Delany recalls 2002 bowl switch that sent Iowa to Orange, not Rose

In 2002, Iowa and Ohio State finished 8-0 in the Big Ten and did not play in the regular season. Ohio State, which was undefeated, went to the national title game, then held in the Fiesta Bowl. Iowa, of course, played in the Orange Bowl.

Under the current format, Iowa would have played in the Rose Bowl as Ohio State's replacement and faced Washington State. But the rules were different in 2002. The Orange Bowl, which lost the nation's No. 1 team in Miami, grabbed Iowa as an at-large squad before the Rose Bowl could holler "Hey, wait a minute." Iowa eventually lost to Pac-10 co-champion USC 38-17 in the Orange Bowl.

"That's a Pac-10/Big Ten kind of Rose Bowl game played out in the Orange Bowl," Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said last month. "The rules clearly allowed it, and we subsequently changed the rules so that if there's a replacement, host bowls can replace a lost champion who moves up. Last year it happened, and Alabama was replaced by Florida (in the Sugar Bowl). But that was the first year that we had this circumstance, and the Orange Bowl wanted to do this and the Rose Bowl was not happy.

"I said to the Rose Bowl, ' These are the rules. These are their selections, so I can assure that if people are operating within the rules. I think it's our job to protect the rule. And it's our job for our schools to abide by the rule.'"

The rules later were changed to allow bowls the opportunity to replace teams lost to the BCS title game with conference tie-ins. In the last four years, the Rose Bowl twice has replaced its championship-qualifying Big Ten team (both times Ohio State) with at-large Big Ten squads. The Sugar Bowl has done the same in each of the last four years.

This year, the Big Ten likely won't send its champion to the BCS title game. But there will be plenty of jockeying among Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan State - all 10-1 with one game left - for the extra BCS bowl slot. The league rules are clear when it comes to the Rose Bowl. If the teams haven't all played one another and have the same record, then the BCS standings will determine the Rose Bowl participant. Right now, it's Wisconsin. But for a potential second and final BCS bowl slot, Ohio State and Michigan State could have to make their case to the bowls themselves.

In the last 15 years, the Big Ten has sent 12 at-large teams to the BCS or Bowl Alliance. Only in 2000, 2001 and 2004 was the league not represented twice in the major bowls. The Big Ten has sent an extra team to a major bowl every year since the BCS expanded to five bowls after the 2006 season.

"We've really worked hard on our people to understand the rules we have for the bowls, to understand their discretion to take within those rules to communicate and to advocate," Delany said. "And then I advocate, but where we have two schools that are competing with each other, it's suicide for me to pick winners. That's why it's better to have rules and clearly they make those choices."