Really, the PAC and Emerald Bowl have no good alternative.

ACC has picked up two new bowls, Mobile and Congressional. ACC #9 is pledged to Congressional but ACC has never had a bowl elgible #9 team. Would ACC pull its Emerald Bowl team and stay close to home with Mobile and Congressional?

SEC has its #9 team pledged to Birmingham. So no SEC team for Emerald. And Big 12 and Big 10 have been hard pressed to fill their existing bowl commitmentsk. BE is full.

PAC already plays MWC twice in Vegas and Poinsettia bowls.

WAC has its top three teams committed to bowls.

MAC has its top three teams committed to bowls.

So a SBC #1 or #2 is reasonable. Looks like the SBC will pick up a second bowl for sure, either Emerald, Boise, or Mobile...and it will be interesting to see if SEC will really have a bowl elgible #9 team for Birmingham...SBC has opportunities there.

The Emerald Bow has the PAC #4/#5. Would you as a BE fan be interested in it? Attractive bowl, attractive opponent, attractive city...but a long way from home.

Emerald bowl has not been doing that bad with atten latelly with ACC. Pac-10 has to do better job getting local school in there.
Emerald Bowl pays a million dollars, BE should be intrested. Good spot to stick ND if there bowl eligable.
WAC is very flexable when it comes to bowl berths, If Frenso eligable, WAC will find away to get them there & make other arangements with there other bowl commitments.
MWC will also bend over backwards for shot at this bowl & be willing to make other arangements with there other commitments

If a Sunbelt team ends up out West that bowl will shortly be extinct. Look at the Silicon Valley Bowl.

Do not forget that there has to be mutual interest on both sides to get a bowl deal signed. It is highly unlikely that either the Emerald Bowl or Humanitarian Bowl will have any real interest in the Sun Belt.

The Emerald Bowl and ACC will dump each other after the current contract expires. Expect the Emerald Bowl to sign with the WAC as that is the only option which make geographic sense. The contracts can be reshuffled to guarantee that the WAC champion, if not in a BCS game, goes to the Emerald Bowl. Having the runner-up in the Humanitarian Bowl would not ruffle any feathers and who cares which teams go to the Hawaii Bowl or New Mexico Bowl? The WAC would word the contracts to allow the league to work with the bowls for the best possible placements anyway.

As for the Humanitarian Bowl, do not expect to see the MWC there either, that would give them four bowls to just three for the WAC or five bowls to just four for the WAC. You can't give any type of advantage to your competition. CUSA, the Big 12, and the ACC did not work out as the most appreciative opponents to play in the Humanitarian Bowl so the people there might just decide to go at-large for a few years in hopes of landing a leftover 6-6 team from a BCS league that would actually be grateful to have any bowl to play in. That would cut the number of rude comments.

I would bet that the Sun Belt is making a strong push behind the scenes to turn the GMAC Bowl into an ACC vs. Sun Belt affair for the next round of contracts. Some public comments are merely politics.

There are simply too many bowls out there and not enough conferences to fill them.

There are enough conferences-just not enough BCS conferences

Those bowls would be nuts in taking a sun Belt team. Not because of the teams ability but you are nuts if you think SBC fans will travel to those bowls.

Cubanbull Wrote:Those bowls would be nuts in taking a sun Belt team. Not because of the teams ability but you are nuts if you think SBC fans will travel to those bowls.

True enough--their tractors couldn't make it over the continental divide.

The ACC has not yet picked up the Gmac/Mobile bowl game. I think it likely does happen.. but not a done deal. They have said Boise bowl is gone.. not Emerald. I think odds are 60-40 it will go.

goodknightfl Wrote:The ACC has not yet picked up the Gmac/Mobile bowl game. I think it likely does happen.. but not a done deal. They have said Boise bowl is gone.. not Emerald. I think odds are 60-40 it will go.

The ACC is contractually obligated to the Humanitarian Bowl for this season and the Emerald Bowl for 2008 and 2009. Since they have no plans to resign with the Humanitarian Bowl, there is no problem with just coming out and saying so, especially since the Congressional Bowl is available to replace it.

There is no way, however, that the Emerald Bowl would sign up for ACC #9 starting in 2010. Since that is the case, and mindful of the fact that ACC fans are not traveling to San Francisco in the numbers John Swofford promised, the two sides will part ways after the 2009 game. Take that to the bank.

I don't like all these bowl deals anyway. I wish all the bowls would quit all these agreements and all go independent. You can invite whoever you want. It'd be a free market.

templefootballfan Wrote:Emerald bowl has not been doing that bad with atten latelly with ACC. Pac-10 has to do better job getting local school in there.
Emerald Bowl pays a million dollars, BE should be intrested. Good spot to stick ND if there bowl eligable.
WAC is very flexable when it comes to bowl berths, If Frenso eligable, WAC will find away to get them there & make other arangements with there other bowl commitments.
MWC will also bend over backwards for shot at this bowl & be willing to make other arangements with there other commitments

Dude, no offense but your internet spelling is horrible.

Ok back on subject.

army56mike Wrote:I don't like all these bowl deals anyway. I wish all the bowls would quit all these agreements and all go independent. You can invite whoever you want. It'd be a free market.

What an Army.

Just wanted to point out a couple of things to everyone about the Emerald Bowl. Yes, its payout is good and ESPN has started to showcase the game on primetime during bowl week.

However, from a travelling fan's perspective, this might be the worst bowl in the country. San Francisco is cold an rainy during this time of the year. On top of it, the game is played in an outdoor baseball stadium.

No eastern conference in their right mind should be trying to get into this game. Frankly, I don't think the MWC should try to get it back either. A Pac10/WAC matchup makes the most sense for the Emerald.


Now, would the BE Fball schools please split and cherrypick Memphis and the Liberty Bowl away from CDOA already?

Metropolis777 Wrote:No eastern conference in their right mind should be trying to get into this game. Frankly, I don't think the MWC should try to get it back either. A Pac10/WAC matchup makes the most sense for the Emerald.

The Pac-10 already plays the MWC in two bowls anyway. I agree with you that letting the WAC take the San Francisco slot clearly makes the most sense. Going that route would give the Pac-10 one BCS game (Rose), two games against the Big 12 (Holiday & Sun), two games against the MWC (Las Vegas & Poinsettia), and two games against the WAC (Emerald & Hawaii). The Pac-10 is limited by geography and needs to simply work with the assets they do have in a sensible manner.

The Sun Belt is seeking bowl affiliations within the conference footprint.

From a recent article

Discussions for the Sun Belt's possible second bowl tie-in have included the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, and Emerald Bowl in San Francisco — both of which offer no geographic link to Sun Belt schools, predominantly located in the southeast.

Waters said a Sun Belt school could miss a prime opportunity at a regional bowl if the conference signed a contract with any western bowls.

"What happens next year if the SEC gets two in the BCS, and it can't fill the (Papa John's Bowl) in Birmingham," Waters said. "If the SEC can't fill it, then who goes there? Well, if we have an available team, it would be a prime candidate to go there. But if that team is already going to another bowl outside the region, then it can't go to Birmingham."

The Sun Belt, along with at least four other conferences, has reportedly been trying to land a spot in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala., which ends its contract with Conference USA and Mid-American Conference after the Jan. 6, 2009 game.

South Alabama, a Sun Belt member school located in Mobile, will begin its football program in 2009 and move to I-A status in 2013.

Most bowl contracts expire in the next two years, according to Waters. There will be 68 teams filling 34 bowls this season. Seventy-one teams were bowl-eligible last year.

Metropolis777 Wrote:Just wanted to point out a couple of things to everyone about the Emerald Bowl. Yes, its payout is good and ESPN has started to showcase the game on primetime during bowl week.

However, from a travelling fan's perspective, this might be the worst bowl in the country. San Francisco is cold an rainy during this time of the year. On top of it, the game is played in an outdoor baseball stadium.

No eastern conference in their right mind should be trying to get into this game. Frankly, I don't think the MWC should try to get it back either. A Pac10/WAC matchup makes the most sense for the Emerald.


Now, would the BE Fball schools please split and cherrypick Memphis and the Liberty Bowl away from CDOA already?

CUSA would probably take its #1 team and pledge it to a new UCF/Orlando Bowl and probably draw a BCS opponent (with the cooperation of CBS who wants a bigger college sports exposure)....who is not to say it might be the SEC #6 or #7 from the Liberty?

So far, CUSA has been trading up...CUSA now plays BE in Tampa instead of Birmingham and that is a great situation with the state of Florida.....and CUSA now is full time in Texas Bowl and the Hawaii Bowl, while a great travel site, just didn't fit in geographically. CUSA has also moved into Armed Forces Bowl full time and, probably, permanently, to play MWC #3/#4. So you look at CUSA-12's short three year history, CUSA has moved into a better bowl situation superior to those bowls left behind.

This is the reverse of MWC, who had dropped down in bows, when Freedom, Holiday, and Copper Bowls were lost.

Wishing bad things for CUSA may soothe the soul, but so far, it hasn't been reality.

Tallgrass Wrote:Wishing bad things for CUSA may soothe the soul, but so far, it hasn't been reality.

No Top 25 finishes, 6-11 in bowl games, playing on Sun, Tues, Wed., routinely losing home games to Sun Belt teams, Memphis & ECU trying to jump out at every corner. It's already a reality.

I do think the Sunbelt has more promise right now than CUSA. But that's all I'm going to say on this...