I know the SB has 3 guaranteed bowl slots this year and Ga. Southern, App. St. and Idaho will not be bowl eligible so of the 8 teams who are eligible which ones do you believe will actually be in a bowl game.

I am going with Louisiana, Ark. St., and South Alabama.

I think there will be 1-2 others who are bowl eligible but the above 3 are my picks for actually being in bowls.

(07-23-2014 09:00 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  I know the SB has 3 guaranteed bowl slots this year and Ga. Southern, App. St. and Idaho will not be bowl eligible so of the 8 teams who are eligible which ones do you believe will actually be in a bowl game.

I am going with Louisiana, Ark. St., and South Alabama.

I think there will be 1-2 others who are bowl eligible but the above 3 are my picks for actually being in bowls.

I don't know exactly how bowl selection works, but if Troy's 7-5 why wouldn't they be in the Montgomery bowl game? It's 40 miles north of Troy. ULL and South go to the obvious bowls (NO and GoDaddy). Arkansas State would get the bid over Troy?

Or are we suggesting that Troy doesn't get to 7 wins?

I think a 7-5 Sun Belt generally goes bowling before 6-6 teams do. I have Troy finishing 6-6 this year-- bowl eligible but I think a 7-5 South Alabama team goes bowling.

I think Texas St. and Troy could finish 6-6.

(07-23-2014 09:05 PM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

(07-23-2014 09:00 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  I know the SB has 3 guaranteed bowl slots this year and Ga. Southern, App. St. and Idaho will not be bowl eligible so of the 8 teams who are eligible which ones do you believe will actually be in a bowl game.

I am going with Louisiana, Ark. St., and South Alabama.

I think there will be 1-2 others who are bowl eligible but the above 3 are my picks for actually being in bowls.

I don't know exactly how bowl selection works, but if Troy's 7-5 why wouldn't they be in the Montgomery bowl game? It's 40 miles north of Troy. ULL and South go to the obvious bowls (NO and GoDaddy). Arkansas State would get the bid over Troy?

Or are we suggesting that Troy doesn't get to 7 wins?

There's been talk that Go Daddy would take ASU over USA in several situations and send the Jaguars to Montgomery to help tourism dollars in both places.

The whole catch about both Montgomery and Mobile in terms of bowls is what does the city want. Part of the point of a bowl game is to bring tourism dollars into the community, and Troy and USA don't really bring Tourism dollars into Mobile or Montgomery because few would stay in hotels, and many would travel the day of the game. (Unlike Cajuns and New Orleans where at 2 hours away, its far enough that it makes sense to get a hotel room)

Another story I've heard floating around is that if ASU/Cajuns finish 1-2 again this year that the two will swap bowl locations to offer each fan base a change of pace. Which would be one easy way for Mobile to cop out of having to take say a 7-5 USA over a 9 win ASU and ULL and not upset campus leadership. Not to mention that New Orleans has a MWC team this year, and I don't know if the 5th best MWC school is going to be as interesting of an opponent as say the MAC Champion.

I said it last year but ANY 7-5 or better Sun Belt team should be bowling. Any yes I thought WKU deserved a bowl last year. If I am predicting right now (7/23) I have Ark. St. in New Orleans Bowl, Louisiana in Go Daddy Bowl and South Alabama in Camelia Bowl. With new bowl games I also think there is a decent chance for a 4th Sun Belt team, especially if one is 7-5 to be bowling also. I would put Troy as the 4th team right now.

(07-23-2014 09:32 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  I think a 7-5 Sun Belt generally goes bowling before 6-6 teams do. I have Troy finishing 6-6 this year-- bowl eligible but I think a 7-5 South Alabama team goes bowling.

I think Texas St. and Troy could finish 6-6.

One of the interesting things this year could be the unbalanced schedule. For Instance, Troy and AState don't play this year. Troy has a far easier OOC Schedule with UAB as the G5 opponent compared to AState hosting Utah State.

There is the potential that AState could go 8-4 overall and 7-1 in SBC play while Troy goes 7-5 overall and 5-3 in league (With the Five victories coming against the Bottom 5 league teams) In that case...How does the conference and bowls handle such a situation. It would be embarrassing for the league if a 7-1 league team was left out of a bowl simply because the 4th place team got lucky and played 7 teams that were FCS or under .500 overall last year.

I think Troy will be at minimum 7-5 this year... That's good enough for the Camellia bowl to send us an invite. Would be a easy bowl sell out with Troy in Montgomery.

I know I come from the background of FCS playoffs but I believe where you finish in the Sun Belt should go a long way in determining if you go bowling. The champion should go first, the 2nd place team next, etc.

I understand money talks and it doesn't always go that way but clearly conference champs or co-champs should go first. 7-5 teams should also go over 6-6 teams.

(07-23-2014 09:46 PM)Atlanta Trojan Wrote:  I think Troy will be at minimum 7-5 this year... That's good enough for the Camellia bowl to send us an invite. Would be a easy bowl sell out with Troy in Montgomery.

So lets say

ULL finishes 10-2 and 8-0

ASU finishes 9-3 and 7-1

USA Finishes 7-5 and 6-2

Troy Finishes 7-5 and 5-3

What happens?

Here is how I view whether or not the 8 eligible teams will fare this year as far as bowl-eligibility (6-6 or better)

Louisiana-- Yes
Ark. St.-- Yes
South Alabama-- Yes
Troy -- Yes
Texas St. -- Yes
ULM-- No
Ga. State-- No
NMSU--No

Ga. Southern and App. St. can't go until next year and Idaho is ineligible (APR)

In chiefs scenario I think a 4th Sun Belt team (Troy) goes bowling somewhere but not in 1 of the 3 guaranteed Sun Belt slots.

So two teams in our conference that lost 2 conference games each last year are discussing swapping bowls for their fan base this year?

I hope we still get to have the formality of everyone losing to you two....

(07-23-2014 09:57 PM)WhitetailWizard Wrote:  So two teams in our conference that lost 2 conference games each last year are discussing swapping bowls for their fan base this year?

I hope we still get to have the formality of everyone losing to you two....

This is a fan discussion you know.

Troy's bowl-eligibility will in all probability henge on 3 key road games: at UAB, at Ga. Southern and at South Alabama. If Troy can win 2 of those 3 (or all 3) I think they are bowling for sure.

Troy will likely be favored to win UAB, Abilene Christian, Ga State, NMSU, Idaho, App State (at home)

That's 6 wins by itself.

Assuming we win all of those we need just 1 win out of these to get to 7 wins...
ULM, Ga Southern,
ULL (at home), Duke (at home), USA, UGA

I certainly think the schedule favors Troy becoming bowl eligible.

I would put these games in probable wins (65% or higher)
Abilene Christian, Ga. State, NMSU and Idaho

These games that could go either way:
UAB, App. St., Ga. Southern and ULM

These games I would put Troy as the underdog:
Louisiana, Duke, South Alabama and Georgia

(07-23-2014 10:16 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  I certainly think the schedule favors Troy becoming bowl eligible.

I would put these games in probable wins (65% or higher)
Abilene Christian, Ga. State, NMSU and Idaho

These games that could go either way:
UAB, App. St., Ga. Southern and ULM

These games I would put Troy as the underdog:
Louisiana, Duke, South Alabama and Georgia

I wouldn't call us a underdog to USA yet... There's a lot of questions they have to answer to this year and they are being hyped up... They might or might not be as good as everyone says. I would not say for sure Troy will be the underdog

(07-23-2014 09:37 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(07-23-2014 09:05 PM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

(07-23-2014 09:00 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  I know the SB has 3 guaranteed bowl slots this year and Ga. Southern, App. St. and Idaho will not be bowl eligible so of the 8 teams who are eligible which ones do you believe will actually be in a bowl game.

I am going with Louisiana, Ark. St., and South Alabama.

I think there will be 1-2 others who are bowl eligible but the above 3 are my picks for actually being in bowls.

I don't know exactly how bowl selection works, but if Troy's 7-5 why wouldn't they be in the Montgomery bowl game? It's 40 miles north of Troy. ULL and South go to the obvious bowls (NO and GoDaddy). Arkansas State would get the bid over Troy?

Or are we suggesting that Troy doesn't get to 7 wins?

There's been talk that Go Daddy would take ASU over USA in several situations and send the Jaguars to Montgomery to help tourism dollars in both places.

The whole catch about both Montgomery and Mobile in terms of bowls is what does the city want. Part of the point of a bowl game is to bring tourism dollars into the community, and Troy and USA don't really bring Tourism dollars into Mobile or Montgomery because few would stay in hotels, and many would travel the day of the game. (Unlike Cajuns and New Orleans where at 2 hours away, its far enough that it makes sense to get a hotel room)

Another story I've heard floating around is that if ASU/Cajuns finish 1-2 again this year that the two will swap bowl locations to offer each fan base a change of pace. Which would be one easy way for Mobile to cop out of having to take say a 7-5 USA over a 9 win ASU and ULL and not upset campus leadership. Not to mention that New Orleans has a MWC team this year, and I don't know if the 5th best MWC school is going to be as interesting of an opponent as say the MAC Champion.

Don't see Farmer or Dr. Savoie turning down ticket sales to the New Orleans Bowl for a stadium that sits less than 30,000. That would be just crazy, unless the opponent was too good to pass up.

(07-23-2014 10:37 PM)CrazyCajun Wrote:  

(07-23-2014 09:37 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(07-23-2014 09:05 PM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

(07-23-2014 09:00 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  I know the SB has 3 guaranteed bowl slots this year and Ga. Southern, App. St. and Idaho will not be bowl eligible so of the 8 teams who are eligible which ones do you believe will actually be in a bowl game.

I am going with Louisiana, Ark. St., and South Alabama.

I think there will be 1-2 others who are bowl eligible but the above 3 are my picks for actually being in bowls.

I don't know exactly how bowl selection works, but if Troy's 7-5 why wouldn't they be in the Montgomery bowl game? It's 40 miles north of Troy. ULL and South go to the obvious bowls (NO and GoDaddy). Arkansas State would get the bid over Troy?

Or are we suggesting that Troy doesn't get to 7 wins?

There's been talk that Go Daddy would take ASU over USA in several situations and send the Jaguars to Montgomery to help tourism dollars in both places.

The whole catch about both Montgomery and Mobile in terms of bowls is what does the city want. Part of the point of a bowl game is to bring tourism dollars into the community, and Troy and USA don't really bring Tourism dollars into Mobile or Montgomery because few would stay in hotels, and many would travel the day of the game. (Unlike Cajuns and New Orleans where at 2 hours away, its far enough that it makes sense to get a hotel room)

Another story I've heard floating around is that if ASU/Cajuns finish 1-2 again this year that the two will swap bowl locations to offer each fan base a change of pace. Which would be one easy way for Mobile to cop out of having to take say a 7-5 USA over a 9 win ASU and ULL and not upset campus leadership. Not to mention that New Orleans has a MWC team this year, and I don't know if the 5th best MWC school is going to be as interesting of an opponent as say the MAC Champion.

Don't see Farmer or Dr. Savoie turning down ticket sales to the New Orleans Bowl for a stadium that sits less than 30,000. That would be just crazy, unless the opponent was too good to pass up.

Might be this year. We're talking about a low level MWC team. Could have the choice of a Northern Illinois or a Colorado State type team.

Obviously if Fresno was the team, then you guys would stay New Orleans. If its Boise, I could see you choosing Mobile to avoid a rematch.

Hashing out bowl scenarios when practice hasn't even started. Yep, this all makes good sense.


I think I'll have a beer.