Entertainment desk
< October 5	<< Sep \| October \| Nov >>	Current desk >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Entertainment Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

October 6

American college football bowl game team selection

In American college football, teams are divided in to conferences. I'm curious how this relates to selection for bowl games. Specifically, I am interested to know how or when USC (in the Pac-12) might play Georgia Tech (in the ACC) again. They've played each other a few times in the past, so I'm interested to know when/how they might meet again. Would they both need to be the top team in their conference to meet in a bowl game? Would they ever play each other in the regular season? RudolfRed (talk) 22:16, 6 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Bowl games used to be tied to specific conferences, e.g. the Rose Bowl was reserved for the Pac-12/10/8 vs. the Big Ten, but with the implementation of the College Football Playoff, that's no longer true of the major bowls (I'm not sure about the minor ones). So USC and Georgia Tech could meet at any time in any of the participating major bowls, based ~~solely~~ primarily on their seeding. As for them clashing during the regular season, that's just a matter for the schools' schedulers. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:14, 7 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

See Independence Bowl#Conference tie-ins and matchups for the various permutations of conference matchups over the years for a mid-level bowl. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:26, 7 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Clarityfiend: Thanks! RudolfRed (talk) 16:17, 8 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Also see Bids to college bowl games which explains how each conferences is "tied in" to specific bowl games. According to that page, ACC vs. Pac-12 bowl games can occur in the following situations: 1) If both teams are part of the College Football Playoff and/or qualify for one of the New Years Six 2) The Hyundai Sun Bowl selects from the ACC and Pac-12. That seems to be about it, under normal circumstances. Occasionally, if a bowl's contracted conference cannot furnish a team, they will select a team from ANY conference, so there is a chance that will happen as well. --Jayron 32 16:47, 8 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Also, specific to USC vs Ga Tech, Winsipedia has complete head-to-head records of all college football teams. According to that site, the teams have met 4 times: 1961, 1969, 1973, and 2012. Only one of those, the 2012 Sun Bowl, was a bowl game. The other 3 meetings were regular season match-ups: 1961 and 1969 at USC, and 1973 at Georgia Tech. --Jayron 32 16:54, 8 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Jayron32: I had found the 2012 Sun Bowl, but not the other matchups. Thanks for the info and the links. RudolfRed (talk) 18:54, 8 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]