There are enough bowls out there now that other that the playoffs and NY6, all bowl ties should be severed and everyone thrown into the pot and mixed up and let the bowls bid on the teams.

(07-24-2020 07:06 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  That is the downside for UConn. The bowls in Boston, NYC and Annapolis I don't see will ever be a choice for them. They'll have to hope to grab an open G5 slot somewhere. You are correct they could be 10-2 and sitting home. I doubt they'll ever be 10-2 unless they really dumb down their schedule and catch lightening in a bottle with a great QB.

UConn better hope CBS College Sports Network televises more bowl games.

Annapolis sounds great, but I am not a fan of the cold weather bowls up north held in baseball stadiums anyway. I would much rather pack my bag on hop on a plane to somewhere warmer for a bowl game and take in some sights that are new to me.

(07-23-2020 08:30 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(07-23-2020 02:07 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(07-23-2020 01:08 PM)YNot Wrote:  This is exactly BYU admin's take as well, for better or worse.

We've hosted USC, Washington, Utah, Wisconsin, Texas, UCLA, Cal, and other PAC, SEC, and ACC schools in Provo. We were set to host Michigan State and Missouri this year. And, we've played regular-season games in NFL stadiums in New Orleans; Houston, Glendale, AZ; Landover, MD; Kansas City; New England, and some of the most iconic college football venues, including the Big House, Neyland, Memorial Stadium, Rose Bowl Stadium, Camp Randall, Notre Dame Stadium, etc.

It really has been fun and has provided great access to fans all over the place.

Our bowl lineup is and has been pretty sucky though...The Las Vegas Bowl versus Utah - after the season in which we did not play - was the highlight. But, the competition has been mostly middle-tier G5.

On the bright side, other than the bowl in Boise, the bowl locations have been nice: San Diego, Hawaii, Miami, San Francisco and Dallas.

I am also excited to play in some of the legendary Big Ten and SEC stadiums. I am not sure that UConn will have as much pull as BYU in lining up some of the most desirable P5 opponents, but I think that we still have a good chance of lining up great yearly schedules. Either way, a solid regular season schedule against a fair number of P5 schools along with the occasional bowl game in a fun destination should be nice.

Well, come on down to Nashville town in October 2021 (Huskies vs. Commodores) and I'll show you the "legendary" Vanderbilt Stadium. On a serious note, our stadium get mocked, ridiculed, etc. constantly — and I get it. It's not a very nice stadium. But the stadium's West End setting is solid — surrounded by some big buildings, lots of restaurants and bars, and Centennial Park (with our replica of the Parthenon, no less).

And for those curious about "West End" (you often hear announcers calling VU football and basketball games reference the "West End") ... West End Avenue specifically is a major seven-lane boulevard that essentially starts at the Cumberland River (it's Lower Broadway at that point) and moves west through our downtown and into Midtown. At 16th Avenue, Broadway splits, with West End Avenue to the right and Broadway continuing to the left (five blocks later, Broadway becomes 21st Avenue).

West End Avenue is a major urban street all the way to Saint Thomas West Hospital/Aquinas College (about a 4.5-mile stretch), after which point the setting and feel of the street and its surroundings become suburban.

If you're familiar with Peachtree Street in Atlanta, West End Avenue is a "poor man's version" of that street. Of note, Peachtree Street is only four lanes and the massive towers on it create quite an "urban wall" — much more impressive than our wide West End Avenue in that respect.

Nashville's general "West End" (also called the "West End corridor") is a large geographic area that includes Vanderbilt, Centennial Park and a handful of urban residential areas located on the city's bustling west side.

So there is your "Nashville lesson" for the day.

Bill, I am there! I have only been to Nashville twice for quick weekends, but had a blast both times. I need to make a stop at Robert's Western World while I am down there are well. I dig the old school stuff that many of the bands play at Robert's.

(07-24-2020 01:20 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(07-23-2020 08:30 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(07-23-2020 02:07 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(07-23-2020 01:08 PM)YNot Wrote:  This is exactly BYU admin's take as well, for better or worse.

We've hosted USC, Washington, Utah, Wisconsin, Texas, UCLA, Cal, and other PAC, SEC, and ACC schools in Provo. We were set to host Michigan State and Missouri this year. And, we've played regular-season games in NFL stadiums in New Orleans; Houston, Glendale, AZ; Landover, MD; Kansas City; New England, and some of the most iconic college football venues, including the Big House, Neyland, Memorial Stadium, Rose Bowl Stadium, Camp Randall, Notre Dame Stadium, etc.

It really has been fun and has provided great access to fans all over the place.

Our bowl lineup is and has been pretty sucky though...The Las Vegas Bowl versus Utah - after the season in which we did not play - was the highlight. But, the competition has been mostly middle-tier G5.

On the bright side, other than the bowl in Boise, the bowl locations have been nice: San Diego, Hawaii, Miami, San Francisco and Dallas.

I am also excited to play in some of the legendary Big Ten and SEC stadiums. I am not sure that UConn will have as much pull as BYU in lining up some of the most desirable P5 opponents, but I think that we still have a good chance of lining up great yearly schedules. Either way, a solid regular season schedule against a fair number of P5 schools along with the occasional bowl game in a fun destination should be nice.

Well, come on down to Nashville town in October 2021 (Huskies vs. Commodores) and I'll show you the "legendary" Vanderbilt Stadium. On a serious note, our stadium get mocked, ridiculed, etc. constantly — and I get it. It's not a very nice stadium. But the stadium's West End setting is solid — surrounded by some big buildings, lots of restaurants and bars, and Centennial Park (with our replica of the Parthenon, no less).

And for those curious about "West End" (you often hear announcers calling VU football and basketball games reference the "West End") ... West End Avenue specifically is a major seven-lane boulevard that essentially starts at the Cumberland River (it's Lower Broadway at that point) and moves west through our downtown and into Midtown. At 16th Avenue, Broadway splits, with West End Avenue to the right and Broadway continuing to the left (five blocks later, Broadway becomes 21st Avenue).

West End Avenue is a major urban street all the way to Saint Thomas West Hospital/Aquinas College (about a 4.5-mile stretch), after which point the setting and feel of the street and its surroundings become suburban.

If you're familiar with Peachtree Street in Atlanta, West End Avenue is a "poor man's version" of that street. Of note, Peachtree Street is only four lanes and the massive towers on it create quite an "urban wall" — much more impressive than our wide West End Avenue in that respect.

Nashville's general "West End" (also called the "West End corridor") is a large geographic area that includes Vanderbilt, Centennial Park and a handful of urban residential areas located on the city's bustling west side.

So there is your "Nashville lesson" for the day.

Bill, I am there! I have only been to Nashville twice for quick weekends, but had a blast both times. I need to make a stop at Robert's Western World while I am down there are well. I dig the old school stuff that many of the bands play at Robert's.

Robert's is legendary in this city. Brazilbilly, the house band, tears it up. The band's version of Roly Poly is stupendous. BR549 used to be the house band. They were stellar, too.

We will show the Husky fans a good time in October 2021, UCH. Come on down to Nashville.

UConn football might be a total gong show right now, but if they have a cheeky 7-5 type of season with 1 or 2 P5 wins they will get a bowl.

What will happen is some anonymous G5 bowl will horse trade and give them a game vs. a middling AAC or MW team. Y'all can kid the **** out of them, but America has a vague idea about who they are - and that matters to the bowl selection committees.

(07-25-2020 09:29 PM)oliveandblue Wrote:  UConn football might be a total gong show right now, but if they have a cheeky 7-5 type of season with 1 or 2 P5 wins they will get a bowl.

What will happen is some anonymous G5 bowl will horse trade and give them a game vs. a middling AAC or MW team. Y'all can kid the **** out of them, but America has a vague idea about who they are - and that matters to the bowl selection committees.

That type of horse trading happens between bowls and conferences all the time, but nobody with a tie gets left out. The problem is, UConn doesn’t have a bid to horse trade—so no conference is going to agree to have one of their own bowl qualified teams sit at home just so UConn can have a slot. Any commissioner doing that would be instantly unemployed. If every conference fills their slots, UConn is just SOL....but it’s not like that will happen every year.

As long as new Indy are able to recruit middle of the G5 pack,in the Top 100, there is a solid future.

(07-26-2020 12:12 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(07-25-2020 09:29 PM)oliveandblue Wrote:  UConn football might be a total gong show right now, but if they have a cheeky 7-5 type of season with 1 or 2 P5 wins they will get a bowl.

What will happen is some anonymous G5 bowl will horse trade and give them a game vs. a middling AAC or MW team. Y'all can kid the **** out of them, but America has a vague idea about who they are - and that matters to the bowl selection committees.

That type of horse trading happens between bowls and conferences all the time, but nobody with a tie gets left out. The problem is, UConn doesn’t have a bid to horse trade—so no conference is going to agree to have one of their own bowl qualified teams sit at home just so UConn can have a slot. Any commissioner doing that would be instantly unemployed. If every conference fills their slots, UConn is just SOL....but it’s not like that will happen every year.

No doubt, having some measure of protection with bowl ties is an advantage of being in a conference. Of course if you are the MAC and you have four ties and everyone goes 6-6 that protection can fail, but it is something.

UConn will have to build to a point where they can sign a BYU-style deal with ESPN guaranteeing them a spot in some random ESPN cereal bowl if they are eligible.

Which is more fun as a fan, a minor bowl or a conference championship?

(07-26-2020 10:58 AM)Steve1981 Wrote:  Which is more fun as a fan, a minor bowl or a conference championship?

Doesn't matter if your in a G5 conference. If your in a G5 conference you get both.

(07-26-2020 01:56 PM)panite Wrote:  

(07-26-2020 10:58 AM)Steve1981 Wrote:  Which is more fun as a fan, a minor bowl or a conference championship?

Doesn't matter if your in a G5 conference. If your in a G5 conference you get both.

A bowl game is easier to achieve than a conference championship game. Just wonder for those that experienced both, which is sweeter. A bowl game is possible as an Indy and if it is as good or better than the conference championship. Being independent is good enough to float the boat. Aka Army with bowl tie-in, Liberty with bowl tie-in, BYU with bowl tie-in, ND with bowl tie-in. Currently UConn, UMass, and NMSU are still working on improving their lot for a bowl tie-in or available slot. Removed, my bad.

(07-26-2020 04:25 PM)Steve1981 Wrote:  (Note Liberty bought their bowl tie-in.)

That's news. Do you have a source?

(07-26-2020 04:32 PM)SumItUp Wrote:  

(07-26-2020 04:25 PM)Steve1981 Wrote:  (Note Liberty bought their bowl tie-in.) <<<--< My bad and removed it.

That's news. Do you have a source?

It must be my bad as remembering a jealous fan saying it and not fact. It was something like a guarantee to buy so many tickets.

In my web search saw autonation bowl and 6 year deal with ESPN.

https://newsadvance.com/sports/college/l...tie%2Dins.

I can’t see the the ranks of the independents growing. I don’t see any of the G5 abandoning the stability of conference membership and I don’t see any FCS schools fighting for a Liberty style special dispensation.

The Nazi Collegiate Athletic Association makes it too hard to form new conferences so its doubtful the UMass and UConn could build one for football purposes.

(07-26-2020 07:15 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  I can’t see the the ranks of the independents growing. I don’t see any of the G5 abandoning the stability of conference membership and I don’t see any FCS schools fighting for a Liberty style special dispensation.

The Nazi Collegiate Athletic Association makes it too hard to form new conferences so its doubtful the UMass and UConn could build one for football purposes.

I'm in agreement. There are only a few routes for teams to become independents:

(1) A team voluntarily leaves its own conference to go independent in FB and put all other sports somewhere else. BYU and UConn did this. Problem is that no one else has a league as high in quality as the Big East or even the WCC waiting for them; I don't foresee the A-10 expanding past 14 to get an ODU or a Charlotte.

(2) A team that is FB-only in a league is told they have to join all sports or leave for football. This happened with UMass. This in theory could happen with Hawaii and Navy. But the MW and AAC aren't doing that.

(3) A team moves up from FCS to become an FBS independent. Liberty did this. JMU or NDSU could try this, but I would be shocked if they did. They aren't as wealthy as Liberty.

(4) A league loses almost all its members and us unable to replenish from the independents or from FCS. This happened with Idaho and New Mexico State. Problem is that leagues have too many schools they could readily add even if they lost a bunch. If C-USA and the SB somehow, some way, lost several schools to the AAC or to the MW, C-USA is still secure because they have so many to begin with, while the SB can draw up schools like NMSU, Jacksonville State, Missouri State, and Sam Houston State. In other words, conferences aren't dissolving, so we can rule that out as a route for new, forced independents.

So, no, I don't think the ranks of independents will grow anytime soon.

(07-26-2020 08:16 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(07-26-2020 07:15 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  I can’t see the the ranks of the independents growing. I don’t see any of the G5 abandoning the stability of conference membership and I don’t see any FCS schools fighting for a Liberty style special dispensation.

The Nazi Collegiate Athletic Association makes it too hard to form new conferences so its doubtful the UMass and UConn could build one for football purposes.

I'm in agreement. There are only a few routes for teams to become independents:

(1) A team voluntarily leaves its own conference to go independent in FB and put all other sports somewhere else. BYU and UConn did this. Problem is that no one else has a league as high in quality as the Big East or even the WCC waiting for them; I don't foresee the A-10 expanding past 14 to get an ODU or a Charlotte.

(2) A team that is FB-only in a league is told they have to join all sports or leave for football. This happened with UMass. This in theory could happen with Hawaii and Navy. But the MW and AAC aren't doing that.

(3) A team moves up from FCS to become an FBS independent. Liberty did this. JMU or NDSU could try this, but I would be shocked if they did. They aren't as wealthy as Liberty.

(4) A league loses almost all its members and us unable to replenish from the independents or from FCS. This happened with Idaho and New Mexico State. Problem is that leagues have too many schools they could readily add even if they lost a bunch. If C-USA and the SB somehow, some way, lost several schools to the AAC or to the MW, C-USA is still secure because they have so many to begin with, while the SB can draw up schools like NMSU, Jacksonville State, Missouri State, and Sam Houston State. In other words, conferences aren't dissolving, so we can rule that out as a route for new, forced independents.

So, no, I don't think the ranks of independents will grow anytime soon.

Very well presented. Agree.

(07-26-2020 10:58 AM)Steve1981 Wrote:  Which is more fun as a fan, a minor bowl or a conference championship?

That is a very good question, Steve1981, and there is no easy answer. it could vary from program to program. I recall quite well the days Cincy and Memphis were indies in football. There wasn't much bowling for the two programs in those days.

To answer your question, and as a fan, I would lean toward a league title.

(3) A team moves up from FCS to become an FBS independent. Liberty did this. JMU or NDSU could try this, but I would be shocked if they did. They aren't as wealthy as Liberty.


I might be surprised a little, but not shocked. Sometimes there is no easy way, or graceful way to do it, other than to just kind of push your way in whether invited or not... But at least they would have a recent example to learn from.

(07-26-2020 10:58 AM)Steve1981 Wrote:  Which is more fun as a fan, a minor bowl or a conference championship?

Plenty of schools get neither, so in their case.... I was quite happy when the Aggies finally went bowling again!