(12-03-2014 11:32 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  

(12-03-2014 10:37 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  The area downtown isn't the French Quarter but there is plenty of old architecture lot of places within walking distance of the downtown hotels. It's the birthplace of Mardi Gras in the US and they hold a mardi gras parade the night before the game, plenty of fun.

But the best part (in my opinion) is that hotel and entertainment area isn't huge and isn't spread way out. So you get thousands of fans crammed into a dozen of blocks so everywhere you go all you run into is players and fans.

It's big enough to handle the 10k or so fans we bring but could never handle something like LSU vs OU.

I've been to several bowl games and Final Fours and in my opinion nothing beats New Orleans for a title game or Final Four because the concentration of hotels to the entertainment area is fantastic plus you walk to the Dome.

Where you get a bad experience is when the venue, the desirable entertainment area and bulk of lodging are all spread out. Mobile you get two out of three (entertainment and lodging, venue is further away). Rose and Orange are awkward because the venues are removed and neither has a "this is obviously where everyone will be" area. Fiesta is better off now that UoP Stadium is in place.

I liked the bowl experience in New Orleans. The weekend of the Sugar Bowl they have a free outdoor concert off Decatur St. You will find fans out and about on Burbon Street doing things you don't expect to see.

Mobile I've heard is the best fan experience of any G5 bowl because of that parade you mention.

I think MAC fans have never been excited about the SBC in that game but they keep thinking about how the conference was 7-8 years ago. The SBC would have placed Georgia Southern in this game if eligible for a very competitive opponent. I like that its now the MAC #1 bowl instead of rotating with a game in downtown Detroit. Of course #1 unless preempted by the autobid.

The greatest gift is to be able to see yourself as others see you.

(12-03-2014 09:38 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  For anybody who is coming to Montgomery, I'd suggest staying at the Renaissance. It's in the middle of the entertainment district, and all the bars and stuff are within a few hundred yards. Other than that, you have to go all the way out to Eastchase before it gets decent again.

Montgomery is just a poor excuse for a capital city.

The layout of the city is just really odd.

(12-03-2014 10:24 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(12-03-2014 07:53 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  The Sun Belt Conference announced its bowl designations today:

Arkansas State: GoDaddy.com Bowl (vs MAC)

UL-Lafayette: R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (vs MWC)

South Alabama: Raycom Media Camelia Bowl (vs MAC)

Texas State is eligible but did not get placed in a Sun Belt bowl so they have to fish around for an at-large position somewhere (good luck with that). While Georgia Southern and Appalachian State can't be placed in bowls because of transition from FCS to FBS.

Sheesh, these are some lousy places. ARKST has been to Mobile several times in recent years while USA gets to make a fantastic journey all the way up to ... Montgomery, LOL.

And sure, ULL gets to go to the Big Easy again, which is always fun. But still ...

Go over to the MAC board and see what they think of Mobile and the Go Daddy Bowl. Hint - They really like it. By the way, Arkansas State appears to like the bowl too. They send lots of people. I'll bet they'll send a lot of people this year too, even for the fourth year in a row.

As far as USA goes, we're glad to go anywhere. And we're probably doing a lot better to be able to go to Montgomery than to say the Bahamas or Boise or Hawai'i where our school would lose a pantload on the must buy tickets and virtually none of our fans (like virtually none of the fans of the teams going to those bowls) will go to the game. Montgomery isn't my idea of a fantastic bowl destination, but I'll actually make the trip.

I think Mobile compares favorably to Baton Rouge across the board, from metrics on pollution, nightlife, cleanliness, openness of the population, food, and environment.

Please don't compare Mobile to Baton Rouge. You don't want to insult Mobile that way.

(12-04-2014 02:05 AM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  

(12-03-2014 09:38 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  For anybody who is coming to Montgomery, I'd suggest staying at the Renaissance. It's in the middle of the entertainment district, and all the bars and stuff are within a few hundred yards. Other than that, you have to go all the way out to Eastchase before it gets decent again.

Montgomery is just a poor excuse for a capital city.

The layout of the city is just really odd.

Why did we have to set up a bowl there.

(12-04-2014 07:16 AM)Kittonhead Wrote:  Why did we have to set up a bowl there.

"We"? Do you really work for ESPN?

(12-03-2014 09:17 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(12-03-2014 08:52 PM)msm96wolf Wrote:  Cactus is MWC backup bowl that trumps MWC lower bowls.

Exactly. The MW will leave a bowl open. If its they leave the Potato Bowl open, Texas State has a pretty good chance of landing that slot against the MAC. If the New Orleans Bowl is the bowl that the MW leaves unfilled--then Texas State is out of luck as a Sunbelt school is already on the other side of that bowl. Im surprised all the schools in the Sunbelt not adjacent to Sunbelt bowls have not moved to amend the conference rules so that 6-6 teams cant get picked over conference schools with more wins. Otherwise, the Sunbelt needs to create a new bowl to accommodate any other school that is not located adjacent to the Sunbelt bowl locations. Anyone not named UL-L or A-State is in a bind trying to get bowl in the Sunbelt.

If New Orleans is open, and Temple gets its 6th win, it will get interesting. I'd expect both the AAC and C-USA to lobby hard to place an extra team in a bowl. Some rumors over on The Parliament have C-USA ahead at the moment with Rice going to New Orleans.

(12-04-2014 08:27 AM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(12-03-2014 09:17 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(12-03-2014 08:52 PM)msm96wolf Wrote:  Cactus is MWC backup bowl that trumps MWC lower bowls.

Exactly. The MW will leave a bowl open. If its they leave the Potato Bowl open, Texas State has a pretty good chance of landing that slot against the MAC. If the New Orleans Bowl is the bowl that the MW leaves unfilled--then Texas State is out of luck as a Sunbelt school is already on the other side of that bowl. Im surprised all the schools in the Sunbelt not adjacent to Sunbelt bowls have not moved to amend the conference rules so that 6-6 teams cant get picked over conference schools with more wins. Otherwise, the Sunbelt needs to create a new bowl to accommodate any other school that is not located adjacent to the Sunbelt bowl locations. Anyone not named UL-L or A-State is in a bind trying to get bowl in the Sunbelt.

If New Orleans is open, and Temple gets its 6th win, it will get interesting. I'd expect both the AAC and C-USA to lobby hard to place an extra team in a bowl. Some rumors over on The Parliament have C-USA ahead at the moment with Rice going to New Orleans.

If Rice gets the NOB, then MTSU/UAB are likely in the Bahamas, and WKU is likely in Boca. I was hoping WKU would get the NOB and we could play our old Cajun friends.

(12-03-2014 09:29 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(12-03-2014 09:21 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  The Bowl in Montgomery is going to be a joke.

The entire bottom tier of bowls is pretty much a joke. I just look at it as extra football games. Some of the locations are fun---some are dumps. Regardless---you get 16 extra practices. Bottom line---it's better than sitting at home.

The N. O. Bowl may be a lower bowl, but it has been good for Louisiana football. This will be UL's 4th straight year playing there following three wins vs. San Diego State, E. Carolina and Tulane. Also averaged over 48,000 for those 3 games with over 54,000 last year. If I am not mistaken, our attendance last year was higher than the Sugar Bowl's. Personally, hope we play Rice. Gives the bowl a chance for better attendance and would love to play a potential future conference mate if UL is selected to replace UAB in CUSA.

(12-04-2014 07:16 AM)Kittonhead Wrote:  

(12-04-2014 02:05 AM)TrojanCampaign Wrote:  

(12-03-2014 09:38 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  For anybody who is coming to Montgomery, I'd suggest staying at the Renaissance. It's in the middle of the entertainment district, and all the bars and stuff are within a few hundred yards. Other than that, you have to go all the way out to Eastchase before it gets decent again.

Montgomery is just a poor excuse for a capital city.

The layout of the city is just really odd.

Why did we have to set up a bowl there.

Because Little Rock couldn't get ESPN for its bowl on the dates the stadium would be available. If LR ever gets a bowl and your team makes, we'll grab lunch a Cache in the RiverMarket.