Sporting News: Early Bowl Projections
- Thread starter Mike Gwinn
- Start date
I don't even look forward to bowl season anymore since we have such crappy tie ins. We are pretty much relegated to playing a MAC school or the like unless we go undefeated and then we have to hope the committee will favor us over a mountain west team.
If we don't go to a NY6 Bowl, I hope we wind up in one of the two bowls we have against the AAC this year. Playing UCF in the Miami Beach Bowl sounds good. The Dallas Bowl against the 10th best B1G team will never excite me.
Well WV_Celt you might as well get ready for disappointment - especially from our own football leaders I.e., Hamrick/Holiday as they will want a bowl in Florida so the players from Florida will get to see family and friends. If this team would go undefeated and offered a huge bowl against a P-5 team and its not in Florida I believe those two would turn it down!
Come on guys we know they would accept - I hope!
Come on guys we know they would accept - I hope!
I completely disagree. One, we go down to FL every year to play either FAU or FIU. Two, the kids can go home after the bowl and still spend time with families over Christmas break. Three, by limiting our bowls to FL only is extremely shortsighted and not growing our brand or exposure. There are 49 other states that have MU alums or have HS football players. Maybe we should not have tunnel vision on some of this stuff.
Playing a B10 in Dallas is a hell of lot better than a MAC team in the Miami or Bahamas bowl.
I think twolf is just questioning last years decision and reasoning to play NIU vs a B10 in Dallas. I'm in the camp....I'll take any power conference school over a MAC team. I enjoyed the trip to Boca but we should have gone to Dallas and slammed Illinois.
Upon initial announcement, I was way frustrated with having to play NIU at the Boca Bowl. However, after a few days passed and I was able to chill a bit over it, I think it was probably the best match up for us. NIU was a much better team than Illinois and Marshall vs NIU grabbed some headlines for being 2 of the best G5 programs in the country. LaTech vs Illinois got lost in the overall noise of bowl season and not many really cared except for LaTech fans.
Would beating a B1G team be a nice notch on our belt? Absolutely, but NIU was a better program and the game was located right in the center of our strongest recruiting hotbed under this coaching staff. Hard to argue that, hindsight being 20/20 and all.
Would beating a B1G team be a nice notch on our belt? Absolutely, but NIU was a better program and the game was located right in the center of our strongest recruiting hotbed under this coaching staff. Hard to argue that, hindsight being 20/20 and all.
Not 100% Red, but I think the La Tech/IL had a higher TV rating than our bowl game. Seems as though I recall that being posted.
No, they weren't a "much better team." The difference between those two teams last year was slim. Beating a 70th ranked team doesn't get anyone more excited than beating an 80th ranked team.
The difference between beating either of those teams relates to perception. As voters have shown, including the playoff committee which will show, perception of a team's reputation will carry over and help or hurt a team year-to-year. Continuing to beat up G5 teams will result in absolutely nothing good. The outcome of Marshall's cakewalk through a schedule full of G5s last year showed that. But, beating a P5 for two or three years, even if mediocre P5s, will catapult a G5s reputation and give them a shot at a big bowl. Ask Boise State.
It's in the past. Doc and Hammy obviously did what they thought was best, and I'm not gonna argue with them. They've both done a good job and we beat the brakes off NIU, could've done the same to Illinois.
But, looking ahead to this year, I do hope we get somewhat of a better draw, just for the chance of playing a better / different team, and seeing how we compared. The Military Bowl was by far the best bowl game in recent history, simply because it was a change of pace to the previous bowl games versus Ohio and FIU. Better team, better game.
But, looking ahead to this year, I do hope we get somewhat of a better draw, just for the chance of playing a better / different team, and seeing how we compared. The Military Bowl was by far the best bowl game in recent history, simply because it was a change of pace to the previous bowl games versus Ohio and FIU. Better team, better game.
We have exactly 1 MAC bowl tie in this year, that being the Bahamas, We have 3 with the AAC, 2 with MWC and 1 SBC. Also Big 12 in Dallas.
Plus I don't know a single Herd fan that didn't have a GREAT time in Boca last year. Best bowl trip I have taken with Marshall. I will admit, I did miss one of the trips to Pontiac, Michigan.
No one is saying that FL bowls aren't good, they are for many reasons. But the company line of - "the kids get to go back to FL" is getting old and to me, doesn't have much credibility. Lets play a P5 team if we have a chance - anywhere. Perception is everything on a national scale.
The G5 schools need to get ready for the near future when there will be no bowl tie-ins with P5 schools.
