Do we need Rice to win C-USA championship?

Harry · December 1, 2013

It seems to me if Rice gets Liberty bowl they take it and that leaves Heart of Dallas to us. I think if Rice loses to Marshall things could get dicey. If I'm a Rice fan I would want HOD over the other options. Thoughts?

SSP · December 1, 2013

I think we are now a lock in for HOD. I know some player's who will be heart broken over this.... but THERE really isn't any other scenario that makes any sense. Rice will probably travel more to Hawaii than to Dallas.

Mean Green Eagle · December 1, 2013

Makes a lot of sense to me.

Just noticed CBS' Jerry Palm has Rice in the HOD Bowl and us in the Military Bowl...http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions

GrayEagle · December 1, 2013

We could have our win over Rice going for us. Plus, we have about 33,000 more students and Lord knows how many more alumni. We'd both have two losses to conference teams but, of course, they would have played one more conference team than us.

NT03 · December 1, 2013

Rice needs to head to Hawaii

UNT Mean Green · December 1, 2013

Won't we know about Heart of Dallas tomorrow?

Eastwood Eagle · December 1, 2013

Why on earth would HOD pick Rice over UNT?

A) They are closer in proximity

B ) They have a larger alumni / student base

C) They travel better

D) None of the above

Hint: It's not A, B or C.

Edited December 1, 2013 by Eastwood Eagle

Rudy · December 1, 2013

~~Rice~~ East Carolina needs to head to Hawaii

HoD is supposed to be making their selections tommorrow, December 2.

LongJim · December 1, 2013

I cannot see HoD picking Rice. It doesnt make sense from a $ or TV standpoint, IMO.

meangreener · December 1, 2013

100% confident we are a HOD lock.

Harry · December 2, 2013

Not to beat a dead horse but again, if Rice doesn't beat Marshall in the C -USA championship game --- will C-USA not be obligated to give them a spot in the Heart of Dallas Bowl? Again I am assuming Rice would prefer that game over Hawaii or some of the other options.

Hopefully Rice will win and go to Liberty which would make us a lock for HOD.

UNTFan23 · December 2, 2013

Not to beat a dead horse but again, if Rice doesn't beat Marshall in the C -USA championship game --- will C-USA not be obligated to give them a spot in the Heart of Dallas Bowl? Again I am assuming Rice would prefer that game over Hawaii or some of the other options.
Hopefully Rice will win and go to Liberty which would make us a lock for HOD.

Rice attendance for the CUSA Championship game could ultimately decide their fate when it comes to the HoD bowl. If attendance is bad, North Texas is the obvious candidate for HoD.

Rudy · December 2, 2013

ECU needs to be shipped off to Hawaii. The conference appeased them in adding ODU, only to have them walk out. Personally, I'd work out a deal to pit ECU and Tulame both in the Hawaii Bowl.

Eff em

Eagle1855 · December 2, 2013

Why does the Hawaii Bowl even exist (other than to provide the U of Hawaii an additional home game)? It's not a premier bowl and it costs fans an arm and a leg to attend with virtually no lead time to plan a trip.

MeanGreenTexan · December 2, 2013

Not to beat a dead horse but again, if Rice doesn't beat Marshall in the C -USA championship game --- will C-USA not be obligated to give them a spot in the Heart of Dallas Bowl? Again I am assuming Rice would prefer that game over Hawaii or some of the other options.
Hopefully Rice will win and go to Liberty which would make us a lock for HOD.

I think the bowls can CHOOSE who they want right? HoD has the first choice behind whoever is obligated to the Liberty Bowl as C-USA champs, is that correct? If so, I would think that the HoD may want choose UNT over Rice since I think UNT would make the bowl more money.

Harry · December 2, 2013

I think the bowls can CHOOSE who they want right? HoD has the first choice behind whoever is obligated to the Liberty Bowl as C-USA champs, is that correct? If so, I would think that the HoD may want choose UNT over Rice since I think UNT would make the bowl more money.

Yes but remember, C-USA will want to keep legacy member Rice happy. We are the new kids on the block. Just have to hope that Rice beats Marshall and gets to Liberty that makes things very clean for all parties involved.

MeanGreenTexan · December 2, 2013

Yes but remember, C-USA will want to keep legacy member Rice happy. We are the new kids on the block. Just have to hope that Rice beats Marshall and gets to Liberty that makes things very clean for all parties involved.

This would be worrisome if the conference were to delegate which teams go where.

But I think it's up to the bowls to choose, right? So, although Banowsky is on the HoD committee and he may vote for Rice, if everyone else on the committee decides UNT is the better school, then UNT it is.

Mean Green 93-98 · December 2, 2013

But I think it's up to the bowls to choose, right? So, although Banowsky is on the HoD committee and he may vote for Rice, if everyone else on the committee decides UNT is the better school, then UNT it is.

Correct.

untjim1995 · December 2, 2013

Liberty Bowl--Marshall or Rice

Military Bowl--Marshall if they lose CUSA Championship game; ECU if Marshall wins

Hawaii Bowl--Rice if they lose CUSA Championship game; ECU if Rice wins

HoD Bowl--North Texas

NO Bowl--Tulane

Beef O'Brady's--MUTS

Mean Green 93-98 · December 2, 2013

Liberty Bowl--Marshall or Rice

Military Bowl--Marshall if they lose CUSA Championship game; ECU if Marshall wins

Hawaii Bowl--Rice if they lose CUSA Championship game; ECU if Rice wins

HoD Bowl--North Texas

NO Bowl--Tulane

Beef O'Brady's--MUTS

That makes too much sense.

Got5onIt · December 2, 2013

A Rice win would pretty much guarantee NT a HOD invite. Plus, it would be a nice notch on the ol' belt, knowing NT beat the CUSA champ.

I will be the biggest Rice fan this weekend!

UNTLifer · December 2, 2013

Yes but remember, C-USA will want to keep legacy member Rice happy. We are the new kids on the block. Just have to hope that Rice beats Marshall and gets to Liberty that makes things very clean for all parties involved.

I understand this, but Rice also brings nobody to their games outside of Houston.

EagleGreen · December 2, 2013

I don't have a real good "in" on this matter but the HOD committee did visit a few schools and we were one of them. They liked what they saw but they are also under the assumption that Rice will bring as many to the HOD as UNT. Further, my "in" believes that the Military Bowl or NO Bowl would be options for UNT, but ECU would be better with the Military Bowl. Since UNT is not expected to travel really well, I think other regional teams may be the pull if we don't go to HOD.

LakeTravis · December 3, 2013

NO bowl already selected Tulane vs LaLa

PlummMeanGreen · December 3, 2013

I don't have a real good "in" on this matter but the HOD committee did visit a few schools and we were one of them. They liked what they saw but they are also under the assumption that Rice will bring as many to the HOD as UNT. Further, my "in" believes that the Military Bowl or NO Bowl would be options for UNT, but ECU would be better with the Military Bowl. Since UNT is not expected to travel really well, I think other regional teams may be the pull if we don't go to HOD.

Well, the HOD Bowl committee "ONLY" made our last 3 home games at Apogee so I think their interest with what we bring to their table is more than just of a casual nature (as I think it would be for Rice since they saw how many fans the Owls brought to Apogee at what would be a pretty big CUSA west division game and that no matter what night it was played).

AND........after your sentence that I highlighted in bold red I all but stopped reading because......

...for a Tuesday night New Orleans Bowl game last decade we traveled almost 17,000 Mean Green fans (according to the MGRN guys) and last I checked, the Big Easy is a few more miles down the road than Dallas for most of us.

Back in the dark ages and according to the Austin American-Statesman and Dallas Green (yes, the memory is still good), but North Texas had about 20,000 traveling fans when we played the Texas Longhorns only to watch Earl Campbell make a last minutes of the game TD run to beat the Mean Green 17 to 14. (I was never sure why we could never win those kind of games the last 40 or so years, quite frankly).

An HOD Bowl game would arguably be the biggest event in our 100 years of football history. It over-shadows any bowl game the SBC could ever offer because it's in Big D and in our back yard (or should I say front yard)?

GMG!

Edited December 3, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen