College Football: Why the Sugar Bowl Should Have Picked Kansas State

The No. 8 Kansas State Wildcats had an amazing year that nobody predicted. Most preseason publications picked the Wildcats to finish No. 8 in the Big 12 and to struggle to win six games. Kansas State shocked everyone by finishing 10-2 and second in the Big 12 Conference.

After finishing 10-2, most experts believed that Kansas State would get an invite to the Sugar Bowl to play the Michigan Wolverines. The Sugar Bowl had other ideas and selected the No. 11 Virginia Tech Hokies, who were blown out in the ACC Championship game.

Virginia Tech finished 11-2 on the year, with their only two losses coming against Clemson. The Tigers blew out the Hokies on both occasions 23-3 and 38-10. Virginia Tech's biggest win was at Georgia Tech where they beat the Jackets 37-26.

Kansas State's biggest win was a 36-35 comeback victory against the 9-3 Baylor Bears. Their worst loss came against Oklahoma.

Both team's resumes were pretty equal so I believe the Hokies were selected over the Wildcats due to Tech's tradition of traveling well to away games and bowl games. Kansas State's athletic director John Currie was told by Paul Hoolahan, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Sugar Bowl that one of the main reasons they selected Virginia Tech over the Wildcats was due to their familiarity with Tech. The Sugar Bowl committee must have believed that the Hokies would be the more profitable team for them. But were they wrong?

So far the Hokies have struggled to sell their allotted tickets. According to Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports, Virgina Tech has sold only 9,337 of its 17,500 allotment. Tweet from McMurphy earlier today:

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"Sugar Bowl snub: K-State has sold 14,100 tickets to Cotton; Virginia Tech has sold 9,337 of its 17.5K Sugar allotment"

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The Wildcats on the other hand have sold 14,100 tickets to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. If your a Kansas State fan, the Cotton Bowl is a very good bowl game and should not be looked down upon. You get to attend a game in the best football stadium in the world, and Dallas is an easy drive down I-35 and is approximately 500 miles closer then Atlanta, GA. Playing a game in Texas, a state that is very important recruiting wise, could also be beneficial for the Wildcats.

So, your saying what is the big deal then? It sounds like Kansas State got a great deal by going to the Cotton Bowl. The biggest difference between the two bowls is money. The Sugar Bowl pays out $17,000,000 per team while the Cotton Bowl pays out $3,625,000. Also even if you don't agree with the system, BCS Bowls are given more notoriety and telling recruits that you have appeared in a BCS Bowl certainly doesn't hurt.

The Wildcats deserved a BCS Bowl. They finished higher in the BCS Rankings than Virginia Tech and they had a more impressive victories. The Hokies beat zero teams that finished in the Top 25 of the BCS, while Kansas State beat two teams who finished in the Top 25. If the Sugar Bowl's reasoning for selecting Virginia Tech was based on ticket sales and who they thought would be more profitable, then they clearly made the wrong decision.

It's obvious that Kansas State fans aren't going to feel sorry for themselves and are very excited about playing No. 6 Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl, but being able to attend a BCS Bowl after such a surprising season would have been a huge reward.