(12-06-2016 07:51 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  Tom, you keep on saying that there's an informal agreement between the Cajuns (or the Sun Belt, depending on your view) and the NOLA bowl... But that's BS.

They are being chosen because they have performed well there. If you show your team will travel for bowls, they can become interested in USA as well.

What you are saying is it isn't fair that the NOLA bowl is making a smart choice in going with a team that has helped them break attendance records.

I am operating under the assumption that the NO Bowl will not take anyone but ULL, regardless of the records of the other teams involved. If ULL is bowl eligible, that removes a potential slot for all the other SBC teams, even if they perform better.

I am not accusing the Sun Belt of telling the NO Bowl to do that. I am accusing the Sun Belt conference of allowing it to happen. I propose that some rules be introduced (just like exist in other conferences) in order to ensure that some controls are placed on that. Sure if Ga Southern and ULL are 6-6...and every one above them is happy with their spots, then fine, send ULL to NO and GaSo to Orlando. But winning should matter.

Of course the NO Bowl (or the Greater New Orleans Sports Authority) is going to try to maximize revenue. But the Belt should try to make the game more than an exercise in gate attendance. What the Belt allows the NO Bowl to do is to place gate over play to an extent that other conferences don't allow.

I really like the 'champion gets to choose' rule. It makes every team eligible for the bowl they want, if they win. It also removes informal blocks on teams, such as the DG telling USA "never". I also like some metric allowing for some rotation in the bowl lineups. USA would travel VERY well to NO or to their own stadium for a bowl. Again, I'm fine with ULL going 'more often than not'. But not with 'everytime they cobble together 6 wins, regardless of what the teams finishing above them want'.

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And how do you propose that we show we can travel as well as ULL for a bowl, if the only bowls open to us are in stadiums so small that we easily sold it out the last time we played there (Montgomery) or are on the business end of a 1000 dollar airfare, or are further from USA than Houston? That will never be a fair comparison, and ULL will always argue that they deserve the incumbency as a result.