It sounds like the only thing thats holding up this deal is whether the Liberty gets #3 from BE (which they want) or #4 from BE. If the Meinekee Car Bowl is going to increase its payout to around 2 mil, I would settle for either bowl since both play on new Years Eve. The best scenario is to get both:




Big East nearing deal with Liberty Bowl


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By Rob Biertempfel
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, July 22, 2005

The Big East is close to adding the Liberty Bowl to its collection of bowl game tie-ins, starting in 2006.

If the league also renews its deal with the Meineke Car Care Bowl, the Big East would be on the verge of reaching commissioner Mike Tranghese's goal of five postseason bids.

The league's new bowl lineup is expected to be announced next week. The final hurdle appears to be settling on the order in which two of the bottom three bowl games will select their teams.

"We told (bowl representatives) we had to get our second deal done, and then we'd begin talking about who's going to be in what spot," Tranghese said.


The Bowl Championship Series automatically gets the Big East champion. Last week, it was decided that the second pick will go to the Gator Bowl, which has a team-sharing arrangement with the Sun Bowl.

The fifth spot presumably would go to a proposed bowl in Toronto, which is awaiting NCAA approval in April.

That leaves the Liberty and Meineke bowls to jockey for the third and fourth picks.

"Our discussions have centered around us being the No. 3 pick," Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart said Thursday. "We're not interested in picking fourth."

The Meineke Car Care Bowl currently has fourth pick among Big East teams, but executive director Will Webb reiterated that he hoped to improve that position.

"I don't want to jinx anything," Webb said. "We're talking, and we would love to be the No. 3 pick."

Two months ago, Webb said his bowl would consider offers from other conferences if it did not get the Big East's third pick.

Yesterday, he said the Meineke's offer to increase its payout -- which was $1.27 million per team in 2004 -- is still on the table.

"We still need to resolve our financial guarantee," Webb said. "We'd like to move north of that ($1.27 million) figure."

The Meineke Bowl, in Charlotte, N.C., has been around for just three years. The New Year's Eve matchup pits the Big East against the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Tuesday, during the Big East's preseason media day, Tranghese seemed confident he can close a deal with the Meineke Bowl.

"I think we will," Tranghese said. "We've got a lot of (teams) who could draw people there because of its geographic proximity."

Two of the three Meineke games were sellouts -- although Webb noted that Big East ticket sales were slightly off the past two years, when Pitt and league expatriate Boston College played in Charlotte.

The Big East wants to land the Liberty Bowl to replace the Insight, which opted for a deal with the Big Ten.

The Liberty, in Memphis, Tenn., is played on New Year's Eve and pays $1.5 million per team. The Southeastern Conference and Mountain West also are courting the Liberty for a deal.

Ehrhart attended the Big East's media day this week. During the event, Ehrhart huddled with Tranghese and also talked with Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt and athletic director Jeff Long.

"We're certainly very open to discussions with the Big East," Ehrhart said. "I think they've done a good job of pulling it together."

Rob Biertempfel can be reached at rbiertempfel@tribweb.com or (724) 853-2110. [B]

I think its pretty simple. You keep the tir bowl in 4th with their 1.2 million payout and add another bowl with a higher payout at the #3 in the Liberty. The math makes sense, it does not make sense to let the Liberty walk for an extra $500,000 in the tire bowl.

Hers another article from the Charleston Gazzet


itch Vingle
# Liberty Bowl decision will affect Herd

THERE’S A question surrounding the future of the Liberty Bowl.

For whom the bell tolls?

It’s a pertinent question in these parts for two reasons: West Virginia’s and Marshall’s football teams.
- advertisement -

Through this season, the Liberty Bowl, held in Memphis, Tenn., plays host to Conference USA’s champion. C-USA, as you probably know, is Marshall’s new league home.

But the Liberty and C-USA may split in 2006. As you read in this space one week ago, the Big East, WVU’s conference, is negotiating with the Liberty to play a Southeastern Conference team. Since, many other news outlets, like the Tampa Tribune, have picked up on the possibility.

The Big East and partner Notre Dame are hoping their 2006-and-beyond bowl lineup will look like this: Big East champ to a Bowl Championship Series game; runner-up or Notre Dame to either the Gator or Sun; third- and fourth-place teams or ND to the Liberty or Meineke Car Care Bowl; and a fifth-place team to a new Toronto bowl or the Motor City Bowl.

If that falls into place for the Big East, though, it will hurt Marshall’s bowl opportunities. The Mountain West, once a staple of the Liberty Bowl, has all but conceded sending its champ to the Las Vegas Bowl. C-USA has the obvious draw of its hometown Memphis Tigers, but whispers are the SEC would rather play a BCS league team. And in the south, the SEC rules.

So where would C-USA’s champ go? The GMAC Bowl against a Mid-American Conference team? Will the Hawaii Bowl still be there for No. 3 or will that outfit match the WAC and Pac-10? Will the Fort Worth Bowl jump with hometown TCU to the Mountain West? The only certainties seem to be C-USA’s spots in the GMAC and New Orleans bowls.

Great news with the LB.....I hope its possible for Tranghese to juggle that bowl with the one in Charlotte against the ACC...I know that is a bowl WV fans love to go to....If we play our cards right our bowl situation could be turning better then anyone dared hope



Jackson

Quote:Jackson1011 Posted on Jul 22 2005, 08:27 AM
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Great news with the LB.....I hope its possible for Tranghese to juggle that bowl with the one in Charlotte against the ACC...I know that is a bowl WV fans love to go to....If we play our cards right our bowl situation could be turning better then anyone dared hope

I believe the LB is insisting on BE #3 and for good reason (so I don't see a lot of juggling, unless its Syracuse as BE #3 and a WVU/UL #4 since a case could be made that SU will travel to Charlotte better while the Cards and Neers will travel anywhere).

With the Gator/Sun Bowl agreement established, the LB now knows that in two of those four years ND can be chosen over BE #2 dropping it down the third bowl. When ND is not in a BCS Bowl or in the Gator/Sun, the LB gets a shot at BE #3/ND.

The current thinking is that UL, Pitt, and WVU will battle for the top three BE slots for the rest of the decade. This means, from the LB's point of view:

When ND goes to BCS - they get UL, WVU, or Pitt (whichever finishes third).

When ND goes to the Gator/Sun - they also get UL, WVU, or Pitt (whichever finishes second).

When ND does not go to BCS or Gator/Sun but has a 8-4/7-5 record they get a shot at UL, WVU or Pitt (whichever finishes third) OR ND.

While the Tigers are the hometown favorite and C-USA has some other nice bowl teams (Marshall, ECU, UTEP), from a purely business sense - the possibility of getting UL, WVU, and ND in 3 out of 4 years means you'll take a chance on getting a Pitt or SU or Cincinnati once every 4 years - especially when it will be an SEC opponent (and hope that said SEC opponent is an Alabama, Mississippi, Auburn, or Tennessee) in the years in which Pitt, SU, or Cincinnati is the BE #3.

I didn't include UConn or USF above because their bowl attractiveness is still to be determined.

Cheers,
Neil

I dont believe that Pitt,WV and UL will battle for the top three slots for the next DECADE. While i see them as very strong possibilities i think at least Syracuse,UConn and USF will be breaking into those three slots quite often in that time period. Overall i think the BE is going to be a more balanced conference than manay predict.
I also think that UConn,Rutgers and USF would send lots of fans to either LB or Tire Bowl.

Cincinnati would send fans to the Liberty Bowl as well. Cincinnati has had a long standing relationship with Memphis, and we will play them in basketball every year so we know the area. I easily see Cincinnati sending thousands of fans to a bowl game in Memphis, TN. Also, Cincinnati sent 3,000 to 4,000 fans to a road game in West Virginia 2 years ago so I know we'll send twice that many to the Liberty Bowl. UC has a strong recruiting class and seem to be holding down the Ohio recruiting bed pretty well so we should have a pretty good squad soon.

L-yes Wrote:I think its pretty simple. You keep the tir bowl in 4th with their 1.2 million payout and add another bowl with a higher payout at the #3 in the Liberty. The math makes sense, it does not make sense to let the Liberty walk for an extra $500,000 in the tire bowl.

I don't get it. 8 months ago all we heard from Louisville fans was comments dissing the LB and going to Memphis in general. Now you guys are practically salivating at the thought of playing the SEC #8 in the LB. Let's hear the spin.

Well ill say there is a BIG difference in having the Liberty Bowl as your #1 destination and it being your #3

The Liberty Bowl would be a good bowl for the BE whether playing CUSA, SEC, or ACC.

It really does not matter which league they play against as long as they are in it.

Cubanbull Wrote:Well ill say there is a BIG difference in having the Liberty Bowl as your #1 destination and it being your #3

Excellent point considering the #1 BCS Bowl will pay $17M. I love Memphis, great destination and the Liberty Bowl is a great place to see a game. The Memphis fans are gracious, knowledgeable and hospitable.

TigersRuleAll Wrote:

L-yes Wrote:I think its pretty simple.  You keep the tir bowl in 4th with their 1.2 million payout and add another bowl with a higher payout at the #3 in the Liberty.  The math makes sense, it does not make sense to let the Liberty walk for an extra $500,000 in the tire bowl.

I don't get it. 8 months ago all we heard from Louisville fans was comments dissing the LB and going to Memphis in general. Now you guys are practically salivating at the thought of playing the SEC #8 in the LB. Let's hear the spin.

I'm guessing the spin is this: Would you rather have the Liberty be your ultimate reward for winning a conference, or the 3rd or 4th place trophy with a BCS bid being the main goal, and the Gator/Sun Bowl being the #1 consolation prize? Also, the Liberty Bowl would go from being the highest paying bowl to the 3rd highest paying bowl.

Cat's_Claw Wrote:

TigersRuleAll Wrote:

L-yes Wrote:I think its pretty simple.  You keep the tir bowl in 4th with their 1.2 million payout and add another bowl with a higher payout at the #3 in the Liberty.  The math makes sense, it does not make sense to let the Liberty walk for an extra $500,000 in the tire bowl.

I don't get it. 8 months ago all we heard from Louisville fans was comments dissing the LB and going to Memphis in general. Now you guys are practically salivating at the thought of playing the SEC #8 in the LB. Let's hear the spin.

I'm guessing the spin is this: Would you rather have the Liberty be your ultimate reward for winning a conference, or the 3rd or 4th place trophy with a BCS bid being the main goal, and the Gator/Sun Bowl being the #1 consolation prize? Also, the Liberty Bowl would go from being the highest paying bowl to the 3rd highest paying bowl.

It's not even that simple. The BEEF with the Liberty Bowl last year is that they were trying to sneak Memphis in as the opponent when Utah bailed for the BCS. So instead of playing a highly ranked team with a chance to prove something, the LB was trying to give us an unranked opponent and a ROAD game for winning the conference. THAT'S what did not fly with Cardinal fans.

The Liberty Bowl has been a great destination for many years. What Steve Earhart and company were (rumored) trying to pull last season was complete BS. In the end I don't think it was even an issue as it was Memphis fans making up stories to boost themselves. Pretty similar to their claims that we would play them in basketball this upcoming season.

TigersRuleAll Wrote:

L-yes Wrote:I think its pretty simple.  You keep the tir bowl in 4th with their 1.2 million payout and add another bowl with a higher payout at the #3 in the Liberty.  The math makes sense, it does not make sense to let the Liberty walk for an extra $500,000 in the tire bowl.

I don't get it. 8 months ago all we heard from Louisville fans was comments dissing the LB and going to Memphis in general. Now you guys are practically salivating at the thought of playing the SEC #8 in the LB. Let's hear the spin.

I've always claimed that the Liberty Bowl would make a great bowl for a #3 team. My gripe was that a champion should be sent someplace with tropical weather.

Just drove through Louisville on I-65. Looking forward to making a roadtrip to the River City. Almost hit the median while straining to see Papa John from the Interstate. Louisville will be a great addition.

Cinci looks really cool, also. Looking forward to going to a game there, also. Hoping Kings Island will be open when I road trip there.

TexanMark Wrote:Just drove through Louisville on I-65.  Looking forward to making a roadtrip to the River City.  Almost hit the median while straining to see Papa John from the Interstate.  Louisville will be a great addition.

Cinci looks really cool, also.  Looking forward to going to a game there, also.  Hoping Kings Island will be open when I road trip there.

You should have jumped off and taken a quick self guided tour! It wouldn't have cost you 10 minutes.

You can get a pretty good glimpse of the stadium as you cruise down 65 though.

NYT reported its expansion to 60,000 in the past week as well...

L-yes Wrote:

TexanMark Wrote:Just drove through Louisville on I-65.  Looking forward to making a roadtrip to the River City.  Almost hit the median while straining to see Papa John from the Interstate.  Louisville will be a great addition.

Cinci looks really cool, also.  Looking forward to going to a game there, also.  Hoping Kings Island will be open when I road trip there.

You should have jumped off and taken a quick self guided tour! It wouldn't have cost you 10 minutes.

You can get a pretty good glimpse of the stadium as you cruise down 65 though.

NYT reported its expansion to 60,000 in the past week as well...

I usually do pull off and see stadiums but I was pulling a trailer and my wife doesn't have the same sense of adventure as I do. I still hear from her about how I drove the car/family 200 miles out of the way to see the Cuse beat UK in the 1999 Music City Bowl after visiting my family during XMas.

TexanMark Wrote:Just drove through Louisville on I-65. Looking forward to making a roadtrip to the River City. Almost hit the median while straining to see Papa John from the Interstate. Louisville will be a great addition.

Cinci looks really cool, also. Looking forward to going to a game there, also. Hoping Kings Island will be open when I road trip there.

Don't worry, Kings Island will be open. In fact, I plan to go there over the next few weeks.

Quote:NYT reported its expansion to 60,000 in the past week as well...

-- Is there a completion date set for the staduim expansion?


Jackson

We're(the fans) hoping for '06. We have Miami, UK and WVU on the schedule. From what I've gathered expansion has been approved by the BOT and the ULAA. I bet we hear more during the seasonand it will be definitive by december. Our indoor facility will be completed in December and from everything I've been told that item needed to be off the plate for expansion to begin.