Bowl Analysis... er... Texas Bowl News

[Jim Johnson]

From the For What It's Worth Department:

Texas Bowl set for return date at Reliant Stadium

Houston Business Journal - 2:51 PM CDT Thursday, April 5, 2007

The 2007 Texas Bowl will be played on Dec. 28 at Reliant Stadium, Lone Star Sports & Entertainment representatives said Thursday at a press conference.

Representatives of Conference USA and the Big 12 were on hand to kick off the second year of the Texas Bowl. The inaugural Texas Bowl was played on Dec. 28, 2006, when Rutgers defeated Kansas State, 37-10, before a crowd of 52,210 -- the largest crowd since 1972 to witness a bowl game in Houston not involving a Texas team.

After getting such a great draw with Rutgers and Kansas State last year, it may be a tough act to follow, depending on which teams are left to choose from when bowl selections are announced in early December.

The bowl will feature a Big 12 conference school each year, and Conference USA and the Big East conference will alternate years.

The 2007 Texas Bowl will be televised live nationally on NFL Network for the second consecutive year. The 2006 Texas Bowl was the highest-rated college game broadcast on NFL Network, bringing in a 1.42 rating.

On March 29, Texas Bowl Executive Director Jamey Rootes presented a check for $50,000 to DePelchin Children's Center, the official charitable beneficiary of the Texas Bowl. It was estimated that the 2006 Texas Bowl generated more than $28 million in local spin-off revenue, according to the Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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So here is the Bowl Line Up for the Big East in 2007 -- all [highlight]FIVE[/highlight] of them:

Bowl Championship Series

Gator or Sun

Meineke Car Care Bowl

[highlight]PapaJohn.com Bowl[/highlight]

International Bowl

* The PapaJohns.com Bowl gets a MAC team in 2007 (according to their Wikipedia page).

Now, consider that Notre Dame is widely expected to have a down year... and you can fully expect that the Big East will only have [highlight]FOUR[/highlight] slots for what could be [highlight]SIX[/highlight] bowl eligible teams.

USF may need to win the conference, or we could be heading to Toronto.... or Boise, Idaho... or San Francisco... UGH!

[highlight]UPDATED SECTIONS[/highlight]

[flsportsfan83]

Boise, Idaho ---- awesome......

The Gator will never take USF...... so we have 3 possible BE bowls

[Matt]

big east needs to figure out how to get some more bowl tie-ins.

that is pathetic.

[SeaBull]

So Notre Dame will get one of our bowls ahead of us even if they only get 6 wins and we have 8+?

It's very possible we could be 4th again with 8 or 9 wins and not make a bowl?    :-/

[Bulls 8_va]

Why wouldn't the Gator Bowl take USF?  Because we are from Florida...and we wouldnt sell Hotel Rooms?  Yet, they can take Georgia Tech and they are from Atlanta...I dont see that logic.  And the Meineke Bowl can take teams like UNC and NCST and have them bring NOBODY to the pep rally but SELL OUT the game...I believe that if USF is the 2nd best in the Big East this year that we will, FOR SURE go to the Gator Bowl.  There is no other choice...unless we get two BCS bids.  

[Matt]

if we got 9 wins (very likely) then we would be the first time to make an at-large bid if there was another conference that didnt have enough qualifying teams.

this is why it is SOOO important to try to travel to every bowl game you possibly can.  that is the biggest factor in getting the nod over another program.

[Bulls 8_va]

...in addition, F*#K Notre Dame!!!

[Joe]

I brought this up last year (BE/CUSA bowl tie in) and many didn't believe it.  It was done for a few reasons. 1) To get Houston/Rice/SMU in the bowl game for attendance. 2) CUSA was instrumental in getting that bowl back on their feet. I believe they can select TCU every few years too.

What a crappy situation we have bowl wise. Two solid games and a bunch of rejects.

However, with the Papajohns.com Bowl the MAC is the alternate if there isn't enough BE or CUSA teams. So I believe it is in the mix.

The problem is outside WVU and Louisville when they feel like it, the conference doesn't travel well. Not traveling well = no bowl games. It's a tough grab.

[dabull80]

So Notre Dame will get one of our bowls ahead of us even if they only get 6 wins and we have 8+?

It's very possible we could be 4th again with 8 or 9 wins and not make a bowl?    :-/

Never happen, we will go to a bowl game with eight or nine wins.  It may not be a top notch bowl but we will be bowling.

[Joe]

Why wouldn't the Gator Bowl take USF?  Because we are from Florida...and we wouldnt sell Hotel Rooms?  Yet, they can take Georgia Tech and they are from Atlanta...I dont see that logic.  And the Meineke Bowl can take teams like UNC and NCST and have them bring NOBODY to the pep rally but SELL OUT the game...I believe that if USF is the 2nd best in the Big East this year that we will, FOR SURE go to the Gator Bowl.  There is no other choice...unless we get two BCS bids.  

Because we averaged 23,000 actual bodies in the seats at our game last year (not the announced attendance), a bowl's train of thought is that if they can't get that many people to a $25 ticket game in their own city, why would they travel 3 1/2 hours  for a game that costs $70?

Atlanta is 7 hours from Jacksonville, so it does kill that logic.

I don't believe USF will go, sorry. Might not be what people want to hear, but the Gator Bowl added the "Big 12" exception for a reason.

Notre Dame will probably be available

Plus the Big 12 exception

I just don't see them taking a chance on us, and a fan base that it would be a miracle to sell out their allotment.