Team Selection
In the 1995 college football season, teams were selected for the Sugar Bowl under the new Bowl Alliance system. The Bowl Alliance matched up the conference champions of the Big East, Southeastern Conference, Big 12 Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, and two at-large teams in games to determine an official national champion. Prior to the introduction of the Bowl Alliance and its predecessor, the Bowl Coalition, national champions were determined by various college football polls that sometimes named different teams as champion.
Under the Alliance system, the two highest-ranked members of Alliance conferences were matched up in a national championship game. The lower-ranked conference champions and two-at large teams would play each other in other bowl games. In 1995, one of these at-large spots was reserved for the champion of the Southwest Conference, which had been a member of the Bowl Coalition but was scheduled to dissolve after the 1995 season. Its members joined different conferences in an attempt to increase their revenue.
The Fiesta Bowl hosted the national championship game for the 1995 season, and thus had the first and second pick of eligible Bowl Alliance teams. The Orange Bowl had the third and fifth selections, while the Sugar Bowl had the fourth and sixth picks. The three Bowl Alliance games each were assigned a different date: December 31, January 1, or January 2. The dates rotated among the three games, along with which game would host the national championship. The Sugar Bowl was assigned the December 31 date, marking the first time it had been held on that date instead of its traditional January 1 date. It also was the first time two Sugar Bowls had been held in the same calendar year.
Read more about this topic: 1995 Sugar Bowl (December)
Famous quotes containing the words team and/or selection:
“Romeo. I dreamt a dream tonight.
Mercutio. And so did I.
Romeo. Well, what was yours?
Mercutio. That dreamers often lie.
Romeo. In bed asleep, while they do dream things true.
Mercutio. O then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate stone
On the forefinger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomi
Over men’s noses as they lie asleep.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The books for young people say a great deal about the selection of Friends; it is because they really have nothing to say about Friends. They mean associates and confidants merely.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)