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I heard the exact same thing - and let me tell you, Iowa City is NOT happy about it. The Rose Bowl is the Bowl of all Bowls to go to for a Big 10 team - we want our shot at it.
The deal is - if WSU wins this coming weekend AND USC jumps Iowa and lands at #4 in the BCS (b/c of OU's loss) they are gauranteed an at-large bid as a nonconference champ in the top 4. The only other at-large bid would go to either Iowa or ND (even though ND blows - they bring a lot of money)
So the Orange Bowl has a few options if Miami wins out and he OB gets 1st pick of at-large teams. Do they
1.) sacrifice legitimacy by pasing up #4 USC and #5 Iowa for a big money maker in #10+ Notre Dame?
2.) Pick USC and possibly lose profits b/c USC doesn't travel as well as ND or Iowa - plus USC is in sunny California, where they have their own beaches. Iowa and ND are in the cold midwest, they would make a vacation out of a Bowl game in Florida
3.) Pick IOWA - getting a legit team that is in the BCS top 5, has fans that travel well and will put asses in seats and leaving the Rose Bowl basically screwed.
It's a tough call. Any way you slice it - either Iowa, USC or ND will be left out of the BCS bowls this year. Records and rankings indicate it SHOULD be Notre Dame.
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