his work). Well, as we were putting today’s headlines together just now — 11:30am ET — we found his latest column: “Big Ten fans: Chill the griping about SEC football weather patterns.”

No wonder we like that guy.

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17 comments

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JohnVol

The reasons there aren't bowl games in the North are the same reasons that people from there are leaving in droves...the weather sucks, the women are ugly, the economy is terrible, and there's nothing to do. Not to mention the accents. If people FROM Michigan are getting the hell out, why would anyone schedule a post-season football game there?

Is the Big Ten argument that Alabama wouldn't have beaten Michigan State by six touchdowns if if was 30 degrees cooler?

If the Big Ten is that concerned about it, why are they fighting tooth and nail to preserve their bowl tie in played in sunny Pasadena?

jwolfe

@JohnVol This is the time of year that they should start having bowl games in North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. We are obviously suffering from college football withdrawal and night time temps are down in the high 30s and 40s. I'm going to suggest the closest college campuses to the east shore Lake Michigan sand dunes. You won't be interested in California or Florida scenery after you check out some of sun worshipers there. My personal favorite probably Warren Dunes, not al that far from Notre Dame, just across the Lake from Northwestern. Nobody is trying to move any further south than that for sure.

MoKelly

@JohnVol Hehehehe. Almost 100% correct. However, not ALL the women are ugly.

JohnVol

@MoKelly I would also add that it's always some kind of whining from the Big Ten. They've complained about having higher academic standards, now playing a ninth conference game, hot weather, SEC in NCAA trouble...the list goes on.

I went to the Tennessee-Ohio State Citrus Bowl in 1996 (1995 season), the year Eddie George won the Heisman. UT won, Ohio State filed a formal complaint after the game because "our cleats were too long". I'm not making this up.

I also went to the Tennessee-Wisconsin Outback Bowl following the 2007 season. After UT beat Wisconsin, Bret Bielema said that we "hit too hard". We knocked out their QB on a legal hit (knockout as in black out). Bielema literally complained after the game in the press conference that we hit too hard.

It's always something with these clowns. The fact of the matter is that Ohio State, Michigan, etc. have their glory days behind them. As the North continues to flounder on the whole, the Big Ten is facing increasingly larger economic and demographic issues. This in addition to the fact that most of the top high school talent is in the South and West (excepting farm boy O-linemen).

It's only going to get worse, and Delaney knows it. I don't think Ohio State and Michigan will ever be BAD teams for long periods of time, but the league (region) as a whole is in trouble.

AllTideUp

@JohnVol The Big Ten in general are a bunch of whiners. I'll say that the exception in my experience has been the people from Penn State. They seem more normal and down to earth. And State College seems like a nice place.

I was disappointed by their semi-riots and the angry reaction to Paterno's firing though.

LowlyGatorinSC

If the Big-12 "loves" to play in the cold then why do they end their season a week before anyone else? And isn't their CCG in a dome in Indy(not open air like Chicago, Cleveland, etc.)?

The new Big-12 is a joke on this issue, and quite frankly I'm tired of national writers like Beano Cook touting the company line. If the Big-12 is tired of the SEC dominance, then it's time for their Big-4( Wisconsin, UM,OSU, Nebraska) to nut-up and beat the SEC on the field in bowl games. Delany and his leagues "tears" in the media make him and his conference look weak and scared.

Love the work the writers on this site do. I've been following since the TAMU deal, and the work and thought you guys do in your articles is amazing keep it up.

LowlyGatorinSC

jwolfe

Programs and conferences want every advantage they can get. Players learn to handle cold weather one game at a time and as the weather changes everyday at practice. Sudden changes in game climate have to be a disadvantage more for the passing game than the running game. Cold air helps teams that are less fit because it holds more oxy. moles per breath. It's widely known that altitude has the opposite effect. You can pick a case study and say the travelers won anyway but if you look at 100 games, the outcomes are going to be significantly affected. Coaches manipulate indoor and outdoor practices based on where the next game is going to be played. The center of the continent is more extreme than the coast. It's possible for SEC teams to play at Missouri in late November in snow and wind chills in the single digits. Jeff Foxworthy did a funny welcome routine for Missouri to the SEC where he jokes that halloween costumes are made to fit over snow suits there. Climate is not just a latitude thing. Proximity to lakes and oceans make a difference. There is no doubt that an early Sept game where North Dakota plays in South Florida is going to be a humidity (oxy.) and heat challenge. Personally I think the bowls, or playoffs and all inter-collegiate games should played on campus. It should be a flip of a coin not media opinion of who is the higher seed.

MoKelly

2 Like

The Big 10 continually moans and growns and makes excuses. Just because they live in dreary, cloudy and cold places doesn't mean we have to hear about it! Its a choice.

Tony

As an Arkansas fan who travels a lot, I can see their point. If you've spent months in 20-degree weather then suddenly go to 70-degree weather, it takes a few weeks, not days, for your body to adjust and for you not to feel constantly dehydrated and tired. And I agree with vol66 that it was a good article and that the weather issue was a very small part of it. I personally think it's a valid point based on my experience traveling from cold to hot climates and vice versa in the middle of winter and the middle of summer.

DaveinExile

I travel for sales across the country, year round. I run - summer, winter, rural or urban. The only times I do not run - when it's 10 degrees outside with a wind chill below zero. Then I hit the treadmill.

This crap is nonsense.

John at MrSEC moderator

Tony...

I did not bash the article. I said in the first sentence that the column was on a different subject. But his one line tied to similar arguments that have been made for months.

John

vol66

I think it's a bit odd that the weather issue is what stood out to you Mr.SEC. That was a pretty small part of a long piece on what seemed like, at least to me, a good article on why Big 10 folks want to go play a 1st round game at the Rose Bowl rather than at home. To me the Tom Osborne quote was the most note worthy thing. I can't imagine Nick Saban saying, "heck yeah we'll give up home field advantage because the Sugar Bowl has been good to us." Even if he said it, I would think someone was making him say it. I think it it's crazy for an AD to say it, giving up the money that would come to the school and the economic effects for the city? I think it's crazy for a fan to say it most of all. Even if you love the Rose Bowl, as a fan, ya really wanna pay even more to travel to another bowl city or neutral site for the championship game?

I'm in no way criticizing your article, I just got something different out of the article you referenced. Sorry for the rant.

John at MrSEC moderator

@vol66

Tried to make it clear that Wetzel referenced whether or not SEC fans can play in the snow. That simply pushed us back to the fact that many, many people have said the poor Big Ten has to play in Southern heat. And that was the take-off point for our article.

I could have not linked to Wetzel's column -- since we stated the topic is different -- but I wanted to give him a link.

I was commenting on one line of that column which tied into a bigger argument others had been making. I thought I'd made that clear. But apparently I did not.

Thanks for reading,

John

Steve in SETX

1 Like

Mississippi State has proven that SEC players can win in gobs of snow ;-)

jokerp84

The funny thing is how warm the B1G campus sites are in September for the first 4 games of the season, (75 degree average in Ann Arbor, 77 degree average in Columbus etc)

Scott

3 Like

Their argument usually goes in the other direction as well: "SEC players couldn't handle the cold if we played them up here". If that's the case, then why do so many Big 10 schools recruit down here? Because it stands to reason that once any Florida or Georgia kid gets to Michigan or OSU, he's just going to wilt in the cold anyway. Seems like it would be a waste of a scholarship to me,

JohnVol

It's kind of like when USC goes to Notre Dame and can't handle the cold. Wait a minute...

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