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 ...

That'd be the Big Easy.

ULouisiana and USA seem like when the Detroit Bowl always tried to get a Michigan Directional as their MAC school, trying to boost attendance to look better on TV.

The SI Bowl Projections have Texas State in Tempe for the Cactus bowl, filling in for the Big12 (which will be short if O(k)U beats O(k)SU, way short if they also have a school in the CFP), both ESPN projections have Texas State sitting at home.

Cactus is MWC backup bowl that trumps MWC lower bowls.

(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 ...

Man I frickin love going to Mobile. City rolls out the red carpet. You can't get good seafood in Arkansas so we eat the hell out of the shrimp and oysters and party in the streets down there.

Oh and other than Arkansas, Alabama is AState's top place for signing players so it's great for our recruiting.

(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.

The Bowl in Montgomery is going to be a joke.

(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.

(12-03-2014 09:16 PM)arkstfan 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 ...

Man I frickin love going to Mobile. City rolls out the red carpet. You can't get good seafood in Arkansas so we eat the hell out of the shrimp and oysters and party in the streets down there.

Oh and other than Arkansas, Alabama is AState's top place for signing players so it's great for our recruiting.

To me, Mobile is just mile-marker 150 on my semi-annual 650 mile drive between New Orleans and Tampa to visit the family.

But hey, more power to you and yours. Have a blast in Mobile!

(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.

It's the location I'm talking about. The Crampton Bowl is in the ghetto across from a graveyard.

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

Probably, but as a TxSt fan I'd love to be in on that joke.

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.

Mobile used to be the tunnel on the way to Destin. But now that I know her she is a favored stop.

It has been fun every time, win or lose.

(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.

Probably the Potato as that is the lowest paying bowl, but Nevada seems to be the last team to be assigned so the Potato may be filled by them so the fans will travel. Could be the New Mexico Bowl and have a Texas St vs UTEP. Probably the bowl committee would like that and work out a deal. Since either AF could be going to the Cactus.

(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.

(12-03-2014 09:34 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  To me, Mobile is just mile-marker 150 on my semi-annual 650 mile drive between New Orleans and Tampa to visit the family.

But hey, more power to you and yours. Have a blast in Mobile!

I totally understand. It was the place on the way for Florida for me. But about a year before the Sun Belt tied to Mobile, my wife had to go down there for work and I tagged along. Came away saying we need to get in that game.

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.

(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.

The bowl committee seem to be hustling. They are setting up some sort of end zone deal that is going to be like a sports bar and I know they have started doing window wraps and have co-opted the Christmas Parade.

But my plan had AState been selected was to seriously consider staying out around Prattsville, drive in on game day, check into a hotel and head to the stadium for the game and leave the next morning. Though I might have run out to pay my respects to Hank.

(12-03-2014 10:41 PM)arkstfan 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.

The bowl committee seem to be hustling. They are setting up some sort of end zone deal that is going to be like a sports bar and I know they have started doing window wraps and have co-opted the Christmas Parade.

But my plan had AState been selected was to seriously consider staying out around Prattsville, drive in on game day, check into a hotel and head to the stadium for the game and leave the next morning. Though I might have run out to pay my respects to Hank.

My plan..lunch at Fillet and Vine then the game. I think there's a place there to go out. Montgomery isn't known for its nightlife. But we will give it a go. They invited us and we're glad to be going. Unlike a lot of conference's bowls, the Sun Belt's actually make sense.

Lets be honest, I'm not really interested in spending several grand to go to the Bahamas (and those plane tickets in December with little notice are going to he really expensive) or flying to Hawai'i (again - really expensive) or going to Idaho.

I don't see TXST getting any bowl, honestly. There are too many higher profile schools that will also be looking for limited bowl opps.

(12-03-2014 10:46 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(12-03-2014 10:41 PM)arkstfan 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.

The bowl committee seem to be hustling. They are setting up some sort of end zone deal that is going to be like a sports bar and I know they have started doing window wraps and have co-opted the Christmas Parade.

But my plan had AState been selected was to seriously consider staying out around Prattsville, drive in on game day, check into a hotel and head to the stadium for the game and leave the next morning. Though I might have run out to pay my respects to Hank.

My plan..lunch at Fillet and Vine then the game. I think there's a place there to go out. Montgomery isn't known for its nightlife. But we will give it a go. They invited us and we're glad to be going.

Time and distance matter. Hard for me to do Mobile without spending two nights and I've done three nights. Montgomery is a little easier so I was considering a single night.

Soak it up spend a night or two. Half the fun of the bowl trip is running into the players and other fans.

(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.