[Farm93]

Well sure, lots of teams had fewer fans than Stanford at their home games this week, but none of them are trying to get a BCS at-large bid. - Farm93

How many of those BCS hopefuls suffered through a 1-11 season in the last 5 years?

Not the bowl games\' problem really.  FWIW - Notre Dame was 3-9 a few years ago, but if they were #14 in the BCS standings they would get an at-large pick.  We, I trust, can all agree on that.  So a bad record 5 years ago is not really a big driver.  Tennessee was awful a few years ago, but if they were #6 in the BCS there would be no talk of them missing a BCS invite.

Small alumni base, large media market, climate\'s too good, private school, bad marketing, bad record over the last decade, etc.  They are all excuses to validate the programs lack of popularity with the BCS powers, but none of the excuses will alleviate concerns about filling the stands, increasing hotel bookings, or getting strong TV ratings for a bowl game in 5 weeks.

[Farm93]

Well sure, lots of teams had fewer fans than Stanford at their home games this week, but none of them are trying to get a BCS at-large bid. - Farm93

How many of those BCS hopefuls suffered through a 1-11 season in the last 5 years?

Not the bowl games\' problem really.  FWIW - Notre Dame was 3-9 a few years ago, but if they were #14 in the BCS standings they would get an at-large pick.  We, I trust, can all agree on that.  So a bad record 5 years ago is not really a big driver.  Tennessee was awful a few years ago, but if they were #6 in the BCS there would be no talk of them missing a BCS invite.

Small alumni base, large media market, climate\'s too good, private school, bad marketing, bad record over the last decade, etc.  They are all excuses to validate the programs lack of popularity with the BCS powers, but none of the excuses will alleviate concerns about filling the stands, increasing hotel bookings, or getting strong TV ratings for a bowl game in 5 weeks.