Anyone who watched even part of the Potato Bowl knows there was no where near 18,000 people in the stands. I can't think of anyone that would choose to go to Idaho in December to watch Air Force play Western Michigan. You've got to have a kid playing in the game to put yourself though that. This bowl must be losing money every year.

Any chance C-USA could buy this bow, or part of it,l and move it to Rice Stadium? Rice is about to make a major renovation to the stadium, and for a price, I believe the game could be renamed the Bluebonnet Bowl. C-USA needs more bowls, preferably in our region, and the Bluebonnet Bowl had a long distinguished history. We could keep the MWC as the co-owner, insuring the stability of the match-up, and location.

Thoughts?

(12-22-2014 11:36 AM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  Anyone who watched even part of the Potato Bowl knows there was no where near 18,000 people in the stands. I can't think of anyone that would choose to go to Idaho in December to watch Air Force play Western Michigan. You've got to have a kid playing in the game to put yourself though that. This bowl must be losing money every year.

Any chance C-USA could buy this bow, or part of it,l and move it to Rice Stadium? Rice is about to make a major renovation to the stadium, and for a price, I believe the game could be renamed the Bluebonnet Bowl. C-USA needs more bowls, preferably in our region, and the Bluebonnet Bowl had a long distinguished history. We could keep the MWC as the co-owner, insuring the stability of the match-up, and location.

Thoughts?

I like that idea but I think that most years the Potato bowl does ok for attendance, at least enough to keep them afloat so the Boise people may not be willing to let it go without a fight.

If that's not the case then I like Rice stadium or San Antonio as a site to move it to and the joint MWC-CUSA ownership is not a bad idea.

To be fair, it was 39 degrees and raining. I don't think the attendance would have been better in Apogee, TDECU, or most any other open air G5 stadium given those same conditions. That said, I think the Alamo Bowl, TDECU, or the Texas State stadium in San Marcos (20 minutes from Austin and 45 minutes from San Antonio) would all make good potential homes for the bowl if CUSA purchased it for a new location. Those locations all offer solid new or relatively new stadiums which would probably allow the bowl to keep its MW tie making it a nice MW vs CUSA bowl. Apogee would be good as well, the only issue there is that it would be a 4th bowl for the Dallas/Ft Worth area. The San Antonio or Houston areas would only compete with one other area bowl---which is why I'd think those might be more successful locations. San Marcos/Austin has no real bowl competition at all. Rice stadium could work in Houston if you want to place the bowl in a members home stadium.

The Potato Bowl is more than likely propped up by the MWC and safe from poaching. They don't have much of a payout and it give the MWC an oppurtunity to put another one of their teams in a bowl game.

My biggest gripe with the bowl system is the way that G5 programs have been forced into primarily pre-Christmas games. If we can buy underperforming games and move them to locations and dates that return some dignity to our conferences then I'm all for it.

I'd really like to see a Palmetto Bowl in Charleston, SC. A G5 vs. G5 bowl game doesn't need to be in a half-empty 75,000 seat stadium. Hasgood's 21,000 would make for a nice bowl game with some demand for tickets. I feel like a C-USA vs. Sun Belt game in Charleston would be a massive success. Screw you, Gator Bowl. We're playing this thing on New Year's day. Deal with it.

(12-22-2014 12:36 PM)49erlew Wrote:  My biggest gripe with the bowl system is the way that G5 programs have been forced into primarily pre-Christmas games. If we can buy underperforming games and move them to locations and dates that return some dignity to our conferences then I'm all for it.

I'd really like to see a Palmetto Bowl in Charleston, SC. A G5 vs. G5 bowl game doesn't need to be in a half-empty 75,000 seat stadium. Hasgood's 21,000 would make for a nice bowl game with some demand for tickets. I feel like a C-USA vs. Sun Belt game in Charleston would be a massive success. Screw you, Gator Bowl. We're playing this thing on New Year's day. Deal with it.

There will never be a bowl game in SC. NCAA has stated as much. The largest problem is that ESpin owns all these games and they put them where they want them. THE HOD was a new years fay bowl, it gets bought by ESPN Regional and boom put back in its place. ESPN will never do anything positve to help develop G5 conferences. It doesn't make them enough money.

(12-22-2014 01:30 PM)pilot172000 Wrote:  

(12-22-2014 12:36 PM)49erlew Wrote:  My biggest gripe with the bowl system is the way that G5 programs have been forced into primarily pre-Christmas games. If we can buy underperforming games and move them to locations and dates that return some dignity to our conferences then I'm all for it.

I'd really like to see a Palmetto Bowl in Charleston, SC. A G5 vs. G5 bowl game doesn't need to be in a half-empty 75,000 seat stadium. Hasgood's 21,000 would make for a nice bowl game with some demand for tickets. I feel like a C-USA vs. Sun Belt game in Charleston would be a massive success. Screw you, Gator Bowl. We're playing this thing on New Year's day. Deal with it.

There will never be a bowl game in SC. NCAA has stated as much. The largest problem is that ESpin owns all these games and they put them where they want them. THE HOD was a new years fay bowl, it gets bought by ESPN Regional and boom put back in its place. ESPN will never do anything positve to help develop G5 conferences. It doesn't make them enough money.

Ah, yeah. Forgot about that whole SC confederate flag thing.
ESPN, on the other hand, doesn't have a say in a bowl game that it doesn't own. If a couple of conferences were to buy a bowl game, they could sell the rights as they see fit.

Say that the G5 banded together to buy two bowl games. The highest ranked G5 champ takes the Access slot. Then, the other four G5 champs are slotted in two other New Years Day bowls. CBS and FOX are locked out of New Year's Day right now. You don't think they'd jump at the chance to put some football on against ESPN? Hell, only one of the NYD games are even going to be on network TV this year. If FOX or CBS were to pick these two up, they'd be televised without competition for folks without cable.

(12-22-2014 02:53 PM)49erlew Wrote:  

(12-22-2014 01:30 PM)pilot172000 Wrote:  

(12-22-2014 12:36 PM)49erlew Wrote:  My biggest gripe with the bowl system is the way that G5 programs have been forced into primarily pre-Christmas games. If we can buy underperforming games and move them to locations and dates that return some dignity to our conferences then I'm all for it.

I'd really like to see a Palmetto Bowl in Charleston, SC. A G5 vs. G5 bowl game doesn't need to be in a half-empty 75,000 seat stadium. Hasgood's 21,000 would make for a nice bowl game with some demand for tickets. I feel like a C-USA vs. Sun Belt game in Charleston would be a massive success. Screw you, Gator Bowl. We're playing this thing on New Year's day. Deal with it.

There will never be a bowl game in SC. NCAA has stated as much. The largest problem is that ESpin owns all these games and they put them where they want them. THE HOD was a new years fay bowl, it gets bought by ESPN Regional and boom put back in its place. ESPN will never do anything positve to help develop G5 conferences. It doesn't make them enough money.

Ah, yeah. Forgot about that whole SC confederate flag thing.
ESPN, on the other hand, doesn't have a say in a bowl game that it doesn't own. If a couple of conferences were to buy a bowl game, they could sell the rights as they see fit.

Say that the G5 banded together to buy two bowl games. The highest ranked G5 champ takes the Access slot. Then, the other four G5 champs are slotted in two other New Years Day bowls. CBS and FOX are locked out of New Year's Day right now. You don't think they'd jump at the chance to put some football on against ESPN? Hell, only one of the NYD games are even going to be on network TV this year. If FOX or CBS were to pick these two up, they'd be televised without competition for folks without cable.

I'm all for it. In fact thats what Banowsky tried to do with the HOD. He was part of a group that bought it from TicketCity. It was a new years game and showed a lot of promise as a premier bowl, but they couldn't keep the lights on and had to sell. I really wish Fox had bought it and made a big deal out of it and a couple other bowls.

(12-22-2014 12:09 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  To be fair, it was 39 degrees and raining. I don't think the attendance would have been better in Apogee, TDECU, or most any other open air G5 stadium given those same conditions. That said, I think the Alamo Bowl, TDECU, or the Texas State stadium in San Marcos (20 minutes from Austin and 45 minutes from San Antonio) would all make good potential homes for the bowl if CUSA purchased it for a new location. Those locations all offer solid new or relatively new stadiums which would probably allow the bowl to keep its MW tie making it a nice MW vs CUSA bowl. Apogee would be good as well, the only issue there is that it would be a 4th bowl for the Dallas/Ft Worth area. The San Antonio or Houston areas would only compete with one other area bowl---which is why I'd think those might be more successful locations. San Marcos/Austin has no real bowl competition at all. Rice stadium could work in Houston if you want to place the bowl in a members home stadium.

No.

We have no teams in San Marcos and it isn't like it is a major market in Texas. Rice Stadium would be a great location, if we could buy the rights to the Bluebonnet Bowl name. San Antonio would be a good fit too. Name it the Mission Bowl or something.

I would love to host a bowl at Apogee, but I'm sure programs in the East would not be happy if the Dallas area had two C-USA bowls.

(12-22-2014 05:13 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(12-22-2014 12:09 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  To be fair, it was 39 degrees and raining. I don't think the attendance would have been better in Apogee, TDECU, or most any other open air G5 stadium given those same conditions. That said, I think the Alamo Bowl, TDECU, or the Texas State stadium in San Marcos (20 minutes from Austin and 45 minutes from San Antonio) would all make good potential homes for the bowl if CUSA purchased it for a new location. Those locations all offer solid new or relatively new stadiums which would probably allow the bowl to keep its MW tie making it a nice MW vs CUSA bowl. Apogee would be good as well, the only issue there is that it would be a 4th bowl for the Dallas/Ft Worth area. The San Antonio or Houston areas would only compete with one other area bowl---which is why I'd think those might be more successful locations. San Marcos/Austin has no real bowl competition at all. Rice stadium could work in Houston if you want to place the bowl in a members home stadium.

No.

We have no teams in San Marcos and it isn't like it is a major market in Texas. Rice Stadium would be a great location, if we could buy the rights to the Bluebonnet Bowl name. San Antonio would be a good fit too. Name it the Mission Bowl or something.

I would love to host a bowl at Apogee, but I'm sure programs in the East would not be happy if the Dallas area had two C-USA bowls.

San Marcos is certainly not a major market, however, San Marcos is basically becoming a suburb of Austin. San Marcos is actually around 10 miles closer to Austin than Denton is to Dallas. San Marcos is roughly 10 miles farther from Austin than Plano is to Dallas.

I just suggest that location because it is easy to get to from two major cities, is a nice facility, and is the perfect size for a small G5 bowl. With 4 teams in Texas and another in Louisiana, it would probably be an easy sell out for CUSA. I do agree Rice stadium would work just fine---it's is not as new and modern as Bobcat Stadium and lacks the cozy 30K size.

BTW---forget the Potato Bowl, I wonder why CUSA didn't try this with the old Little Caesars Pizza Bowl? All they needed was a new location.

(12-22-2014 08:25 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(12-22-2014 05:13 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  

(12-22-2014 12:09 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  To be fair, it was 39 degrees and raining. I don't think the attendance would have been better in Apogee, TDECU, or most any other open air G5 stadium given those same conditions. That said, I think the Alamo Bowl, TDECU, or the Texas State stadium in San Marcos (20 minutes from Austin and 45 minutes from San Antonio) would all make good potential homes for the bowl if CUSA purchased it for a new location. Those locations all offer solid new or relatively new stadiums which would probably allow the bowl to keep its MW tie making it a nice MW vs CUSA bowl. Apogee would be good as well, the only issue there is that it would be a 4th bowl for the Dallas/Ft Worth area. The San Antonio or Houston areas would only compete with one other area bowl---which is why I'd think those might be more successful locations. San Marcos/Austin has no real bowl competition at all. Rice stadium could work in Houston if you want to place the bowl in a members home stadium.

No.

We have no teams in San Marcos and it isn't like it is a major market in Texas. Rice Stadium would be a great location, if we could buy the rights to the Bluebonnet Bowl name. San Antonio would be a good fit too. Name it the Mission Bowl or something.

I would love to host a bowl at Apogee, but I'm sure programs in the East would not be happy if the Dallas area had two C-USA bowls.

San Marcos is certainly not a major market, however, San Marcos is basically becoming a suburb of Austin. San Marcos is actually around 10 miles closer to Austin than Denton is to Dallas. San Marcos is roughly 10 miles farther from Austin than Plano is to Dallas.

I just suggest that location because it is easy to get to from two major cities, is a nice facility, and is the perfect size for a small G5 bowl. With 4 teams in Texas and another in Louisiana, it would probably be an easy sell out for CUSA. I do agree Rice stadium would work just fine---it's is not as new and modern as Bobcat Stadium and lacks the cozy 30K size.

BTW---forget the Potato Bowl, I wonder why CUSA didn't try this with the old Little Caesars Pizza Bowl? All they needed was a new location.

Rice recently announced a new renovation to the stadium. They are going to replace the tarped seating in the north end zone with a new athletic complex. Rice has money and I'm sure it will be very nice. Plus, Rice stadium is a historic bowl location, in a very nice part of Houston.

I believe the Bluebonnet Bowl name can be purchased. The game was played at Rice Stadium before it was moved to the Dome. I really don't care what bowl C-USA buys, as long as they can move it. I would just prefer it be at Rice Stadium.

I think co-owning a bowl with another conference might help insure real bowl tie-ins, and stop some of this horse trading we see every bowl season.

If the Potato Bowl was going to disappear it would have already happened. MWC seems to be pleased with this bowl so doubt this one goes away.

Hands down its been the most disappointing bowl so far....atmosphere wise. The game itself wasn't half bad.