Sadly the MAC (Ball State) will likely not receive a BCS bowl even if they beat Western & Buffalo. Too bad because a 13-0 Ball State team is far more deserving than anyone from the ACC or Big East. Here is how I see it as of today.
MCB - Ball State vs Wisconsin
GMAC - Central Michigan vs. East Carolina
International - Buffalo vs. UConn
Washington DC - Western Michigan vs. Navy
If it works out this way I like the MAC's chances of going 4-0 in bowls this year.
No way Minnesota is selected by a bowl before Wisconsin. If a Big Twleven team is still around when the MCB picks, it will be the Goophers [sic].
..normaly I'd agree, Okie, but Wisky is a real underachieving team this year, and after their lucky W vs Cal Poly I think their stock is pretty low with bowls
Question: Is WMU assured of a bowl berth based on this weekend's results?
exCincy Kid Wrote:..normaly I'd agree, Okie, but Wisky is a real underachieving team this year, and after their lucky W vs Cal Poly I think their stock is pretty low with bowls
It's not about how good or bad Wisky is, it's about how many fans they will bring to the bowl game, and how much money the bowl can make.
Nick in Cleveland Wrote:Sadly the MAC (Ball State) will likely not receive a BCS bowl even if they beat Western & Buffalo. Too bad because a 13-0 Ball State team is far more deserving than anyone from the ACC or Big East. Here is how I see it as of today.
MCB - Ball State vs Wisconsin
GMAC - Central Michigan vs. East Carolina
International - Buffalo vs. UConn
Washington DC - Western Michigan vs. Navy
If it works out this way I like the MAC's chances of going 4-0 in bowls this year.
I agree with the other posters about Minnesota, not WI, falling to MCB.
One other point:
Do REMEMBER that UVa, N.C. State and Clemson need to ALL lose next weekend for the EagleBank Bowl to come open.
What is the chance of this happening? Say 50 - 50?
Here's CBS Sportsline's latest predictions:
GMAC: ECU vs. CMU
Int'l: UCONN vs. Buffalo
Texas Bowl: NIU vs Rice
MCB: BSU vs Minnesota
Hawaii: WMU vs Hawaii
emu steve Wrote:Nick in Cleveland Wrote:Sadly the MAC (Ball State) will likely not receive a BCS bowl even if they beat Western & Buffalo. Too bad because a 13-0 Ball State team is far more deserving than anyone from the ACC or Big East. Here is how I see it as of today.
MCB - Ball State vs Wisconsin
GMAC - Central Michigan vs. East Carolina
International - Buffalo vs. UConn
Washington DC - Western Michigan vs. Navy
If it works out this way I like the MAC's chances of going 4-0 in bowls this year.
I agree with the other posters about Minnesota, not WI, falling to MCB.
One other point:
Do REMEMBER that UVa, N.C. State and Clemson need to ALL lose next weekend for the EagleBank Bowl to come open.
What is the chance of this happening? Say 50 - 50?
I think it may be 50-50, those schools will be all dogs in their final games. With UVa playing conference power VT and Clemson playing an SEC school its very possible.
Regardless though I think 5 MAC's are in, possibly 6 if the Eagle Bank Bowl opens up. This will go down as one of the best seasons ever for the conference.
Estimated chance of ACC failing to have a 9th bowl-eligible team, thus opening the D.C. bowl to the MAC:
@Clemson vs South Carolina: 60% chance of Clemson losing
Virginia @ Virginia Tech: 80% chance of Virginia losing
@NC St vs Miami: 60% chance of NC State losing
0.6 * 0.8 *0.6 = 0.288; so about a one out of four chance of it happening.
The overall bowl situation looks like this:
ACC - 8 teams eligible for 9 spots. 3 teams fighting for 1 spot.
Big 12 - 7 teams eligible for 9 spots. 1 team fighting for 2 spots.
Big East - 6 teams eligible for 6 spots. 1 team fighting for at-large spot.
Big Ten - 7 teams eligible for 7 spots.
C-USA - 4 teams eligible for 6 spots. 3 teams fighting for 2 spots.
Ind. - 2 teams eligible for 2 spots. Navy to Eaglebank, Notre Dame to either Gator or Sun bowl, which creates a surplus for either the Big 12 or Big East.
MAC - 5 teams eligible for 3 spots. 2 teams fighting for at-large spots.
MWC - 5 teams eligible for 5 spots (4 bowls + BCS for Utah).
PAC-10 - 5 teams eligible for 8 spots. 2 teams fighting for 3 spots.
SEC - 8 teams eligible for 10 spots. 1 team fighting for 2 spots.
Sun Belt - 1 team eligible for 1 spot. 5 teams fighting for at-large spots.
WAC - 5 teams eligible for 3 spots. 1 team fighting for at-large spot.
Green means that the conference has filled its bowl contracts perfectly as of right now. May change if more teams become eligible.
Red means a surplus of bowl-eligible teams.
Blue means a guaranteed deficit of bowl-eligible teams.
Black means that the outcome is still uncertain.
This assumes that Utah, Big 12, SEC, and Pac-10 get the BCS at-large spots.
I don't think it really matters that much wether Oregon State goes to the BCS or Ohio State to our overall bowl situation.
If it is Ohio State, the Motor City is open and we fill with a Big East team.
If it is Oregon State, the Emerald is open and SJSU is probably filling that one.
Overall the available at-large slots will remain the same regardless of who wins.
right about wisconsin going before minn. plus ball st vs minn would be a great game.
however, the one thing people are not mentioning is that ball st still plays wmu. what if wmu wins? not such a bad situation. might give us two ranked teams to root for in postseason.
If Ball State finishes undefeated, why would they want to play Minnesota in the MCB? The Gophers barely beat Indiana (16-7) at home and have lost their last four games, including blowouts to a bad Michigan team and 55-0 at home Saturday to Iowa. Minnesota likely would have very few fans interested in traveling to Detroit the day after Christmas to watch their team play again after their season has already gone in the tank. Talk about a lose-lose situation for the Cardinals. Not much of a reward for becoming the first MAC team since 1999 to go undefeated.
Airport KC Wrote:I don't think it really matters that much wether Oregon State goes to the BCS or Ohio State to our overall bowl situation.
If it is Ohio State, the Motor City is open and we fill with a Big East team.
If it is Oregon State, the Emerald is open and SJSU is probably filling that one.
Overall the available at-large slots will remain the same regardless of who wins.
I think we'd rather have Oregon State and USC in the BCS.
Even though it might be Minnesota or Wisconsin in the game, that game would draw more interest as the midwest is BT country and i'm sure they'd bring more fans than any other team who would fill the BT's spot.
If Ball State wins the MACC and no Big Ten team is available for the MCB, possible opponents include:
Boise State (excellent chance; they have a history of going to play the highest rated team available)
Clemson (excellent, if it turns out 10 teams are bowl eligible out of the ACC)
Notre Dame (slim, but possible if the Irish want to play the highest rated team available)
If there is the slightest possibility of being able to shop BSU out to a higher paying bowl, then the MAC needs to actively pursue that. The bowls are about $$$, and the MCB doesn't pay nearly the amount that a team in BSU's position should be able to get.
The problem is there is no better bowl game available to Ball State. All but the lowest tier of bowls are locked into other conferences.
The best chance Ball State has of getting a higher profile opponent is to hope Oregon State beats Oregon. If that happens, USC will get a BCS bid instead of Ohio State resulting in the Big Ten unable to provide a team to the Motor City Bowl. The MCB could then seek out Boise State, Notre Dame, or an ACC team (if 10 ACC teams wind up bowl-eligible) to play the Cardinals.
exCincy Kid Wrote:Here's CBS Sportsline's latest predictions:
GMAC: ECU vs. CMU
Int'l: UCONN vs. Buffalo
Texas Bowl: NIU vs Rice
MCB: BSU vs Minnesota
Hawaii: WMU vs Hawaii
How ironic that Buffalo will play in the International bowl...The Buffalo Bills have been playing games in Toronto too. BTW: Congrats To the Bulls. It must feel great to go to your 1st bowl. Turner Gill is the man.
Where does Ball state get the better payday? I don't see one open. There might be places that they can play a better opponent and help the league look good with a win.
2008 Bowl Games 2008 Conferences 2008 Date '08 Kickoff 2008 TV Expected Payout
EagleBank Bowl^ Army/Navy v ACC or MAC December 20 11 am ET ESPN $1 million
New Mexico Bowl WAC v MWC December 20 2:30 pm ET ESPN $750,000
St. Pete Bowl C-USA v Big East December 20 4:30 pm ET ESPN2 $1 million
Las Vegas Bowl Pac-10 v MWC December 20 8 pm ET ESPN $1 million
New Orleans Bowl Sun Belt v C-USA December 21 8 pm ET ESPN $325,000
Poinsettia Bowl MWC v Navy, Army or Pac-10 December 23 8 pm ET ESPN $750,000
Hawaii Bowl WAC v Pac-10 December 24 8 pm ET ESPN $398,000
Motor City Bowl Big Ten v MAC December 26 8 pm ET ESPN $750,000
Meineke Bowl Big East v ACC December 27 1 pm ET ESPN $1 million*
Champs Sports Bowl ACC v Big Ten December 27 4:30 pm ET ESPN $2.25 million
Emerald Bowl Pac-10 v ACC December 27 8 pm ET ESPN $850,000
Independence Bowl SEC v Big 12 December 28 8 pm ET ESPN $1.1 million
PapaJohns.com Bowl SEC v Big East December 29 3 pm ET ESPN $300,000
Alamo Bowl Big Ten v Big 12 December 29 8 pm ET ESPN $2.25 million
Humanitarian Bowl WAC v ACC December 30 4:30 pm ET ESPN $750,000
Holiday Bowl Pac-10 v Big 12 December 30 8 pm ET ESPN $2.13 million
Texas Bowl Big 12 v C-USA December 30 TBA NFL Network $500,000 Big East,
$750,000 Big 12
Armed Forces Bowl MWC v C-USA December 31 12 pm ET ESPN $600,000
Insight Bowl Big 12 v Big Ten December 31 1:30 pm ET NFL Network $1.2 million
Sun Bowl Pac-10 v Big 12 or Big East December 31 2 pm ET CBS $1.9 million
Music City Bowl ACC v SEC December 31 3:30 pm ET ESPN $1.6 million
Chick-fil-A Bowl ACC v SEC December 31 7:30 pm ET ESPN $3.25 million ACC,
2.4 million for SEC
Outback Bowl Big Ten v SEC January 1 11 am ET ESPN $3 million
Gator Bowl ACC v Big 12 or Big East/ND January 1 TBA CBS $2.5 million
Capital One Bowl Big Ten v SEC January 1 1 pm ET ABC $4.25 million
Rose Bowl Big 10 Champ v Pac-10 Champ January 1 4:30 pm ET ABC $17 million
Orange Bowl ACC Champ v BCS January 1 TBA FOX $17 million
Cotton Bowl Big 12 v SEC January 2 TBA FOX $3 million
Liberty Bowl C-USA Champ v SEC January 2 5 pm ET ESPN $1.7 million
Sugar Bowl SEC Champ v BCS January 2 7 pm FOX $17 million
International Bowl MAC v Big East January 3 12 pm ET ESPN2 $750,000
Fiesta Bowl Big 12 Champ v BCS January 5 TBA FOX $17 million
GMAC Bowl MAC v C-USA January 6 8 pm ET ESPN $750,000
BCS Championship Bowl BCS #1 v BCS #2 January 8 8 pm ET FOX $17 million
uakronkid Wrote:The overall bowl situation looks like this:
ACC - 8 teams eligible for 9 spots. 3 teams fighting for 1 spot.
Big 12 - 7 teams eligible for 9 spots. 1 team fighting for 2 spots.
Big East - 6 teams eligible for 6 spots. 1 team fighting for at-large spot.
Big Ten - 7 teams eligible for 7 spots.
C-USA - 4 teams eligible for 6 spots. 3 teams fighting for 2 spots.
Ind. - 2 teams eligible for 2 spots. Navy to Eaglebank, Notre Dame to either Gator or Sun bowl, which creates a surplus for either the Big 12 or Big East.
MAC - 5 teams eligible for 3 spots. 2 teams fighting for at-large spots.
MWC - 5 teams eligible for 5 spots (4 bowls + BCS for Utah).
PAC-10 - 5 teams eligible for 8 spots. 2 teams fighting for 3 spots.
SEC - 8 teams eligible for 10 spots. 1 team fighting for 2 spots.
Sun Belt - 1 team eligible for 1 spot. 5 teams fighting for at-large spots.
WAC - 5 teams eligible for 3 spots. 1 team fighting for at-large spot.
Green means that the conference has filled its bowl contracts perfectly as of right now. May change if more teams become eligible.
Red means a surplus of bowl-eligible teams.
Blue means a guaranteed deficit of bowl-eligible teams.
Black means that the outcome is still uncertain.
This assumes that Utah, Big 12, SEC, and Pac-10 get the BCS at-large spots.
Actually if all three teams win this week...usm, memphis and UTEP CUSA will fill seven bowls since we are the hawaii back up.