More bowl weirdness (CUSA relevant)

[JesseMartin]

So the AAC has 5 tie-ins, 6 if the SEC vetoes CUSA out of the Liberty. However, they only have 4 eligible teams now. Rutgers has to beat USF (likely but no guarantee) to make the 5th. A Rutgers win AND an SMU upset of UCF would make 6, so there is still the possibility of a problem for CUSA if that happens. However, if Rutgers and UCF both win, and UCF squeaks into a BCS bowl, then they are back down to 4 teams to fill their 5 tie-ins, which would leave another spot open for another conference to fill. Maybe not us, but filling it from another conference could leave one of that conference's tie-ins for CUSA, though I doubt it due to the following.

The conference with the most extra teams eligible is the ACC. They have 7 tie-ins, not counting however many (probably 2 I would think) go to BCS bowls...but they have ELEVEN eligible teams.

The Big 12 has exactly 6 teams for 6 tie-ins, so getting one into a BCS bowl will leave a spot open in one of their tie-ins. The B1G has 7 teams for 6 spots, but are likely to get at least 1 (but maybe 2) into a BCS bowl, so that will either keep them even or leave one more spot open for the shuffle.

Now it gets weird. I only see the MAC as having 3 bowls...is that right?! If so then they are tied with the ACC as having the most extra teams, with 7, though if NIU beats BGSU they should get a BCS bid, leaving 3 in the shuffle. And the MWC has 6 tie-ins for 7 teams, so they have 1 extra.

The PAC-12 has 9 eligible teams for 6 spots, so if they get 2 into BCS bowls as expected, that will leave 1 for the shuffle. The SEC has 8 spots for 10 teams but is also likely to field 2 BCS teams so they're even.

The Sun Belt only has 2 tie-ins for 5 teams with 2 on the cusp, and who knows where Notre Dame will end up, so that leaves us. I believe someone said we have 7 bowls, but I only count 6 for our 7 eligible teams.

So the question now is, who gets left out? At first glance, I'd say Ohio, CMU, and Toledo will probably be staying home if my count is right and the MAC only has 3 bowls to go to. The Sun Belt will likely leave out Texas State, Troy, and Arkansas State as well as either of the two cusp teams if they become eligible. MWC will likely leave out UNLV or SJSU since Fresno won't be getting into a BCS bowl.

I'm thinking the open spots will most likely go to AQ teams, so it looks like probably 2 teams from either ACC, SEC or PAC-12 will be left out (since Notre Dame has to be factored in here somewhere). As far as CUSA, if all of the rest of this is correct, who stays home? FAU, as the one with the only .500 record? Or do you punish one of the teams leaving by excluding them from a bowl? I'd say Tulane, but it makes too much sense to send them to the NO Bowl, and ECU's record is just way too good to leave them out.

Did I miss anything? Thoughts?

Edited December 1, 2013 by JesseMartin

[southsideguy]

Who's on first?

[TheColonyEagle]

I sure am glad we got that 8th win.

[greenit]

Isn't the AAC still an AQ conference this year? So their champ automatically goes to a BCS bowl no matter what. Same with all the AQ conferences, such as Big 12.

[JesseMartin]

Yeah, they are. So UCF goes no matter what, don't they? I mean, unless they lose next week and Louisville passes them in the standings. The overall number of open spots is still the same, though...

[NT03]

I would almost bet that We will play in the HOD Bowl vs Washington St or Oregon St.

[10Eagle10]

Yeah, they are. So UCF goes no matter what, don't they? I mean, unless they lose next week and Louisville passes them in the standings. The overall number of open spots is still the same, though...

Even if UCF loses next week and Louisville wins...Louisville will NOT pass UCF in the standings. They would be tied and UCF would win the AAC by virtue of their head-to-head victory.

it will not be us getting left behind. Heart of Dallas will announce us within a week.

Edited December 1, 2013 by 10Eagle10

[GoMeanGreen1999]

I would almost bet that We will play in the HOD Bowl vs Washington St or Oregon St.

I was hopeful we might get a big 10 team...no?

[UNTexas]

"it will not be us getting left behind. Heart of Dallas will announce us within a week."

It's my understanding that we won't hear anything until after Marshall v Rice game. True or false? Or can HoD select us ASAP if they so desire because the winner goes to Memphis?

[wardly]

The only reason I can think of for the HOD Bowl to select before CUSA championship is that neither Marshall nor Rice are on their radar.

[JesseMartin]

Exactly right...winner goes to the Liberty Bowl, HoD gets next pick. So if they want a team more than either of the ones in the championship game, they can offer as soon as they want. So if they prefer someone over Marshall and Rice, they could pick them right now if they wanted to.

[Side Show Joe]

The HOD won't get a BIG10 team if Ohio State plays for the National Title. If the BIG10 send 2 teams to the BCS, the HOD will need a team from another conference. We need Auburn to jump Ohio State, or Michigan State to upset Ohio State in the BIG10 title game. The HOD is tied to the number 7 BIG10 team this season. That would be Michigan.

What a matchup... North Texas vs. Michigan on New Year's Day.

[MeanMag]

It'll be interesting to see what SEC does with Liberty and how the BCS shakes out after the conference championship week. There are currently 10 SEC teams eligible, and depending on what happens in the BCS rankings, an SEC team may be left out of the National Championship game for the first time in a long, long time.

[NT03]

I was hopeful we might get a big 10 team...no?

Really depends on where Ohio St lands. I just can't see them being out of the NCG with 0 losses

[BillySee58]

"it will not be us getting left behind. Heart of Dallas will announce us within a week."

It's my understanding that we won't hear anything until after Marshall v Rice game. True or false? Or can HoD select us ASAP if they so desire because the winner goes to Memphis?

After championship weekend all the bowl games are officially announced. It's actually the next day on Sunday.

However, many teams already accept bowl invitations prior to Sunday and some are made public. BYU publicly accepted their invitation to play in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl back in October.

We could potentially accept an invitation to a bowl, most likely HoD bowl, this week and make it public, but we'll probably find out officially a week from today.

[NT03]

After championship weekend all the bowl games are officially announced. It's actually the next day on Sunday.

However, many teams already accept bowl invitations prior to Sunday and some are made public. BYU publicly accepted their invitation to play in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl back in October.

We could potentially accept an invitation to a bowl, most likely HoD bowl, this week and make it public, but we'll probably find out officially a week from today.

Let's just not pull a La Tech..