trwi7 wrote:If you're good enough to be 12-0 or 11-1, then take a chance with a AQ school or a good non AQ school like TCU or Boise State. If you're afraid you can't beat them and that it will mess up a trip to the Rose Bowl, you probably don't deserve to be in the Rose Bowl.
Wisconsin never has a good QB. I'd rather take the cheap way to the Rose Bowl and play with house money there than have a legitimate team foiled if by chance let's say TCU is a top 5 team that year but we didn't think so coming in.
Think about it, in an approximation, we're only going to be Capitol One-ish/Rose Bowl-ish caliber every 2 years in an optimistic sense. Realistically only every 3-4 years but let's say optimistically every 2 years. I think if TCU is good, you've got a 50% chance of losing a home-and-home. Now you'll have one of those teams' seasons ruined. You'll either lose out on an At-Large BCS game, go 11-1 instead of a "lucky" 12-0, etc. Now you're down to once every 4 years having a team that is really good AND beat a TCU-esque team and you've halved away that other "once every 2 year" opportunity. Most of the time, what does it matter? You probably lost to OSU but won the Big 10 so you go to the Rose Bowl or something.
I'll take a "weak" 12-0 team or a "weak" 11-1 team giving it a shot for an upset or easier opponent to win a Rose Bowl or National Title over one that strengthens its resume every few years with a big early win.
We're not OSU or Texas. I realize we over-achieve every single year with those "3 star players" but those guys are "3 star players" for a reason. We put a bunch of them together, and play, say 5 tough games in a year...we're gonna lose 2 or 3. Why give ourselves another chance to lose if we can?
This is EXACTLY why BB and Alvarez do things this way, I believe.
For sake of example, sorry GPBM, but if you're the Gophers trying to get back on the national stage...maybe you play a USC and hope for an upset. Meanwhile USC wants the Gophers as a weak major conference team to beef up their record.