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

[JoeB]

Rezz, couldn't agree more with the three waves of fans.

First Tier-  People that graduated prior to football was at USF

Second Tier-  People that graduated prior to Conference USA/Big East

Third Tier-  People in school now that do not miss any home games

We're missing a huge part of that first tier, and thats why we're looked at as a group that doesn't travel well.  Hopefully the second and third tiers will continue to grow in the next few years and eventually to a point where we escape that label, but until then we'll have it like a scarlet letter across our chests...........

[crambone]

I am in the Second Tier.  Class of 2004 as well.

[Bulls 8_va]

I started at USF in Fall of '02 and I'm still here(took some time off for gigs)...am I in 2nd or 3rd tier?  lol

Scarlet Letter accross our chests?  Thats a little dramatic eh?  We're not the Scarlet K-nigits...lol :

[SeaBull]

yea...10 years from now attendence will no longer be a factor in bowl games.

There are basically 3 waves of bulls fans....

me for example,

I am in the 2nd wave....

I graduated in 2004.  When I started at USF we were just getting started in d-1.  my junior year we got into a conference with C-USA.  Senior year we had the big win over Louisville.  So I got to witness some big time football, but not on a regular basis.

Now, I am about 1 year away from being stable enough in my career, family, and life to be a season ticket holder and donor.  I'm sure my story is similar to a lot of other Bulls out there.

The 1st wave of Bulls fans are all the alumni out there who went to USF when there wasnt a football team.  they are just sports fans.  and now that USF has a team they are huge fans, season ticket holders, and donors.  We are probably missing out on about 60-70% of this demographic because when they were students they didnt get to go to football games, therefore, can't relive the college days by going to a game and tailgating (this is what brings a lot of big program alums back every year)

the 3rd wave are the students here now who can witness big time football program about to be born, a lot of local excitement about the bulls that will only grow and grow in years to come.

We will be able to take full advantage of winning these students over into life long fans.  10 years from now they will have graduated and be productive alumni able to travel to away games, bowl games, etc.

Very nice breakdown. I am pround to be the 3rd wave. If I stayed in school out of high school, I would have been the 2nd wave. I'm glad I get to experience the birth of a football super power. I would love to USF win the BE by the time I graduate in late "09

[Guest]

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.

Actually ND as stated before has a deal with Cotton, so would probably end there if not in BCS. IF the Gator takes the Big 12 then the BE team heads for Sun Bowl.

Papajohn will not have a MAC team over BE, wikipidia is wrong.

So if USF takes care of business at 10-2 or better we will be in a bowl.

It seems that Wikipedia is incorrect... which isn't that big of a surprise - they are not 100% correct and people need to change it.

I have updated my first post in this thread...

[bulls96go]

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.

---

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]

why not have texas and papa johns in alterante years so BE would hvae 5 every year not 6 then 4

[No_Willie_Jokes_Yet]

Who takes 7 hours to get from Atlanta to Jaxsonville? I used to make Atlanta in 6 from Orlando.

[Joe]

Who takes 7 hours to get from Atlanta to Jaxsonville? I used to make Atlanta in 6 from Orlando.

I did it from Jax to ATL last year (we had to go to Marietta) It took about 6:45 with ATL 3pm traffic

[Don Toro]

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?    :-/

But hey, we really do need them because of that huge fan base! Woohoo! Viva Notre Dame!

[Joe]

Uh, without Notre Dame there would have NEVER been a Big East/Gator Bowl tie in, so be happy about that one.

ND got us into that game in the mid 90s.