Bowl Trends & Trivia

General NCS Football13

Congratulations to Mack Brown and all of the coaches at Texas. They finally amassed enough talent to overcome their coaching deficiencies. More importantly, the events of this week should end the media’s love-fest with USC and the Vick brothers. Does this mean more coverage for Brady Quinn’s sister?

Anyway, here are some fun facts to help close out the 2005 College Bowl Season.

Since 2001, the ACC is the only conference to finish at 0.500 or above in the bowls every year. The ACC also has the most bowl wins and the highest winning percentage…not bad for a basketball conference.









 

ACC

SEC

BE

Pac-10

Big-10

Big-12

2001

4-2

5-3

5-2

2-3

2-4

3-5

2002

4-3

3-4

3-2

2-5

5-2

5-3

2003

5-1

5-2

2-3

4-2

3-5

2-6

2004

3-3

3-3

2-3

3-2

3-3

4-3

2005

5-3

3-3

1-3

3-2

3-4

5-3

Tot Wins

21

19

12

14

16

15

Win %

0.636

0.559

0.500

0.500

0.471

0.469

The ACC’s overall bowl success has not extended to the BCS bowls. The ACC is the only BCS conference that has never placed two teams into BCS bowls in the same season. In addition, the ACC has not won a BCS bowl since FSU won the 1999 National Championship.

ACC in BCS Bowls

1/4/2000

Florida St.

Sugar
Bowl

1/3/2001

Florida St.

Orange
Bowl

1/2/2002

Maryland

Orange
Bowl

1/1/2003

Florida St.

Sugar
Bowl

1/1/2004

Florida St.

Orange
Bowl

1/3/2005

Virginia
Tech

Sugar
Bowl

1/3/2006

Florida St.

Orange
Bowl

The Gator Bowl has matched up the ACC vs the BE since the 1995 season. The ACC is currently on a five-game winning streak in the Gator Bowl.

Gator Bowl Winners

1/1/2000

Miami (FL)

1/1/2001

Virginia
Tech

1/1/2002

Florida St.

1/1/2003

North Carolina St.

1/1/2004

Maryland

1/1/2005

Florida St.

1/2/2006

Virginia
Tech

The Peach Bowl has pitted the ACC vs the SEC every year since the 1992 season. To date, the wins have been rather streaky in nature, with the ACC’s latest run ending this year with the Miami loss. LSU ended a streak of three-consecutive SEC smack-downs by delivering one of their own.

Peach Bowl Winners

 

1/2/1993

North Carolina

 

12/31/1993

Clemson
(SC)

 

1/1/1995

North Carolina St.

 

12/30/1995

Virginia

 

12/28/1996

Louisiana St.

 

1/2/1998

Auburn (AL)

 

12/31/1998

Georgia

 

12/30/1999

Mississippi St.

 

12/29/2000

Louisiana St.

 

12/31/2001

North Carolina

 

12/31/2002

Maryland

30-3

1/2/2004

Clemson
(SC)

27-14

12/31/2004

Miami (FL)

27-10

12/30/2005

Louisiana St.

40-3

Here’s a trivia question that will bring back nightmares…What was the last team to win the Peach Bowl that wasn’t a member of the SEC or the ACC and when did it happen?

1/1/1992….ECU over NC State, 37-34

Virginia Tech played in a grand total of six bowl games before Frank Beamer arrived in Blacksburg. VT’s first bowl win was the fake-injury field goal game against NC State. VT and Beamer have been to 13 straight bowl games.

Several more streaks of note:
Michigan extended its current streak of consecutive bowl appearances to 31 straight.
The all-time streak of 35 straight bowl games by Nebraska was stopped in 2003.
Tennessee’s streak of 16 straight (third-best on active list) was snapped this year.
Several ACC teams are highly-ranked on the current active streak (and most will move up one spot when Tenn is removed).

Consecutive
Bowl Appearances

No

Team

#

First

Last

1

Michigan

31

1975

20XX

2

Florida St.

24

1982

20XX

3

Tennessee

16

1989

2005

4

Florida

15

1991

20XX

5

Virginia Tech

13

1993

20XX

 

 

 

 

 

7

Georgia Tech

9

1997

20XX

10

Miami (FL)

8

1998

20XX

12

Boston College

7

1999

20XX

What has Mack Brown and Texas done that Bo Schembechler and all of the Michigan coaches combined have never done? What has Mack and Texas done that Woody Hayes and all of the Ohio State coaches combined have never done?

Win back-to-back Rose Bowls. Wisconsin is the only Big-10 school to ever win back-to-back Rose Bowls.

Did you know that no school has ever won three straight Rose Bowls?

Back-to-Back Rose Bowl Winners

California

‘21-’22

Alabama

‘26-’27

Southern California

‘32-’33; ’39-’40;
’44-’45; ’79-’80

Washington

‘60-’61; ’91-‘92;

Stanford (CA)

‘71-’72

UCLA

‘83-‘84

Wisconsin

‘99-‘00

Texas

‘05-’06

And saving my favorite for last….Notre Dame’s losing streak in bowl games was extended to eight straight this year. Lou Holtz was the coach for Notre Dame’s last bowl win. (I have a feeling that this streak will not last much longer.)

Consecutive
Notre Dame Bowl Losses

1/2/1995

Colorado

Fiesta Bowl

1/1/1996

Florida St.

Orange Bowl

12/28/1997

Louisiana St.

Independence Bowl

1/1/1999

Georgia Tech

Gator Bowl

1/1/2001

Oregon St.

Fiesta Bowl

1/1/2003

North Carolina St.

Gator Bowl

12/28/2004

Oregon St.

Insight Bowl

1/2/2005

Ohio St.

Fiesta Bowl

Double-check my numbers or look for something that you find interesting here:
College Football Data Warehouse
ACC Football Media Guide

About VaWolf82

Engineer living in Central Va. and senior curmudgeon amongst SFN authors One wife, two kids, one dog, four vehicles on insurance, and four phones on cell plan...looking forward to empty nest status. Graduated 1982

General NCS Football

13 Responses to Bowl Trends & Trivia

  1. Mr. O 01/05/2006 at 8:44 AM #

    What is with the “enough talent to overcome their coaching deficiencies” comment?

    The criticism of Mack Brown’s coaching ability is ridiculous. He has been as successful as any coach in America over the last 10 years.

  2. VaWolf82 01/05/2006 at 9:29 AM #

    Obviously, that’s just my opinion.

    How many times has Texas had a top-10 recruiting class since Mack has arrived? (I wish I knew where to get the answer, but I’m sure that it is a bunch.)

    How many conference championships has he won? 1

  3. Mr. O 01/05/2006 at 9:49 AM #

    Mack has been playing in a conference with some of the nations best programs. At UNC, he competed against FSU at their highwater mark. He had Nebraska as a power when he first got to Texas and then the resurgence from Oklahoma. He has been a game away for many, many seasons.

    Now he is the power. His teams certainly don’t look poorly coached and his record speaks for itself. It is not as if he doesn’t win 10 games every year. I think he has done that for 10 consecutive years – the longest streak of any coach in the country. So he is obviously getting something out of his recruiting classeses. I could understand questioning him if he was going 8-3 or 7-4, but he isn’t.

    Not to mention that he runs his program with a lot of class and his players seem to carry themselves with a lot of class as well.

    I wish we had Mack Brown.

  4. Sammy Kent 01/05/2006 at 9:59 AM #

    I despise Mack Brown, and also think he’s a generally great recruiter and a lousy coach that still whines just like a Tar Hole. But the heck with football. Let’s talk Chris Wright!!!!! There’s hope for hoops!!!

  5. Class of '74 01/05/2006 at 10:02 AM #

    Assemblage of talent is one thing (we seem to know a little about this in Raleigh in recent history) but acheivement with that talent is the real measure. Nobody has had more talent in the past eight years than Texas based on recruiting rankings. With Texas it was a case of if you knock on the door enough eventually it will open. Of course if you have Vince Young it sure does help!

  6. VaWolf82 01/05/2006 at 10:14 AM #

    At UNC, he competed against FSU at their highwater mark.

    Mack had three 10+ win years at UNC, Here are those three years and the scores from the FSU games.

    1993…….33-7
    1996…….13-0
    1997…….20-3

    You can claim that he was competitive with FSU if you want to, but he was never close to beating them.

    I was not trying to say that Mack is a bad coach or hasn’t had the type of success that I would love to see at NC State. I was trying to be funny while pointing out that Texas’ accomplishments don’t appear to have matched their talent levels. Those types of discrepancies usually lead back to the coaching staff.

  7. Herb 01/05/2006 at 11:58 AM #

    I think the ACC’s bowl record says less about how good our conference is and more about how we need to get better bowl tie-ins. Only 4 of our 8 bowl games this season were against schools from BCS conferences and 2 of those were against Big East schools. The SEC, on the other hand, played five of their six bowl games against schools from BCS conferences. With the heightened level of competition in the ACC its time we get some better bowl opponents.

    And as much as I hate to say it, Mack Brown is a good coach. At least its easier to stomach him winning at Texas.

  8. Herb 01/05/2006 at 12:08 PM #

    My mistake. All of the SEC’s bowl games were against BCS conference schools – including one against a Big East school. Also, all seven of the Big 10’s bowl games were against BCS schools (none Big East).

  9. Mr. O 01/05/2006 at 12:28 PM #

    Where did I say he was competitive? He competed against them as in his teams played FSU. My point was that winning an ACC title in those years was very, very difficult because FSU was so good at that time.

    Winning a national title or a conference title in major conferences takes a lot of luck. His sustained excellence speaks for itself. He has the most consistent stretch of any coach in the country over the last 10 years which includes stints at two programs. Personally, I can’t hold it against a guy who loses 1 to 3 games per season at most.

  10. VaWolf82 01/05/2006 at 1:29 PM #

    I agree with you Mr. O, but it is all about expectations. Texas fans don’t expect to lose to OU five years in a row. They expect conference championships….and more. Alot of people in the media have taken their turns at Mack as well:

    Do you believe Mack Friggin’ Brown, once the scourge of Texas fans for his team’s pratfall performances in games like this, outflanked coaching golden boy Pete Carroll? …

    The old rap is dead: Mack Brown can win the big one, and Texas can, too.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2281000

  11. T.H. 01/05/2006 at 6:55 PM #

    The Gator Bowl has been ACC-Big East beginning with the 1996 season. In 1999, Notre Dame took the Big East slot as part of whatever deal they’ve worked out and lost to Georgia Tech. 1998 and 1997 were the two years UNC was ghettoed there against mediocre Big East teams, and in 1996 Syracuse spanked Clemson.

  12. VaWolf82 01/05/2006 at 8:24 PM #

    I was mostly looking at streaks and blew the start date of the ACC/BE matchup in the Gator. College FB Data Warehouse says that on 01-01-1996, Syracuse beat Clemson 41-0. So the BE/ACC matchup goes back to the 1995 season.

    I’ll edit the entry…..Thanks!

  13. lumberpack 01/06/2006 at 12:45 PM #

    The real question is when do we get out of Boise? Can Swofford take some action to create a new bowl in Tallahassee, Washington DC or Charleston to get the ACC out of the Boise Ghetto?

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