An article in the Jonesboro Sun this morning reports that a bowl game is being finalized that will matchup SBC vs AAC. The game will be in the early bowl season and might be ready for the 2015 slate, if not, 2016 for sure.

Jonesboro Sun Article

looks like ark state has their own bowl now. lol

So I hope this gets that stadium up to par, unlike Ladd.

I love the UL/USA rivalry but I doubt I will make a short ride to Mobile to sit in that bad stadium in a rather bad neighborhood. Oh well there is still baseball, and basketball, and now maybe a trip for softball.

(03-11-2015 08:14 AM)GoBigRed26 Wrote:  An article in the Jonesboro Sun this morning reports that a bowl game is being finalized that will matchup SBC vs AAC. The game will be in the early bowl season and might be ready for the 2015 slate, if not, 2016 for sure.

Jonesboro Sun Article

Awesome news!

WMS is in a better spot than Ladd and had a huge video board and new press box. Golf course on site for tailgating. Downtown is taking off right now with bars, restaurants and local breweries. This is great potentially for all the western teams.

(03-11-2015 08:19 AM)NCeagle Wrote:  looks like ark state has their own bowl now. lol

At first blush, I thought the same. But really, it might benefit ULM more than stAte.

Given that stAte is like 2 hours away (stAte and UALR folks can be more precise), it might be too close for hotels and such to come into play. It's an easy drive to and back same day type of deal.

Monroe is like 3-4 hours... so maybe the tipping point in staying or just driving back.

It would be the best of both worlds: Close enough for an easy drive, but far enough you want to stay the night.

At least that's how I'd see it.

(03-11-2015 08:26 AM)CajunExpress Wrote:  So I hope this gets that stadium up to par, unlike Ladd.

I love the UL/USA rivalry but I doubt I will make a short ride to Mobile to sit in that bad stadium in a rather bad neighborhood. Oh well there is still baseball, and basketball, and now maybe a trip for softball.

Most of the work has already been done. Concourse is a little outdated, but they've got a brand new press box, and the locker rooms etc are up to standard. It would take a little work, but not a ton. Arkansas plays its High School Football Championships there yearly, and they'd finish about a week and a half before a projected game, so it wouldnt be too difficult.

Still work to do here. Lets be clear. All we've gotten is a conference willing to jump in. Still have to get Television lined out and NCAA approval.

If certified by 2016...it would give us 5 bowl ties plus an additional tie in to the Bahamas in 2017 and Miami and the Bahamas in 2019 (No New Orleans in 2019...so the Cajuns run of 8 straight New Orleans Bowl Victories will have to end.)

(03-11-2015 09:05 AM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  

(03-11-2015 08:19 AM)NCeagle Wrote:  looks like ark state has their own bowl now. lol

At first blush, I thought the same. But really, it might benefit ULM more than stAte.

Given that stAte is like 2 hours away (stAte and UALR folks can be more precise), it might be too close for hotels and such to come into play. It's an easy drive to and back same day type of deal.

Monroe is like 3-4 hours... so maybe the tipping point in staying or just driving back.

It would be the best of both worlds: Close enough for an easy drive, but far enough you want to stay the night.

At least that's how I'd see it.

We'd get preference over ULM primarily because our largest alum base is Little Rock. It'd be sort of like the Cajuns and New Orleans. However this would give both ULM and Texas State access to a West Bowl Game.

AAC board is very unhappy about this. They thought that extra bowl they needed was going to be against some P5 league that would gladly play them.

This is very good news for the Sun Belt. 4 guaranteed spots this year and hopefully 5 for 2016. 5 seems to be the right number that we need (assuming we stick with 11 teams or even drop Idaho and go with 10).

I hope Texas St. or any other Belt member who goes 7-5 or better will not be left out going forward.

(03-11-2015 09:09 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  We'd get preference over ULM primarily because our largest alum base is Little Rock. It'd be sort of like the Cajuns and New Orleans. However this would give both ULM and Texas State access to a West Bowl Game.

Couldn't that work against you guys though? With so many alumni in Little Rock, hotel sales would "suffer", right?

I'd imagine whomever is sponsoring the game would want to maximize community benefit, and having an "in town" group wouldn't be maximizing it.

But like I said, I could be looking at this all wrong, and the primary driver could just be butts in the stands.

(03-11-2015 09:34 AM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  

(03-11-2015 09:09 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  We'd get preference over ULM primarily because our largest alum base is Little Rock. It'd be sort of like the Cajuns and New Orleans. However this would give both ULM and Texas State access to a West Bowl Game.

Couldn't that work against you guys though? With so many alumni in Little Rock, hotel sales would "suffer", right?

I'd imagine whomever is sponsoring the game would want to maximize community benefit, and having an "in town" group wouldn't be maximizing it.

But like I said, I could be looking at this all wrong, and the primary driver could just be butts in the stands.

Well take this for what it's worth... We are 2 hours from New Orleans and have a very large alumni base in new orleans. We flood the city for 3 days and fill plenty of rooms. We hold the 4 top attended NOLA bowls by a wide margin

(03-11-2015 09:40 AM)Louisiana99 Wrote:  Well take this for what it's worth... We are 2 hours from New Orleans and have a very large alumni base in new orleans. We flood the city for 3 days and fill plenty of rooms. We hold the 4 top attended NOLA bowls by a wide margin

I just looked at the Cajuns and NOLA bowl differently as NOLA is a destination town.
It makes sense that when traveling there, you book your hotels to stay the night.

People travel to NOLA during normal times for vacations. I don't hear of folks traveling to Little Rock for vacations.

I can't read the article (pay wall). But from what I understand, the AAC is also negotiating with the New England Patriots who are trying to start a Bowl in thier stadium. I assume the MAC would provide the opponent. Can't say I'm a fan of a outdoor bowl in New England during frigid January. Frankly, all our bowls are in the east. We really need one in Texas, but I'd prefer Little Rock as it is closer to Texas than New England. I actually wanted us to play in New Orleans Bowl. Never understood why we passed on that option.

(03-11-2015 09:34 AM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  

(03-11-2015 09:09 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  We'd get preference over ULM primarily because our largest alum base is Little Rock. It'd be sort of like the Cajuns and New Orleans. However this would give both ULM and Texas State access to a West Bowl Game.

Couldn't that work against you guys though? With so many alumni in Little Rock, hotel sales would "suffer", right?

I'd imagine whomever is sponsoring the game would want to maximize community benefit, and having an "in town" group wouldn't be maximizing it.

But like I said, I could be looking at this all wrong, and the primary driver could just be butts in the stands.

Little Rock has been trying to get us to play a regular game in War Memorial for years. We wouldnt do it, so we supported the bowl venture instead. I don't think we'd take it every year because we'll want our fans to get a full bowl experience, and we need Mobile for recruiting reasons, but we'll certainly get selected our fair share of times.

(03-11-2015 09:43 AM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  

(03-11-2015 09:40 AM)Louisiana99 Wrote:  Well take this for what it's worth... We are 2 hours from New Orleans and have a very large alumni base in new orleans. We flood the city for 3 days and fill plenty of rooms. We hold the 4 top attended NOLA bowls by a wide margin

I just looked at the Cajuns and NOLA bowl differently as NOLA is a destination town.
It makes sense that when traveling there, you book your hotels to stay the night.

People travel to NOLA during normal times for vacations. I don't hear of folks traveling to Little Rock for vacations.

Well unless little Rock is a dry county and stAte fans don't enjoy adult beverages and football... There are plenty of reasons to stay in little rock. We have grown up with new orleans... We go all the time, it's nearly as novel to us as it is to others.

(03-11-2015 09:45 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  I can't read the article (pay wall). But from whatbI understand, the AAC is also negotiating with the New England Patriots who are trying to start a Bowl in thier stadium. I assume the MAC would provide the opponent. Can't say I'm a fan of a outdoor bowl in New England during frigid January.

To Summarize:

Multiple Sources (Read Arkansas State Athletics) are reporting to the Jonesboro Sun that a Bowl game will be announced in Little Rock next week. The game will match the Sun Belt against a team likely from the AAC.

Thing was written by our beat writer, who drives us crazy sometimes, but usually has good sources.

(03-11-2015 09:29 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  AAC board is very unhappy about this. They thought that extra bowl they needed was going to be against some P5 league that would gladly play them.

AAC board has BITCHED about basically every bowl deal because they are deluded into the thinking they still are relevant as an AQ league. They get deals in line with who they are and hate it because they hate who they are.

We went down this path last year. TV never came together and it fell apart. Until TV is signed it isn't a done deal.

(03-11-2015 09:34 AM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  

(03-11-2015 09:09 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  We'd get preference over ULM primarily because our largest alum base is Little Rock. It'd be sort of like the Cajuns and New Orleans. However this would give both ULM and Texas State access to a West Bowl Game.

Couldn't that work against you guys though? With so many alumni in Little Rock, hotel sales would "suffer", right?

I'd imagine whomever is sponsoring the game would want to maximize community benefit, and having an "in town" group wouldn't be maximizing it.

But like I said, I could be looking at this all wrong, and the primary driver could just be butts in the stands.

Conversation with the the stadium board chairman last year.

"Our ideal is AState vs. Memphis, then AState vs. Tulsa, then AState vs. SMU and then AState vs. Houston".

Primary hotels are in the River Market and now Argenta. Those hotels sell out for Riverfest, with a large percentage going to people within the county. If there are attractive bowl events downtown even some Little Rock area fans will stay in hotels. The bulk of season ticket holders are in NE Arkansas they are used to spending one or two nights to participate in bowl events if there are good events the night before, the fans will come.

Plus there will be some motivation to come to town and flood it in Red Wolf gear.