First out so far today is New Orleans 12/16 at 1pm EST CUSA vs SB on ESPN
http://www.neworleansbowl.org/2017announcement/

http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa/college-...hedule.php

(05-10-2017 10:56 AM)msm96wolf Wrote:  First out so far today is New Orleans 12/16 at noon CUSA vs SB on ESPN
http://www.neworleansbowl.org/2017announcement/

Sources tell us the 2017 Raycom Media #CamelliaBowl kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Dec. 16 at Cramton Bowl. Game will be on ESPN. SB vs MAC per FBSSchedules

I'll bet the Frisco Bowl is Monday, December 18, at 2:30 in the afternoon when not very many people can see it.

(05-10-2017 04:06 PM)PirateJim Wrote:  I'll bet the Frisco Bowl is Monday, December 18, at 2:30 in the afternoon when not very many people can see it.

I've got Wednesday the 20th. Maximizes the amount of time fans would have to miss work.

Some surprises. Biggest one to me, Birmingham moved to Pre-Christmas date of Dec 23rd along with St. Pete moving to Pre Christmas as well. Worst slot appears to be Bahamas noon Friday Dec 22nd. Also, Frisco, Holiday and Foster dates are TBD

(05-10-2017 04:21 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 04:06 PM)PirateJim Wrote:  I'll bet the Frisco Bowl is Monday, December 18, at 2:30 in the afternoon when not very many people can see it.

I've got Wednesday the 20th. Maximizes the amount of time fans would have to miss work.

Considering that the Miami Beach Bowl had an awful time slot and Frisco is the direct descendant, it makes sense

(05-10-2017 04:21 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 04:06 PM)PirateJim Wrote:  I'll bet the Frisco Bowl is Monday, December 18, at 2:30 in the afternoon when not very many people can see it.

I've got Wednesday the 20th. Maximizes the amount of time fans would have to miss work.

That horrible time slot was when it was owned by the AAC. Wouldnt be surprised if it gets a more favorable slot now that ESPN owns it. I almost think the time slot was used to make it tough on the the AAC in the hopes the AAC would give up and sell it (which is what happened). What they should have done is moved the bowl to a member stadium where the costs would be low and the seating would have been more suited for football. Tulane would have been my pick. A road trip to NOLA and less than 25K actual seats to fill and enough room to get to 30K if need be.

For the American have 5 of it's 6 Bowl ties ins before Christmas and against G5 opponents, 4 of those vs C-USA and the SBC, seems to be slightly less than you'd expect from a "power" conference.

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017
AutoNation Cure Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL 2:30pm ET / CBSSN ---

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017
Boca Raton Bowl American vs. C-USA FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL 7:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017
St. Petersburg Bowl American vs. C-USA Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 8:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Dates TBA (expect Dec. 18-24)
Frisco Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX TBA / ESPN ---

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017
Hawai'i Bowl American vs. MWC Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI 8:30pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017
Military Bowl American vs. ACC/ND Navy-Marine Corps. Stadium Annapolis, MD 1:30pm ET / ESPN ---

(05-10-2017 07:41 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  For the American have 5 of it's 6 Bowl ties ins before Christmas and against G5 opponents, 4 of those vs C-USA and the SBC, seems to be slightly less than you'd expect from a "power" conference.

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017
AutoNation Cure Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL 2:30pm ET / CBSSN ---

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017
Boca Raton Bowl American vs. C-USA FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL 7:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017
St. Petersburg Bowl American vs. C-USA Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 8:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Dates TBA (expect Dec. 18-24)
Frisco Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX TBA / ESPN ---

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017
Hawai'i Bowl American vs. MWC Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI 8:30pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017
Military Bowl American vs. ACC/ND Navy-Marine Corps. Stadium Annapolis, MD 1:30pm ET / ESPN ---

My guess for TBD dates
Frisco will be Wednesday 8pm Dec 20. Still a better time slot than the previous Monday spot.

Foster will be Post Christmas on Fox

Holiday possibly 10pm Dec 26 if ESPN does a 12, 3:30, 7 and 10 for that day.

Dec 23 is a sat this year, so probably why.

(05-10-2017 05:51 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 04:21 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 04:06 PM)PirateJim Wrote:  I'll bet the Frisco Bowl is Monday, December 18, at 2:30 in the afternoon when not very many people can see it.

I've got Wednesday the 20th. Maximizes the amount of time fans would have to miss work.

Considering that the Miami Beach Bowl had an awful time slot and Frisco is the direct descendant, it makes sense

But the Poinsettia slot is available. ESPN offered the Poinsettia slot to Arizona and they opted to go with CBSSN to stay post-Christmas.

As a Sun Belt fan, I'm extremely pleased that the five ties announced so far are on Saturdays. I know December 23 for Mobile is challenging for people with young kids but take one of the closer teams and that's not such a problem. While the absolute hardest to reach game is in Tucson but the Saturday after Christmas on December 30. Very fan friendly. Frisco is probably going to be the only one with a clunker date for the fans.

I'm sure there are some Sun Belt fans who have some grumbles or want better match-ups. I really don't care so much about match-ups, I just want to go watch football and enjoy a few days off.

(05-10-2017 07:41 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  For the American have 5 of it's 6 Bowl ties ins before Christmas and against G5 opponents, 4 of those vs C-USA and the SBC, seems to be slightly less than you'd expect from a "power" conference.

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017
AutoNation Cure Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL 2:30pm ET / CBSSN ---

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017
Boca Raton Bowl American vs. C-USA FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL 7:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017
St. Petersburg Bowl American vs. C-USA Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 8:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Dates TBA (expect Dec. 18-24)
Frisco Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX TBA / ESPN ---

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017
Hawai'i Bowl American vs. MWC Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI 8:30pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017
Military Bowl American vs. ACC/ND Navy-Marine Corps. Stadium Annapolis, MD 1:30pm ET / ESPN ---

^^^This bowl line up sucks!!! Please someone tell me there's a Bowl missing?!?!

(05-10-2017 09:17 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 07:41 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  For the American have 5 of it's 6 Bowl ties ins before Christmas and against G5 opponents, 4 of those vs C-USA and the SBC, seems to be slightly less than you'd expect from a "power" conference.

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017
AutoNation Cure Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL 2:30pm ET / CBSSN ---

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017
Boca Raton Bowl American vs. C-USA FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL 7:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017
St. Petersburg Bowl American vs. C-USA Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 8:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Dates TBA (expect Dec. 18-24)
Frisco Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX TBA / ESPN ---

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017
Hawai'i Bowl American vs. MWC Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI 8:30pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017
Military Bowl American vs. ACC/ND Navy-Marine Corps. Stadium Annapolis, MD 1:30pm ET / ESPN ---

^^^This bowl line up sucks!!! Please someone tell me there's a Bowl missing?!?!

Yeah, its pretty bad. Every other year the AAC line up sucks because the ACC doesn't appear in St Pete---plus we also have some gaps in our Ft Worth/Heart of Dallas ties.

That's why Ive said the next cycle may not be a huge improvement in terms of getting any "big" bowl---but there can still be some pretty decent incremental improvement if the AAC can land full ties to Ft Worth and/or the Heart of Dallas. Plus more improvement is available if St Pete can get the ACC to go with a full tie rather than their current every-other-year appearance.

I mean---if everything fell the AAC's way--the AAC could end up with 4 bowls vs P5 opponents every year (5 any year they get the access bowl). Granted, they would all be lower level bowls (other than the access bowl)---but that's still a nice incremental improvement as P5 games always seem to be a little more fun for the fans.

(05-10-2017 09:37 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 09:17 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 07:41 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  For the American have 5 of it's 6 Bowl ties ins before Christmas and against G5 opponents, 4 of those vs C-USA and the SBC, seems to be slightly less than you'd expect from a "power" conference.

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017
AutoNation Cure Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL 2:30pm ET / CBSSN ---

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017
Boca Raton Bowl American vs. C-USA FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL 7:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017
St. Petersburg Bowl American vs. C-USA Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 8:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Dates TBA (expect Dec. 18-24)
Frisco Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX TBA / ESPN ---

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017
Hawai'i Bowl American vs. MWC Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI 8:30pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017
Military Bowl American vs. ACC/ND Navy-Marine Corps. Stadium Annapolis, MD 1:30pm ET / ESPN ---

^^^This bowl line up sucks!!! Please someone tell me there's a Bowl missing?!?!

Yeah, its pretty bad. Every other year the AAC line up sucks because the ACC doesn't appear in St Pete---plus we also have some gaps in our Ft Worth/Heart of Dallas ties.

That's why Ive said the next cycle may not be a huge improvement in terms of getting any "big" bowl---but there can still be some pretty decent incremental improvement if the AAC can land full ties to Ft Worth and/or the Heart of Dallas. Plus more improvement is available if St Pete can get the ACC to go with a full tie rather than their current every-other-year appearance.

I mean---if everything fell the AAC's way--the AAC could end up with 4 bowls vs P5 opponents every year (5 any year they get the access bowl). Granted, they would all be lower level bowls (other than the access bowl)---but that's still a nice incremental improvement as P5 games always seem to be a little more fun for the fans.

The AAC doesn't have the Heart of Dallas tie. C-USA has the Heart of Dallas tie. The AAC has the Fresco tie. We must be a Power conference too.

AC wish you luck, but I am hoping the ACC drops St. Pete and gets HOD vs B12

(05-10-2017 09:37 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 09:17 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 07:41 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  For the American have 5 of it's 6 Bowl ties ins before Christmas and against G5 opponents, 4 of those vs C-USA and the SBC, seems to be slightly less than you'd expect from a "power" conference.

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017
AutoNation Cure Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL 2:30pm ET / CBSSN ---

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017
Boca Raton Bowl American vs. C-USA FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL 7:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017
St. Petersburg Bowl American vs. C-USA Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 8:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Dates TBA (expect Dec. 18-24)
Frisco Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX TBA / ESPN ---

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017
Hawai'i Bowl American vs. MWC Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI 8:30pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017
Military Bowl American vs. ACC/ND Navy-Marine Corps. Stadium Annapolis, MD 1:30pm ET / ESPN ---

^^^This bowl line up sucks!!! Please someone tell me there's a Bowl missing?!?!

Yeah, its pretty bad. Every other year the AAC line up sucks because the ACC doesn't appear in St Pete---plus we also have some gaps in our Ft Worth/Heart of Dallas ties.

That's why Ive said the next cycle may not be a huge improvement in terms of getting any "big" bowl---but there can still be some pretty decent incremental improvement if the AAC can land full ties to Ft Worth and/or the Heart of Dallas. Plus more improvement is available if St Pete can get the ACC to go with a full tie rather than their current every-other-year appearance.

I mean---if everything fell the AAC's way--the AAC could end up with 4 bowls vs P5 opponents every year (5 any year they get the access bowl). Granted, they would all be lower level bowls (other than the access bowl)---but that's still a nice incremental improvement as P5 games always seem to be a little more fun for the fans.

This year we have 5 games that are G5 vs. P5
Las Vegas: MWC vs. P12
Birmingham: SEC vs. AAC
Armed Forces: Army vs. B1G
Dallas: CUSA vs. B12
Military: AAC vs. ACC

Most make a lot of sense for the P5 involved. Pac-12 loves 'em some Vegas. SEC is headquartered in Birmingham, Big XII is headquartered in Irving. Military is about a geographic centric as you can get for AAC. Armed Forces scratches the B1G itch to play in Texas.
While not this year St. Pete makes sense of ACC.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Las Vegas and the new stadium. There have been some comments about wanting to make it a bigger event, if there is more money thrown into it the game could go all P5 but that would also cause some tension locally.

I think the P5 like playing other P5 in bowl games but really which P5 wants to send someone far down the food chain to play SEC in Birmingham or Big XII in Dallas? Those last few harder to sell bowls are what G5 can pick off.

(05-10-2017 10:04 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 09:37 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 09:17 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 07:41 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  For the American have 5 of it's 6 Bowl ties ins before Christmas and against G5 opponents, 4 of those vs C-USA and the SBC, seems to be slightly less than you'd expect from a "power" conference.

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017
AutoNation Cure Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL 2:30pm ET / CBSSN ---

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017
Boca Raton Bowl American vs. C-USA FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL 7:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017
St. Petersburg Bowl American vs. C-USA Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 8:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Dates TBA (expect Dec. 18-24)
Frisco Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX TBA / ESPN ---

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017
Hawai'i Bowl American vs. MWC Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI 8:30pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017
Military Bowl American vs. ACC/ND Navy-Marine Corps. Stadium Annapolis, MD 1:30pm ET / ESPN ---

^^^This bowl line up sucks!!! Please someone tell me there's a Bowl missing?!?!

Yeah, its pretty bad. Every other year the AAC line up sucks because the ACC doesn't appear in St Pete---plus we also have some gaps in our Ft Worth/Heart of Dallas ties.

That's why Ive said the next cycle may not be a huge improvement in terms of getting any "big" bowl---but there can still be some pretty decent incremental improvement if the AAC can land full ties to Ft Worth and/or the Heart of Dallas. Plus more improvement is available if St Pete can get the ACC to go with a full tie rather than their current every-other-year appearance.

I mean---if everything fell the AAC's way--the AAC could end up with 4 bowls vs P5 opponents every year (5 any year they get the access bowl). Granted, they would all be lower level bowls (other than the access bowl)---but that's still a nice incremental improvement as P5 games always seem to be a little more fun for the fans.

This year we have 5 games that are G5 vs. P5
Las Vegas: MWC vs. P12
Birmingham: SEC vs. AAC
Armed Forces: Army vs. B1G
Dallas: CUSA vs. B12
Military: AAC vs. ACC

Most make a lot of sense for the P5 involved. Pac-12 loves 'em some Vegas. SEC is headquartered in Birmingham, Big XII is headquartered in Irving. Military is about a geographic centric as you can get for AAC. Armed Forces scratches the B1G itch to play in Texas.
While not this year St. Pete makes sense of ACC.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Las Vegas and the new stadium. There have been some comments about wanting to make it a bigger event, if there is more money thrown into it the game could go all P5 but that would also cause some tension locally.

I think the P5 like playing other P5 in bowl games but really which P5 wants to send someone far down the food chain to play SEC in Birmingham or Big XII in Dallas? Those last few harder to sell bowls are what G5 can pick off.

As far as this P5 vs P5 bowl stuff...
-Indiana played Utah in San Francisco last year in a bowl in front of maybe 10,000.
-Another P5 vs P5 in the Independence Bowl had less actual fans probably...
-The fans love seeing a Boise play an Oklahoma--it doesn't have to be the national championship. Good tv ratings and attendance in all those big Boise games
-Florida St vs Houston did very well in both tv and attendance
-Army, Navy and Air Force always bring a crowd even if the opponent is a sun belt or a CUSA opponent. Air Force drew 30k vs a sun belt team in the Arizona Bowl. Army and North Texas did well.
- The Nola Bowl with a SB vs CUSA match up always brings a good crowd
Even one of the lowest pay out Bowls The New Mexico Bowl draws 30,000
My point is the fans don't care about P5 vs P5 in bowls. They want a good match up if they are going to travel to it. These bowls are missing logical match ups with this P5 vs P5 matchups.

(05-10-2017 10:49 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 10:04 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 09:37 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 09:17 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 07:41 PM)Stugray2 Wrote:  For the American have 5 of it's 6 Bowl ties ins before Christmas and against G5 opponents, 4 of those vs C-USA and the SBC, seems to be slightly less than you'd expect from a "power" conference.

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017
AutoNation Cure Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL 2:30pm ET / CBSSN ---

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017
Boca Raton Bowl American vs. C-USA FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL 7:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017
St. Petersburg Bowl American vs. C-USA Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 8:00pm ET / ESPN ---

Dates TBA (expect Dec. 18-24)
Frisco Bowl American vs. Sun Belt Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX TBA / ESPN ---

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017
Hawai'i Bowl American vs. MWC Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI 8:30pm ET / ESPN ---

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017
Military Bowl American vs. ACC/ND Navy-Marine Corps. Stadium Annapolis, MD 1:30pm ET / ESPN ---

^^^This bowl line up sucks!!! Please someone tell me there's a Bowl missing?!?!

Yeah, its pretty bad. Every other year the AAC line up sucks because the ACC doesn't appear in St Pete---plus we also have some gaps in our Ft Worth/Heart of Dallas ties.

That's why Ive said the next cycle may not be a huge improvement in terms of getting any "big" bowl---but there can still be some pretty decent incremental improvement if the AAC can land full ties to Ft Worth and/or the Heart of Dallas. Plus more improvement is available if St Pete can get the ACC to go with a full tie rather than their current every-other-year appearance.

I mean---if everything fell the AAC's way--the AAC could end up with 4 bowls vs P5 opponents every year (5 any year they get the access bowl). Granted, they would all be lower level bowls (other than the access bowl)---but that's still a nice incremental improvement as P5 games always seem to be a little more fun for the fans.

This year we have 5 games that are G5 vs. P5
Las Vegas: MWC vs. P12
Birmingham: SEC vs. AAC
Armed Forces: Army vs. B1G
Dallas: CUSA vs. B12
Military: AAC vs. ACC

Most make a lot of sense for the P5 involved. Pac-12 loves 'em some Vegas. SEC is headquartered in Birmingham, Big XII is headquartered in Irving. Military is about a geographic centric as you can get for AAC. Armed Forces scratches the B1G itch to play in Texas.
While not this year St. Pete makes sense of ACC.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Las Vegas and the new stadium. There have been some comments about wanting to make it a bigger event, if there is more money thrown into it the game could go all P5 but that would also cause some tension locally.

I think the P5 like playing other P5 in bowl games but really which P5 wants to send someone far down the food chain to play SEC in Birmingham or Big XII in Dallas? Those last few harder to sell bowls are what G5 can pick off.

As far as this P5 vs P5 bowl stuff...
-Indiana played Utah in San Francisco last year in a bowl in front of maybe 10,000.
-Another P5 vs P5 in the Independence Bowl had less actual fans probably...
-The fans love seeing a Boise play an Oklahoma--it doesn't have to be the national championship. Good tv ratings and attendance in all those big Boise games
-Florida St vs Houston did very well in both tv and attendance
-Army, Navy and Air Force always bring a crowd even if the opponent is a sun belt or a CUSA opponent. Air Force drew 30k vs a sun belt team in the Arizona Bowl. Army and North Texas did well.
- The Nola Bowl with a SB vs CUSA match up always brings a good crowd
Even one of the lowest pay out Bowls The New Mexico Bowl draws 30,000
My point is the fans don't care about P5 vs P5 in bowls. They want a good match up if they are going to travel to it. These bowls are missing logical match ups with this P5 vs P5 matchups.

Worth noting though that New Mexico and NOLA bowls tend to have at least one team that is fairly regional and both are played on a Saturday.
Last year the NOLA participants had drives of 2 hours 10 minutes and 1 hour 45 minutes. While the New Mexico Bowl had a team driving 11 hours and one setting up in their usual tailgate spots because it was their home stadium.
The I-Bowl kicked off at 4pm local time on the day after Christmas which was a Monday. One team was from 8 1/2 hours away and the other 15 hours away. Getting momma to agree to spend Christmas Day in Shreveport is a conversation most folks aren't even going to start.
Foster Farms Bowl was at 4:40 pm local time on a Wednesday featuring one team 15 hours away and one 35 hours away.
Vandy traveling to Shreveport was the only one with a shorter trip than UTSA's trip to New Mexico.

Date and geography matter. BUT Foster Farms drew nearly the same number of viewers as New Mexico and NOLA combined. Now both New Mexico and NOLA drew a larger audience than the I-Bowl but the game started at 5pm eastern on a Monday and it was on ESPN2 instead of ESPN and the start overlapped the crazy rally Maryland had against BC.

(05-10-2017 11:19 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 10:49 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 10:04 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 09:37 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(05-10-2017 09:17 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  ^^^This bowl line up sucks!!! Please someone tell me there's a Bowl missing?!?!

Yeah, its pretty bad. Every other year the AAC line up sucks because the ACC doesn't appear in St Pete---plus we also have some gaps in our Ft Worth/Heart of Dallas ties.

That's why Ive said the next cycle may not be a huge improvement in terms of getting any "big" bowl---but there can still be some pretty decent incremental improvement if the AAC can land full ties to Ft Worth and/or the Heart of Dallas. Plus more improvement is available if St Pete can get the ACC to go with a full tie rather than their current every-other-year appearance.

I mean---if everything fell the AAC's way--the AAC could end up with 4 bowls vs P5 opponents every year (5 any year they get the access bowl). Granted, they would all be lower level bowls (other than the access bowl)---but that's still a nice incremental improvement as P5 games always seem to be a little more fun for the fans.

This year we have 5 games that are G5 vs. P5
Las Vegas: MWC vs. P12
Birmingham: SEC vs. AAC
Armed Forces: Army vs. B1G
Dallas: CUSA vs. B12
Military: AAC vs. ACC

Most make a lot of sense for the P5 involved. Pac-12 loves 'em some Vegas. SEC is headquartered in Birmingham, Big XII is headquartered in Irving. Military is about a geographic centric as you can get for AAC. Armed Forces scratches the B1G itch to play in Texas.
While not this year St. Pete makes sense of ACC.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Las Vegas and the new stadium. There have been some comments about wanting to make it a bigger event, if there is more money thrown into it the game could go all P5 but that would also cause some tension locally.

I think the P5 like playing other P5 in bowl games but really which P5 wants to send someone far down the food chain to play SEC in Birmingham or Big XII in Dallas? Those last few harder to sell bowls are what G5 can pick off.

As far as this P5 vs P5 bowl stuff...
-Indiana played Utah in San Francisco last year in a bowl in front of maybe 10,000.
-Another P5 vs P5 in the Independence Bowl had less actual fans probably...
-The fans love seeing a Boise play an Oklahoma--it doesn't have to be the national championship. Good tv ratings and attendance in all those big Boise games
-Florida St vs Houston did very well in both tv and attendance
-Army, Navy and Air Force always bring a crowd even if the opponent is a sun belt or a CUSA opponent. Air Force drew 30k vs a sun belt team in the Arizona Bowl. Army and North Texas did well.
- The Nola Bowl with a SB vs CUSA match up always brings a good crowd
Even one of the lowest pay out Bowls The New Mexico Bowl draws 30,000
My point is the fans don't care about P5 vs P5 in bowls. They want a good match up if they are going to travel to it. These bowls are missing logical match ups with this P5 vs P5 matchups.

Worth noting though that New Mexico and NOLA bowls tend to have at least one team that is fairly regional and both are played on a Saturday.
Last year the NOLA participants had drives of 2 hours 10 minutes and 1 hour 45 minutes. While the New Mexico Bowl had a team driving 11 hours and one setting up in their usual tailgate spots because it was their home stadium.
The I-Bowl kicked off at 4pm local time on the day after Christmas which was a Monday. One team was from 8 1/2 hours away and the other 15 hours away. Getting momma to agree to spend Christmas Day in Shreveport is a conversation most folks aren't even going to start.
Foster Farms Bowl was at 4:40 pm local time on a Wednesday featuring one team 15 hours away and one 35 hours away.
Vandy traveling to Shreveport was the only one with a shorter trip than UTSA's trip to New Mexico.

Date and geography matter. BUT Foster Farms drew nearly the same number of viewers as New Mexico and NOLA combined. Now both New Mexico and NOLA drew a larger audience than the I-Bowl but the game started at 5pm eastern on a Monday and it was on ESPN2 instead of ESPN and the start overlapped the crazy rally Maryland had against BC.

Thanks for that info. One point. You mentioned tv ratings for those games and differences in time slots. Valid points, but if I'm looking at this right The Las Vegas Bowl and New Mexico Bowl were played at the same time and it's a double whammy because the Las Vegas Bowl got great ratings and it featured two G5 teams: Houston vs San Diego St.
My point is there's some good P5 G5 matchups that could have been big. For example: swap Utah for UTSA in the New Mexico Bowl vs UNM and it probably gets 40k and not the measly 10k the Utah Indiana matchup got in the San Francisco Bowl. Swap San Diego St in the San Francisco Bowl vs Indiana and it sells out too. Common sense ideas.