As the first few teams clinch bowl games, and MAC teams begin to show how good (or how bad) they are this year, I thought we should have a post on early bowl projections.

Here's CBS Sport's:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...redictions
Ohio St in the playoff

Michigan vs Stanford in the Rose Bowl

Houston vs Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl

Akron vs Georgia Southern in the Camellia Bowl
Temple vs Central Michigan in the Miami Beach Bowl
Louisiana Tech vs Ohio in the Bahamas Bowl
Western Michigan vs Appalachian St in the Dollar General Bowl
South Florida vs Ball St in the St Petersburg Bowl
Toledo vs Nevada in the Potato Bowl

(10-12-2016 05:50 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  As the first few teams clinch bowl games, and MAC teams begin to show how good (or how bad) they are this year, I thought we should have a post on early bowl projections.

Here's CBS Sport's:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...redictions
Ohio St in the playoff

Michigan vs Stanford in the Rose Bowl

Houston vs Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl

Akron vs Georgia Southern in the Camellia Bowl
Temple vs Central Michigan in the Miami Beach Bowl
Louisiana Tech vs Ohio in the Bahamas Bowl
Western Michigan vs Appalachian St in the Dollar General Bowl
South Florida vs Ball St in the St Petersburg Bowl
Toledo vs Nevada in the Potato Bowl

I'd be PO'd if WMU and Toledo drew those games!!

We would turn down a bid playing any MWC team but SDSU or Boise State. I expect Miami beach or St Pete vs a very good AAC team.

(10-12-2016 06:52 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(10-12-2016 05:50 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  As the first few teams clinch bowl games, and MAC teams begin to show how good (or how bad) they are this year, I thought we should have a post on early bowl projections.

Here's CBS Sport's:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...redictions
Ohio St in the playoff

Michigan vs Stanford in the Rose Bowl

Houston vs Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl

Akron vs Georgia Southern in the Camellia Bowl
Temple vs Central Michigan in the Miami Beach Bowl
Louisiana Tech vs Ohio in the Bahamas Bowl
Western Michigan vs Appalachian St in the Dollar General Bowl
South Florida vs Ball St in the St Petersburg Bowl
Toledo vs Nevada in the Potato Bowl

I'd be PO'd if WMU and Toledo drew those games!!

We would turn down a bid playing any MWC team but SDSU or Boise State. I expect Miami beach or St Pete vs a very good AAC team.

Me too!
But don't the bowl tie-ins say who plays who?
(ie MAC has to play Sun-Belt in so-and-so bowl, MW has to play CUSA in so-and-so bowl)

I wish the MAC could dump the Alabama games. They don't do anything for recruiting and are hard to get to.

Virginia Beach in ODU's upgraded stadium vs. CUSA would be nice.

Could a bowl in Canton Ohio be workable? The MAC vs. Army/UMass/UConn in Canton is a nice theme.

That Potato Bowl has EMU's name all over it.

I imagine weather would be the big reason why there isn't a bowl game in Canton. Indianapolis would make a lot of sense with the dome and all.

But, unless you are a die hard fan why would you spend your holiday vacation in Indianapolis? Detroit has more to do, Cleveland, Chicago...

(10-12-2016 08:09 PM)kreed5120 Wrote:  I imagine weather would be the big reason why there isn't a bowl game in Canton. Indianapolis would make a lot of sense with the dome and all.

I used to put off a bowl game in Canton as a far-fetched idea. But it had nothing to do with weather, I simply thought the Hall of Fame Village proposal was a pipe dream.

But guess what, the Hall of Fame/NFL isn't playing around. The Canton Repository had an article the other day showing that they are paying upwards of $55,000 above market value (on houses that are worth less than $50,000) just to get the rights to 90-something nearby properties, and that the $250 million luxury hotel is going to break ground by Thanksgiving.

The stadium, which has been undergoing a total rebuild over the past year, is finished on the visitors side and it looks like a mini-NFL stadium (all seat-backs from what I can tell from the highway). That's just the visitor's side, I'm guessing the much-larger home side, which still is a mountain of dirt, will be just as nice, with an even more luxurious press box. (The NFL just pumped $3.4 million into the "old" press box in 2009, only to say screw it, tear it down).

As an Akron fan, even though I think InfoCision, along with the Glass Bowl, are the crown jewels of MAC stadiums, Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium is going to put both to shame. ... and with an $80 million price tag, it should.

There is no reason, with the NFL investing as much as it has to make sure this plan gets done, it won't put its might behind sponsoring a college bowl game. With the way this project is moving, it's not "if" it will happen, but "when"

I think the NFL will make this work for a bowl game:

http://www.profootballhof.com/assets/1/6...ye-500.jpg

Not like the old (high school) stadium was a slouch:

http://sportsnola.com/wp-content/uploads...e_game.jpg

ESPN's Mark Schlabach has Toledo projected to play Houston in the Miami Beach Bowl.

(10-13-2016 12:44 AM)pono Wrote:  But, unless you are a die hard fan why would you spend your holiday vacation in Indianapolis? Detroit has more to do, Cleveland, Chicago...

Downtown Indy actually has a bit of stuff to do, it's small but nice near that Circle Center thing they've got. Why we haven't tried setting up a bowl there or St. Louis instead of Boise, I'll never know. It's an easy trip for fans so with domes it'll get butts in the seats.

Yeah, neither of those cities are peachy in December, but what's the goal of a bowl? To be the best exhibition possible, to make money, to be a vacation for the fans and players, all three? At the end of the day a bowl has to make the dollars to survive, and the best way for the MAC to do that (drawing a good crowd also gives us a nice homefield advantage) is with as many local games as possible. Then games with big local support, like Mobile, are nice with how established we are in the city as an event.

SI bowl projections for Oct 13
http://www.si.com/college-football/2016/...off-week-6

Cotton Jan. 2 Arlington, Texas TBD vs. TBD Western Michigan vs. Wisconsin

Camellia Dec. 17 Montgomery, Ala. MAC vs. Sun Belt Eastern Michigan vs. New Mexico State

Miami Beach Dec. 19 Miami AAC vs. MAC Temple vs. Central Michigan

Famous Idaho Potato Dec. 22 Boise, Idaho MAC vs. MW Toledo vs. San Diego State

Bahamas Dec. 23 Nassau, Bahamas AAC vs. MAC UConn vs. Ball State

Dollar General Dec. 23 Mobile, Ala. MAC vs. Sun Belt Ohio vs. Troy

Hawaii Dec. 24 Honolulu C-USA vs. MW Western Kentucky vs. Akron*

(10-13-2016 01:26 AM)Wadszip Wrote:  

(10-12-2016 08:09 PM)kreed5120 Wrote:  I imagine weather would be the big reason why there isn't a bowl game in Canton. Indianapolis would make a lot of sense with the dome and all.

I used to put off a bowl game in Canton as a far-fetched idea. But it had nothing to do with weather, I simply thought the Hall of Fame Village proposal was a pipe dream.

But guess what, the Hall of Fame/NFL isn't playing around. The Canton Repository had an article the other day showing that they are paying upwards of $55,000 above market value (on houses that are worth less than $50,000) just to get the rights to 90-something nearby properties, and that the $250 million luxury hotel is going to break ground by Thanksgiving.

The stadium, which has been undergoing a total rebuild over the past year, is finished on the visitors side and it looks like a mini-NFL stadium (all seat-backs from what I can tell from the highway). That's just the visitor's side, I'm guessing the much-larger home side, which still is a mountain of dirt, will be just as nice, with an even more luxurious press box. (The NFL just pumped $3.4 million into the "old" press box in 2009, only to say screw it, tear it down).

As an Akron fan, even though I think InfoCision, along with the Glass Bowl, are the crown jewels of MAC stadiums, Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium is going to put both to shame. ... and with an $80 million price tag, it should.

There is no reason, with the NFL investing as much as it has to make sure this plan gets done, it won't put its might behind sponsoring a college bowl game. With the way this project is moving, it's not "if" it will happen, but "when"

I think the NFL will make this work for a bowl game:

http://www.profootballhof.com/assets/1/6...ye-500.jpg

Not like the old (high school) stadium was a slouch:

http://sportsnola.com/wp-content/uploads...e_game.jpg

I'm well aware with what's going on at the HoF. I live 10 minutes away and pass it each day on my commute to work. I do agree that with the village the odds of Canton hosting a game is greater, which before was near 0%, but there is a reason why only 4 out of the 40 bowls games are above the Mason-Dixon line (1 of those 4 are played in a dome). Nobody wants to take a vacation to spend 4+ hours sitting in subfreezing temperatures dealing with snow or even worse, freezing rain.

All of this is a mute point as there are already more bowl games than there are bowl eligible teams to fill them. The NCAA has put a freeze on anymore being started.

WMU might go undefeated. To go to the Dollar General Bowl and play App State would be an insult.

SI's bowl projections are interesting though. WMU vs. Wisky in the Cotton Bowl?? Yes please!

(10-13-2016 06:03 AM)Love and Honor Wrote:  

(10-13-2016 12:44 AM)pono Wrote:  But, unless you are a die hard fan why would you spend your holiday vacation in Indianapolis? Detroit has more to do, Cleveland, Chicago...

Downtown Indy actually has a bit of stuff to do, it's small but nice near that Circle Center thing they've got. Why we haven't tried setting up a bowl there or St. Louis instead of Boise, I'll never know. It's an easy trip for fans so with domes it'll get butts in the seats.

Yeah, neither of those cities are peachy in December, but what's the goal of a bowl? To be the best exhibition possible, to make money, to be a vacation for the fans and players, all three? At the end of the day a bowl has to make the dollars to survive, and the best way for the MAC to do that (drawing a good crowd also gives us a nice homefield advantage) is with as many local games as possible. Then games with big local support, like Mobile, are nice with how established we are in the city as an event.

I enjoy all of the Indy Brew Bus Tours. I mean, that and college football....What's left?

(10-13-2016 06:41 AM)westernwilly Wrote:  SI bowl projections for Oct 13
http://www.si.com/college-football/2016/...off-week-6

Cotton Jan. 2 Arlington, Texas TBD vs. TBD Western Michigan vs. Wisconsin

Camellia Dec. 17 Montgomery, Ala. MAC vs. Sun Belt Eastern Michigan vs. New Mexico State

Miami Beach Dec. 19 Miami AAC vs. MAC Temple vs. Central Michigan

Famous Idaho Potato Dec. 22 Boise, Idaho MAC vs. MW Toledo vs. San Diego State

Bahamas Dec. 23 Nassau, Bahamas AAC vs. MAC UConn vs. Ball State

Dollar General Dec. 23 Mobile, Ala. MAC vs. Sun Belt Ohio vs. Troy

Hawaii Dec. 24 Honolulu C-USA vs. MW Western Kentucky vs. Akron*

Great seeing EMU even mentioned in these discussions. Will believe it when it happens of course, but if it happens, my wife and I will be there, partying like it's 1987!

(10-13-2016 06:03 AM)Love and Honor Wrote:  

(10-13-2016 12:44 AM)pono Wrote:  But, unless you are a die hard fan why would you spend your holiday vacation in Indianapolis? Detroit has more to do, Cleveland, Chicago...

Downtown Indy actually has a bit of stuff to do, it's small but nice near that Circle Center thing they've got. Why we haven't tried setting up a bowl there or St. Louis instead of Boise, I'll never know. It's an easy trip for fans so with domes it'll get butts in the seats.

Yeah, neither of those cities are peachy in December, but what's the goal of a bowl? To be the best exhibition possible, to make money, to be a vacation for the fans and players, all three? At the end of the day a bowl has to make the dollars to survive, and the best way for the MAC to do that (drawing a good crowd also gives us a nice homefield advantage) is with as many local games as possible. Then games with big local support, like Mobile, are nice with how established we are in the city as an event.

Agreed. Indianapolis has plenty to do! When the superbowl was held there, it got extremely high marks from fans, players, and journalists.

(10-13-2016 01:26 AM)Wadszip Wrote:  

(10-12-2016 08:09 PM)kreed5120 Wrote:  I imagine weather would be the big reason why there isn't a bowl game in Canton. Indianapolis would make a lot of sense with the dome and all.

I used to put off a bowl game in Canton as a far-fetched idea. But it had nothing to do with weather, I simply thought the Hall of Fame Village proposal was a pipe dream.

But guess what, the Hall of Fame/NFL isn't playing around. The Canton Repository had an article the other day showing that they are paying upwards of $55,000 above market value (on houses that are worth less than $50,000) just to get the rights to 90-something nearby properties, and that the $250 million luxury hotel is going to break ground by Thanksgiving.

The stadium, which has been undergoing a total rebuild over the past year, is finished on the visitors side and it looks like a mini-NFL stadium (all seat-backs from what I can tell from the highway). That's just the visitor's side, I'm guessing the much-larger home side, which still is a mountain of dirt, will be just as nice, with an even more luxurious press box. (The NFL just pumped $3.4 million into the "old" press box in 2009, only to say screw it, tear it down).

As an Akron fan, even though I think InfoCision, along with the Glass Bowl, are the crown jewels of MAC stadiums, Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium is going to put both to shame. ... and with an $80 million price tag, it should.

There is no reason, with the NFL investing as much as it has to make sure this plan gets done, it won't put its might behind sponsoring a college bowl game. With the way this project is moving, it's not "if" it will happen, but "when"

I think the NFL will make this work for a bowl game:

http://www.profootballhof.com/assets/1/6...ye-500.jpg

Not like the old (high school) stadium was a slouch:

http://sportsnola.com/wp-content/uploads...e_game.jpg

Wow! That's great for Canton!

They should add a roof to the stadium to cover at least most of the seats in the event that there's freezing rain or snow. Something like Toronto's BMO field comes to mind.

Canton would be about easy travel for the MAC.

Hotel rooms for the opponents....Army, UMass, UConn some mix of independents.

Would be a mid December bowl before the weather becomes too bad. Canton is not on the lake so that would help things.

Its better than some of the bowls the MAC is involved in now.

(10-13-2016 07:49 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  Canton would be about easy travel for the MAC.

Hotel rooms for the opponents....Army, UMass, UConn some mix of independents.

Would be a mid December bowl before the weather becomes too bad. Canton is not on the lake so that would help things.

Its better than some of the bowls the MAC is involved in now.

Actually being on the lake is not bad for snow. Being east of the center of Cleveland gets bad regardless of proximity to the lake. Heck the weather south of me in Lakewood is almost always worse than what it is on Lakewood and I can see the lake from my place.

Sadly to get to where I work I have to drive east and I end up in the snowier areas....

(10-13-2016 08:12 PM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  

(10-13-2016 07:49 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  Canton would be about easy travel for the MAC.

Hotel rooms for the opponents....Army, UMass, UConn some mix of independents.

Would be a mid December bowl before the weather becomes too bad. Canton is not on the lake so that would help things.

Its better than some of the bowls the MAC is involved in now.

Actually being on the lake is not bad for snow. Being east of the center of Cleveland gets bad regardless of proximity to the lake. Heck the weather south of me in Lakewood is almost always worse than what it is on Lakewood and I can see the lake from my place.

Sadly to get to where I work I have to drive east and I end up in the snowier areas....

The way the Lake Effect works, the snow jumps over the first few miles closest to the shore before beginning to fall back down.

Canton is pretty dry compared to Cleveland or even Akron.