NIU8484
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ESPN CFB Front Page Article - "Too many bowl games? Hardly"
Tons of NIU talk in here, along with Marshall and other G5 teams...
http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...5-programs
Quote:DEKALB, Ill. -- The holidays are all about gluttony, but Sean Frazier doesn't gorge on food or shopping. His indulgence is bowl games.
The Northern Illinois athletic director watches as many bowls as he can at home. Anything he misses live is recorded for later viewing. Frazier, a former Alabama linebacker who experienced five bowls with the Tide and others as an administrator at Wisconsin, can't get enough of college football's postseason. If the burgeoning number of bowls equates to what Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany calls "too much ice cream," Frazier happily will ride a two-week sugar high.
He also understands that not everyone shares his bowl affinity, especially with the first College Football Playoff only 10 days away.
"Like March Madness in basketball, some people don't start watching until the Elite Eight," Frazier said. "I think you will see some reduction in viewership because the playoff has put another category that people are excited about. But I would never, ever take away the bowls. Those who say otherwise haven't played, haven't coached. I'm very passionate about the bowls because of my personal experience.
Quote:Matchups: Unlike members of the Power 5, who have the luxury of the eye test, Group of 5 teams are often judged more on who they play, not who they are. Bowl opponents can provide an accurate final gauge on whether a team is for real or a product of a flimsy conference.
"If you're talking about a bowl, the crescendo to the end of the season, people want to see something spectacular," Frazier said. "They want to see a mini national championship. We're the best of the MAC going against the best of Conference USA. Who is the best at the end of the day? If we can get there, let's get there. If we can't, then we can settle for some of these other matchups, which are more about bowl eligibility than a championship."
Quote:NIU coach Rod Carey agrees with Holliday that matchup is the most important bowl driver for top Group of 5 teams. And not just for the season being completed.
Carey thinks quality bowl wins can springboard Group of 5 teams into contention for New Year's Six bowl spots in the following season. The New Year's Six spot given to the highest-ranked conference champion from the Group of 5 is the top goal for teams like NIU.
"If you're looking at the whole body of work, which the committee says they look at, your bowl plays into your body of work for next year," Carey said. "Humans are going to remember that."
Quote:Recruiting: The bowl trip is a homecoming of sorts for Cato and the other 28 Florida natives on Marshall's roster. It's also a chance for Marshall's coaches to keep the Florida recruiting pipeline going.
Northern Illinois makes its second bowl trip to South Florida in three years after a historic appearance in the 2013 Orange Bowl. The Huskies have 11 Florida natives on the roster and are looking for more.
East Carolina's success somehow avoided the national spotlight, but being the only bowl game on Jan. 3 against a name brand like Florida provides priceless exposure.
Although it's a recruiting dead period until mid-January and coaches can't have direct contact with recruits, recruits can visit practices. NIU held open workouts in Florida, and Carey said last week he anticipated "a significant amount" of recruits to attend.
"Any time you can get around each other more, that's a huge deal," Carey said. "It goes back to that recognition, putting a face with the name instead of hearing a voice on the phone."
It's even more significant because the official-visit rush is just around the corner, between the end of bowl season and national signing day.
"You can start to brag on your program a little bit and say, 'Take a look at us still competing in late December, early January. You'll have a chance to do that, too,'" Compher said. "That's a big piece of it."
Quote:NFL hopefuls: NIU dropped the 2013 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl to Utah State, but it wasn't a total loss. Huskies All-America safety Jimmie Ward finished his college career with an interception and two pass breakups.
That following May, Ward was selected with the 30th overall pick in the NFL draft.
"Jimmie Ward doesn't go in the first round if he doesn't have the bowl game he had," Carey said.
Although NFL scouts had studied Ward and have evaluated this year's top Group of 5 prospects, they can focus on them more during bowl season. A strong performance against a comparable Group of 5 team, or, in the case of East Carolina quarterback Shane Carden, a talented Power 5 defense in Florida, can boost a prospect's stock before other pre-draft events.
NIU left tackle Tyler Loos, a two-time all-conference selection, hopes to earn an invitation to one of the pre-draft all-star games.
"Maybe after this game, I'll get one," Loos said. "It's a prime-time game against a good team. Hopefully, scouts will be watching and I'll get some exposure."
And one other side note, as good as it is for the players to get noticed, it's a nice boost for the programs, too. Don't think recruits don't notice which teams are placing players in the NFL.
Quote:So what does the future hold?
Despite the bowls' obvious benefits for Group of 5 teams, the system has an uncertain future in the playoff era. Holliday admits that the tone of the season -- and the postseason -- has changed with the new format.
"It used to be you went to a great bowl game or one of the BCS games and you walk out of there and there are a lot of people happy," Holliday said. "Right now, everybody's concerned about the four teams in the playoff. The rest of the teams that are out there, there might not be quite as much interest, so it's going to be interesting to see where it goes and how the other bowls are attended and what kind of exposure they get."
The system undoubtedly will be tested at the market in the coming days. But the bowls always will have support from administrators like Frazier.
"You should just leave them the hell alone," he said. "I still think there's a place for them."
(This post was last modified: 12-22-2014 03:10 PM by NIU8484.)
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