Looking like two bowls for the Belt

[stebo]

CBS has these-

Motor City Bowl

Dec. 26, 2006

At Detroit

Central Michigan (MAC)

vs. Middle Tennessee (Big Ten No. 7) (replaced by Sun Belt)

Chippewas seeking first-ever bowl victory; upset loss to Troy doesn’t deny Middle Tennessee’s first-ever bowl berth.

New Orleans Bowl

Dec. 22, 2006

Troy (Sun Belt No. 1)

vs. East Carolina (C-USA)

Troy earns this spot after surprising Middle Tennessee State by a point; East Carolina looks to improve upon all-time 4-3 bowl mark.

**Geez, I know that E Carolina fans do travel - but will they travel to this one?

Finally - the irony of the century. In the very first year of the "Texas Bowl" in houston (yeah, the one that has a tie in with every Texas Scool except North Texas) - they predict a line-up of:

Texas Bowl

Dec. 28, 2006

At Houston

Kansas State (Big 12)

vs. Rutgers (Big East)

First-year K-State coach Ron Prince gets off on right foot; Rutgers tubs its toe down the stretch after a 9-0 start.

Meanwhile, guess who is on their way to San Diego?

Poinsettia Bowl

Dec. 19, 2006

At San Diego

TCU (MWC No. 2 or 3)

vs. UCLA (at-large)

Horned Frogs stay strong following 11-1 season; proximity is the biggest reason why Bruins an attractive choice.

(yes, I know that playing UCLA is a better bowl then the opponent that they would have gotten in the Texas Bowl - but it is funny that they went so far out of their way to get this tie-in with the Houston Bowl and now I would guess that MAYBE 500 of their fans go to Cali for the inaugural Pointsetta Bowl.... against a team that will probably have more 9/10 of the stands filled.

Nothing in their predictions about our other two teams going bowling, but there are a lot of 6-6 teams that cannot be picked over 7-5 teams if they are not a PRIMARY designated team for the bowl game. In other words, if a bowl has a contract with the Pac 10 and the Mountain West (let's even throw in that this bowl has back-ups - with tie-ins to the WAC and MAC as those back-ups) - and the Pac 10 or Mountain West are missing one or even two 6 win teams.... then the option goes to the WAC and the MAC - BUT ONLY AS LONG AS THEIR AVAILABLE TEAMS HAVE at LEAST 7 WINS - under the new rules, 6 wins won't cut it if there are other 7 win at large teams out there, contract or not... so the spot automatically becomes at large and the bowl had to pick someone else with at least 7 wins (yes, even Sun Belt teams - and you thought our conference membership was worthless, shame on you!).

The only loophole that there seems to get around this would be if the Pac 10 or the MWC had two available 7 win teams from either conference and the bowl chose to re-match conference mates in a bowl game rather then HAVE to pick from another conference (such as the Belt)... which is conceivable, but HIGHLY unlikley.

I had no idea that these new bowl rules would help the Belt so much! If you can't tell, I am very chipper!

Edited November 28, 2006 by stebo

[Eagle1855]

New Orleans Bowl

Dec. 22, 2006

Troy (Sun Belt No. 1)

vs. East Carolina (C-USA)

Troy earns this spot after surprising Middle Tennessee State by a point; East Carolina looks to improve upon all-time 4-3 bowl mark.

**Geez, I know that E Carolina fans do travel - but will they travel to this one?

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wont matter if they travel well or not, Rice is representing C-USA in the NO Bowl

should be a good game.

I like the new bowl rules a lot as well... just wish we had had a better season! Still not happy about the Texas Bowl situation.

[stebo]

Well, maybe the Texas Bowl will change their minds since they won't be able to get a Texas team in it for its inaugural year, lol.

[Cowtown]

I dont think it will be UCLA.

There is a rule that the bowls cant pass on a 7 win team for a 6 win team. So unless UCLA beats USC it will likely be N Ill or ULL. Troy really screwed up everything with their win over Muts.

The Frogs have been penciled in for SD for some time, and it was looking like they would play Wash St, Ariz or UCLA. Imagine how much it would suck to be thinking you were going to play a big Pac 10 program, and then find out you were going up against the #4 from the MAC or the #5 from the Belt.

For as good as the MWC is, their bowl tie-ins really suck.

I am starting to think TCU would have been better off joining the Belt, where they could be the Boise of the South.

GMG

[Eagle1855]

I am starting to think TCU would have been better off joining the Belt, where they could be the Boise of the South.

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woah thats something I have never read on this board... ha

ok, but seriously, if that was their goal they could have stayed in C-USA and accomplished the same results.

[rcade]

I like the Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee State matchup. It's the clash of the centers!

[FirefightnRick]

Wowee this is great, great news. Even if it doesn't happen, it's still great news for our conference. And I have to hand it to Stebo for two things actually.

First, Steve was the first to predict that Troy would, in so many words, make us proud some day as a conference mate. In only their 5th 1-A season they are about to go to their 2nd bowl game. Amazing.

Second, Steve has been the biggest supporter of the Belt even when everyone and their dog criticised it as never doing anything., Well, Steve and ArkStFan that is. Both have reminded us over the years that we need to stay the course and Build the Belt.

Question:

For arguements sake, what happens if we were to have 4, 7-win teams and one outside possible bowl slot to go to?

The Champion of the SBC goes to the N.O. Bowl. But what about the 3 way tie between the others? If all three tied head to head, then what's the tie breaker?

Rick

[Cowtown]

it is up to the bowls.

We would have to hope for a lot of at large bids from bowls that didnt fill their guaranteed spot.

So it is likely that we would get an invite to FW Bowl over Troy or Muts. While Birmingham Bowl would likely go with Troy over us.

[stebo]

Just think, if we had just won 7 freaking games this year - which should have been a breeze with any other coach - we would probably be bowling. We should have beat FAU, we should have beat La Tech, we should have beat ASU, and we should have beat ULM. That is 7 wins my friends, 7 wins. Heck, we should have beat Tulsa and Akron, too...that would have been 9 wins and a FOR SURE bid for a bowl!

[GreenBat]

Stebo. I kow you were just joking, but SEVEN wins means Dickey would still be here. Is a bowl trip worth another year of DickeyBall?

[Cowtown]

Frogs are playing N Ill. Looks like ULL stays home.

Here are NIU's wins

Buffalo 2-10

Ind St 1-10 (1AA)

Ball St 5-7

Miami 2-10

Temple 1-11

Cent Michigan 8-4

E Michigan 1-11

I dont quite think this is what the Frogs signed up for.

Go 10-2, come in second in the MWC and get these guys.

However the Tulsa v Utah FW Bowl sounds pretty good.

And the Rice V Troy NO Bowl sounds good also.

[Arrowhead]

it is up to the bowls.

We would have to hope for a lot of at large bids from bowls that didnt fill their guaranteed spot.

So it is likely that we would get an invite to FW Bowl over Troy or Muts. While Birmingham Bowl would likely go with Troy over us.

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[Arrowhead]

I see your point with the other times cause they were close games. How do you think y'all "should" have won the ULM game. You guys got smacked. 23-3 is not a should have won game.

[FirefightnRick]

I see your point with the other times cause they were close games. How do you think y'all "should" have won the ULM game.  You guys got smacked.  23-3 is not a should have won game.

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Holding a 13 point lead with 4 minutes to go against a team that was hammered 35-0 by MTSU isn't exactly smacking someone, but I see your point. But don't read too much into that statement. It's simply the fact that MOST of us here EXPECT to win every game. Like Hayden Fry did, like Scott Davis did, like Mitch Maher and Scott Hall did, and much like Stan "The Man" Humphries did.

Rick

[Eagle1855]

I see your point with the other times cause they were close games. How do you think y'all "should" have won the ULM game.  You guys got smacked.  23-3 is not a should have won game.

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I cant speak for everyone, but I think we had a more talented team, with inept lame duck coaches. I say we should win every game against a sun belt team, but I have high expectations