RE: Sun Belt will not sign a back-up with International. You can bank on that.

Almost annually there is at least one Sun Belt team that gets shut out of the bowl. Why wouldn't the league want to increase their chances of getting into an additional bowl game?

Toronto is about ~650 air miles from the closest SBC teams. These programs will only draw crowds and recoup travel and ticket expenses in a local bowl.

The SBC office has committed $ to cover the expenses of its bowl teams in the past and I don't believe they'd be interested in footing the bill to send a team to another country.

I'm not going to say "never." But if arkstfan says "never" that's good enough reason to echo the sentiment.

And Boise is over 1600 miles away from the nearest MAC campus. If you are a non-AQ conference, you take a bowl game where you can get one.

I also do not see the SBC signing on at any level for the International Bowl . . . makes no sense for a Southern conference.

I disagree. The Sun Belt will take it 100%. This is F B S division. If they don't, then they will drop down the FCS. Are they gonna tell their recruits, sorry....you should go to the MAC if you want a bowl game. These games are for the players and their last shot at playing the game they played since childhood. Bowl games do matter, because reality for most of the seniors its the last time they walk off a football field as a player. Those coaches will want a bowl because its hard to fire a coach who took a team to a bowl. Its exposure for the schools. Think La-Monroe would decline a game on national tv. Especially a Saturday noon kickoff on ESPN. Those schools would take it. It sure beats sitting at home watching every other school with 6 wins playing. Perhaps they get more applications for playing. The exposure is amazing as people would say- who dat, never heard of Louisiana Monroe before.......where dat....what dey study there. water? high quality h2o down there.

I want the Las Vegas Bowl back.

Idaho is a destination I would be fairly unhappy about traveling to.

(01-04-2010 12:07 PM)exCincy Kid Wrote:  We need a win! Badly...anywhere...green turf, grass, blue turf...anywhere!

Seriously, though, this is a nice match up although obviously not a locale that MAC fans will want to travel to. But with the I Bowl on "life support" (and this year's match up and low attendance probably didn't help much) due to the uncertainty of the BE tie-in, this is certainly welcome news.

Central Michigan will come through for the MAC. Troy is a good team in the Sunbelt. I thought they would beat BG the first game of the season and was wrong. I do not see them beating CM.

(01-04-2010 10:13 PM)OUBOBCATJOHN Wrote:  I disagree. The Sun Belt will take it 100%. This is F B S division. If they don't, then they will drop down the FCS. Are they gonna tell their recruits, sorry....you should go to the MAC if you want a bowl game. These games are for the players and their last shot at playing the game they played since childhood. Bowl games do matter, because reality for most of the seniors its the last time they walk off a football field as a player. Those coaches will want a bowl because its hard to fire a coach who took a team to a bowl. Its exposure for the schools. Think La-Monroe would decline a game on national tv. Especially a Saturday noon kickoff on ESPN. Those schools would take it. It sure beats sitting at home watching every other school with 6 wins playing. Perhaps they get more applications for playing. The exposure is amazing as people would say- who dat, never heard of Louisiana Monroe before.......where dat....what dey study there. water? high quality h2o down there.

Point One.
NCAA rules permit the Sun Belt to sign two primary deals. Deal one for 2010-13 has been announced with New Orleans. Deal Two with GMAC will be announced today or tomorrow. So there is no primary deal to sign.

Point Two. The Sun Belt can sign two, arguably three or four back-up agreements. There is already a relationship with Birmingham and St. Pete that need only be extended. New Dallas is likely to sign a back-up agreement because Big 10 isn't likely to meet its obligation each year and its a crap shoot that Big XII will have a team its two years there. The Sun Belt is a logical pick based on geography. Motor Pizza is also offering a back-up agreement to the Sun Belt.

Why sign a back-up deal for International when it is a logistical problem? With the new travel rules, the cost of going far exceeds what a Sun Belt team could ever hope to recover in revenue.

Finally, Point Three. Every contact I have around the league says there is no chance the Sun Belt would sign with International because it is so much more of a hassle and expense than any bowl except Hawaii.

Sun Belt GMAC officially announced.
http://www.dnj.com/article/20100105/BLUE...wl+2010-13

Playing who???

(01-05-2010 10:04 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  Finally, Point Three. Every contact I have around the league says there is no chance the Sun Belt would sign with International because it is so much more of a hassle and expense than any bowl except Hawaii.

The terrorists have won.

I would go to the horn of Africa if my team ever made it to a bowl game. I'm sure Boise has an airport.

the mac is lucky for anything beyond 2 bowl tie ins. we seldom have more than 2 deserving teams.

good mix of games tho
gmac would improve by being early in the bowl season. mid december mobile weather can be a lot different from jan 6th. and the viewing base wouldn't be bowl saturated by then

toronto is a great city to travel to and the game is inside. if they play it right and travel and immigration laws don't keep getting tighter then this game can survive.

detroit bowl i good if we own it as a league and support the team there. should be our league champ or a division champ and figure out a way to get a reliable opponent. they would have done better imo if they put up another 2 mil in money to the big 10 and made it back at the gate w the guarantee of a mid level big10 team. if every yr was like purdue-cmu or bg-nwestern this bowl would create its own identity.

humanitarian is run well and has the advantage of boise st being in it every other yr or two. was a great bowl atmosphere and game w bg-idaho (who won on a blown call)