College football could be getting a new postseason game that would put a Pac-12 or Big 12 team against a team outside the power conferences.
Several reports have indicated that the proposed matchup would likely include the top-rated champion from the Big East, Mountain West, Conference USA, Sun Belt or Mid-American conferences against a Pac-12 or Big 12 representative.
The tentative plan is part of the changes coming to the system when the four-team playoff format is implemented in 2014. The new bowl would provide accees to teams outside the current BCS conferences.
USA Today reported that final decisions have yet to be formally approved.
As far as the teams involved in the game, the selection process seems somewhat confusing.
But it appears that in years when the Pac-12 champion is not in the four-team playoff and the Rose Bowl is hosting a national semifinal, the Pac-12 would provide the representative to the new bowl. Similarly, the Big 12 would send a team when the Champions Bowl, which will match the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference champions, was hosting a national semifinal and the Big 12 team was not among the four teams in the playoff.
But even then it’s not guaranteed that the Pac-12 or Big 12 would play in the new bowl. According to a USA Today source, the champion front either conference would have to finish “way outside the top four.” Instead, those teams could wind up in another major bowl.
It’s more likely, however, that a runner-up from the Pac-12 or Big 12 would land in the new bowl.
The Orange Bowl is currently working on a similar deal with the SEC and Big Ten in which a team from those conferences or Notre Dame would be paired against the Atlantic Coast Conference champion or another ACC team.
—Memphis junior running back Jerrell Rhodes has left the team and isn’t likely to return this season.
Coach Justin Fuente said he couldn’t see a scenario in which Rhodes, the team’s leading rusher after four games with 224 yards, would be back this year. Rhodes didn’t practice with the Tigers last week because of personal reasons and missed their game against Duke.
“I have not kicked him off the team,” Fuente, in his first year, told Memphis Commercial Appeal. “He is going to go through some guidelines I have set. Football is the least of our concerns (regarding Rhodes) right now.”
—Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who sat out the first two games of the season due to a suspension, will not travel with the team for Saturday’s game against Boston College because he is suffering from an abdominal virus, the team announced Thursday.