Back when the I Bowl was created, the NCAA was much stricter about certifying bowl games. Shreveport applied and was rejected, the NCAA felt 11 bowl games was plenty.

Arkansas State went 11-0, unbeaten, untied, and uninvited as Southland champions, so Shreveport returned to the NCAA with the vow they would take the Southland champion and the NCAA granted them their bowl certification.

(07-14-2019 08:37 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(07-14-2019 01:00 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(07-13-2019 10:53 AM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  Am I the only one who doesn’t find Shreveport undesirable?

I’ve been there a few times and never had a bad experience. It’s not NOLA or Las Vegas but I’d rather go to Shreveport for a bowl game than Little Rock or Tulsa (if they had one).

I can see the issue of flying there though. Shreveport is not an easy place to fly to/from. But DFW and Love Field are just 3 hours away.

I've lived in both Shreveport and Little Rock and I could point you to a MUCH better time in Little Rock but if you were just stumbling into town for the game, you would have a really good time in Shreveport, especially if you like casinos. The riverwalk and casinos are really handy for fan events while Little Rock's Rivermarket is great it isn't as EVENT friendly.

Truth of the matter is there are people who malign Shreveport who you can find going there fairly regularly.

It could be a GREAT G5 bowl because you have so many AAC, CUSA, Sun Belt schools within an easy day's drive.

If someone ever wanted to create a showcase bowl that picked from a pool of G5's
You have five Sun Belt within 7 hours (barely misses being six), five AAC within 7 hours and six CUSA

This could be a really good place for a champ vs champ G5 bowl.

That is a viable option.

The top two G5 schools remaining play (after the NY participant is decided)

The money split would have to be figured out.

Realistically all the G5 bowls should be put in a big pot and they get selected by a G5 bowl committee. Your conference earns shares for winning and as a participant.

ESPN could do a bowl reveal show and then experts could talk about teams most never saw play a whole game that season ;-)

(07-14-2019 05:29 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Maybe it would be a good place to move the MAC champ vs SBC champ bowl. For what Shreveport lacks as a destination it makes up for with its history.

I respect the history of the Independence Bowl, but is this really better for the MAC than, say, Mobile or Tucson? I'm not so sure it would be.

Everyone might be better off if the Mountain West sends a team to Shreveport to play Conference USA or the Sun Belt.

It's a shame the Big 12 isn't going to be sending a team to Shreveport. It is really well-located for that conference. But times are what they are.

(07-15-2019 12:02 PM)Schadenfreude Wrote:  

(07-14-2019 05:29 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Maybe it would be a good place to move the MAC champ vs SBC champ bowl. For what Shreveport lacks as a destination it makes up for with its history.

I respect the history of the Independence Bowl, but is this really better for the MAC than, say, Mobile or Tucson? I'm not so sure it would be.

Everyone might be better off if the Mountain West sends a team to Shreveport to play Conference USA or the Sun Belt.

It's a shame the Big 12 isn't going to be sending a team to Shreveport. It is really well-located for that conference. But times are what they are.

Shreveport as a city doesn’t have much to offer but the bowl itself, with it history is more than what those two have to offer.

The MWC isn’t going to want to come east for this bowl unless the payout is really lucrative. I think there are enough Western and Texas bowls to meet their needs.

Shreveport is considered a exclave of Texas.

Has casinos and also Rodeo.

Heavy ties to the booming DFW metro.

It's a quasi Texas bowl vs. another southern place to play.

(07-14-2019 08:47 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  

(07-14-2019 08:37 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(07-14-2019 01:00 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(07-13-2019 10:53 AM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  Am I the only one who doesn’t find Shreveport undesirable?

I’ve been there a few times and never had a bad experience. It’s not NOLA or Las Vegas but I’d rather go to Shreveport for a bowl game than Little Rock or Tulsa (if they had one).

I can see the issue of flying there though. Shreveport is not an easy place to fly to/from. But DFW and Love Field are just 3 hours away.

I've lived in both Shreveport and Little Rock and I could point you to a MUCH better time in Little Rock but if you were just stumbling into town for the game, you would have a really good time in Shreveport, especially if you like casinos. The riverwalk and casinos are really handy for fan events while Little Rock's Rivermarket is great it isn't as EVENT friendly.

Truth of the matter is there are people who malign Shreveport who you can find going there fairly regularly.

It could be a GREAT G5 bowl because you have so many AAC, CUSA, Sun Belt schools within an easy day's drive.

If someone ever wanted to create a showcase bowl that picked from a pool of G5's
You have five Sun Belt within 7 hours (barely misses being six), five AAC within 7 hours and six CUSA

This could be a really good place for a champ vs champ G5 bowl.

I think every G5 conference is going to be interested except for the SBC because they are full.

CUSA/AAC for backyard reasons. MWC/MAC to get slots in a Louisiana bowl game.

It might get too stale if only 2 conferences are involved with it.

SBC isn't technically full. The Arizona Bowl is going away and replaced with a rotating Myrtle Beach bowl. That means the SBC has a spot open for another rotation in a bowl game.

AAC announced their bowls. No Indy Bowl. Something has to be up with it. My guess is it will a Super G5 Bowl game.

It's likely going to be CUSA vs. SBC.

I do not see how CUSA can not be a full tie to Indy Bowl at this point.

(07-14-2019 12:48 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  

(07-14-2019 12:30 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(07-14-2019 12:07 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  

(07-14-2019 10:46 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(07-13-2019 07:29 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  It’s worse being stuck at an airport for 7 hours for a connecting flight especially if you have kids. There’s few flights to/from Shreveport so the connecting flights take a little longer compared to medium/large airports.

It’s 3 hours not six. Totally doable and worth it if you want to save money.

I agree. I'd rather get in a rental car than wait for a connecting flight. Three hours is nothing.

I’ve done it multiple times. When UTEP played at Memphis in our first year in C-USA, I flew to Little Rock on Southwest and drove to Memphis on a rental (I was going to get a rental regardless if I flew directly to Memphis so it’s not included as an additional expense). I saved about $250 doing that. That was a time when Northwest had a monopoly in their Memphis hub and Southwest didn’t fly there. Memphis was an expensive airport to fly to/from. I’ve done the same thing when I’ve gone to Tucson (Phoenix), Colorado Springs (Denver), Palm Springs (LAX), Mobile (NOLA), Sacramento (SFO), Toronto (Detroit or Buffalo), Bloomington, IN (Louisville instead of Indianapolis) and State College (Pittsburgh).

I know people who use DFW and Love Field instead of their local airport in Waco, Abilene, Wichita Falls, Tyler/Longview, Texarkana even Oklahoma City. I’m sure quo knows people in Baton Rouge and Lafayette who would rather drive to NOLA for the savings and the multiple options it offers.

I'm lucky right now. Allegiant offers me non-stop flights beween FL and Syracuse. I can cheaply fly between my home and summer place. The planes have pretty high capacity too so it should be around for awhile.

If you are military or a veteran they have special deals for you.

https://www.allegiantair.com/military-discount

Allegiant serves underrated markets by flying directly to mostly secondary airports. I have a good friend in El Paso who took his family to Orlando and he says the price made a difference plus it was just a 3.5 hour nonstop flight and saved money by not having a connecting flight which means the kids will be hungry by then and airport food is usually expensive.

Sure, they nickel you and dime you but if people just read the terms and conditions they won’t be shocked for additional fees at the airport. Besides who wants airline food anyway?

That’s why I laugh when people say Shreveport/Indy Bowl is hard to get to and expensive. It is if you don’t look at other options.

Allegiant works nicely if you are flexible and can fly on the days that they fly. Because of this, I fly Southwest to Rochester or Buffalo and drive to Ithaca, since I will be at that end of the state at some point anyway.

(07-15-2019 04:35 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  Shreveport is considered a exclave of Texas.

Has casinos and also Rodeo.

Heavy ties to the booming DFW metro.

It's a quasi Texas bowl vs. another southern place to play.

Shreveport does have that feel to it. Like a lot of western Louisiana, the Texas influence seeps over. The folks there definitely tend to identify more with Dallas than with, say, New Orleans, and IIRC, on NFL coverage maps, the Cowboys are usually treated as Shreveport's home team, not the Saints. The only exception is college sports - Shreveport is an LSU town, with some LA-Tech, Grambling, and even LA-Monroe people - through and through, no links to Texas schools.

That said, Shreveport is still 190 miles from DFW. That's a long way, too long for it to have any real ties to it that will matter to a visitor for a bowl game.

(07-17-2019 07:33 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(07-15-2019 04:35 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  Shreveport is considered a exclave of Texas.

Has casinos and also Rodeo.

Heavy ties to the booming DFW metro.

It's a quasi Texas bowl vs. another southern place to play.

Shreveport does have that feel to it. Like a lot of western Louisiana, the Texas influence seeps over. The folks there definitely tend to identify more with Dallas than with, say, New Orleans, and IIRC, on NFL coverage maps, the Cowboys are usually treated as Shreveport's home team, not the Saints. The only exception is college sports - Shreveport is an LSU town, with some LA-Tech, Grambling, and even LA-Monroe people - through and through, no links to Texas schools.

That said, Shreveport is still 190 miles from DFW. That's a long way, too long for it to have any real ties to it that will matter to a visitor for a bowl game.

When I worked in Shreveport the office was very divided between Cowboys fans and Saints fans. The only sports unifier was LSU. Very different from Little Rock in that seeing license plates or bumper stickers of other in-state Division I programs wasn't very common. I see some of our Arkansas Division II schools more often in Little Rock than some of the Louisiana Division I schools in Shreveport, but the economy is different in Shreveport it doesn't draw in many recent college grads like Little Rock.

This wouldn’t be the first time without the SEC in recent years. The bowl featured an ACC-Mountain West matchup for the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

Link
https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sp...173879001/

PAC12 & /or MWC & BYU, Army... Type of tie in

(07-16-2019 09:35 AM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  I do not see how CUSA can not be a full tie to Indy Bowl at this point.

#1 Cusa vs #2 Belt

(07-18-2019 09:35 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  

(07-16-2019 09:35 AM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  I do not see how CUSA can not be a full tie to Indy Bowl at this point.

#1 Cusa vs #2 Belt

WOW if it goes CUSA vs SUNBELT, the Indy Bowl sure has fallen on hard times... it may need to close or merge with the New Orleans bowl... What a shame!

(07-18-2019 09:10 AM)GTFletch Wrote:  This wouldn’t be the first time without the SEC in recent years. The bowl featured an ACC-Mountain West matchup for the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

FWIW, the SEC has only played in the Independence Bowl twice this decade (2010 to present), in 2014 and 2016.

And attendance has fallen. Historically, the Indy was a high 30s/low 40s bowl. The last four years, all victories by ACC teams btw, attendance has slumped.

The last four years, attendance has been 31, 28, 33, and 27 thousand. The 27k who saw Duke beat Temple this past year was the lowest attendance since 1988.

The Indy is clearly slumping.

(07-18-2019 01:44 PM)GTFletch Wrote:  

(07-18-2019 09:35 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  

(07-16-2019 09:35 AM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  I do not see how CUSA can not be a full tie to Indy Bowl at this point.

#1 Cusa vs #2 Belt

WOW if it goes CUSA vs SUNBELT, the Indy Bowl sure has fallen on hard times... it may need to close or merge with the New Orleans bowl... What a shame!

Lol.

High selection from those conferences means 10 win teams. LaTec vs. ArkSt.

Not that bad at all.

(07-18-2019 02:41 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  

(07-18-2019 01:44 PM)GTFletch Wrote:  

(07-18-2019 09:35 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  

(07-16-2019 09:35 AM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  I do not see how CUSA can not be a full tie to Indy Bowl at this point.

#1 Cusa vs #2 Belt

WOW if it goes CUSA vs SUNBELT, the Indy Bowl sure has fallen on hard times... it may need to close or merge with the New Orleans bowl... What a shame!

Lol.

High selection from those conferences means 10 win teams. LaTec vs. ArkSt.

Not that bad at all.

I think you're right, but for the wrong reason. The wrong reason is that from
a TV point of view, typically, nobody cares about a matchup of 10-win SB and CUSA teams. Those teams have low market value. People would much rather watch a matchup of two 7-win teams from the Big 12 and the SEC. So CUSA vs SBC is almost a certain ratings dungeon for the bowl no matter where it picks in their lineups.

On the other hand, history shows that when a local team is playing in the Indy bowl, like LA-Tech or LA-Monroe, then the attendance tends to be good.

For example, the last time the Indy bowl drew over 40k was in 2012, when LA-Monroe was in the game. Likewise, in 2008 the Indy also drew 41K when LA-Tech played in it. Both of those games drew as many fans as Missouri vs UNC did in 2011 and more than Arizona vs BC did in 2013, both P5 vs P5 matchups.

So if a Sun Belt and CUSA ties can get those schools in the game, or other reasonably close teams from Arkansas or Texas, then attendance might pull out of its tailspin.

(07-18-2019 03:13 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(07-18-2019 02:41 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  

(07-18-2019 01:44 PM)GTFletch Wrote:  

(07-18-2019 09:35 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  

(07-16-2019 09:35 AM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  I do not see how CUSA can not be a full tie to Indy Bowl at this point.

#1 Cusa vs #2 Belt

WOW if it goes CUSA vs SUNBELT, the Indy Bowl sure has fallen on hard times... it may need to close or merge with the New Orleans bowl... What a shame!

Lol.

High selection from those conferences means 10 win teams. LaTec vs. ArkSt.

Not that bad at all.

I think you're right, but for the wrong reason. The wrong reason is that from
a TV point of view, typically, nobody cares about a matchup of 10-win SB and CUSA teams. Those teams have low market value. People would much rather watch a matchup of two 7-win teams from the Big 12 and the SEC. So CUSA vs SBC is almost a certain ratings dungeon for the bowl no matter where it picks in their lineups.

On the other hand, history shows that when a local team is playing in the Indy bowl, like LA-Tech or LA-Monroe, then the attendance tends to be good.

For example, the last time the Indy bowl drew over 40k was in 2012, when LA-Monroe was in the game. Likewise, in 2008 the Indy also drew 41K when LA-Tech played in it. Both of those games drew as many fans as Missouri vs UNC did in 2011 and more than Arizona vs BC did in 2013, both P5 vs P5 matchups.

So if a Sun Belt and CUSA ties can get those schools in the game, or other reasonably close teams from Arkansas or Texas, then attendance might pull out of its tailspin.

I was part of that 40,000 crowd with my team laying a whipping on ULM.

Its a big enough venue and pulls a big enough crowd to feel like a big FB game.

I have to disagree with the TV preference thing. TV ratings are half about who the opponent is in the game and half about the timeslot.

Speaking to that effect for this season some of the pre-christmas bowls have better TV windows than previous years. Boca Raton is going to be on ABC this year.

What does this mean for the future of the bowl pool and its increased P5 slots? I believe it means that some of these bowls will be bumped up to ABC to see if they can create a OTA bowl weekend before Christmas. To a degree better TV slots will compensate the AAC for not moving up deeper into P5 lineups as they hoped.