It looks like there will now be 4 new bowl games with Sun Belt teams locked into 1, and having a shot at 2 others. We already knew about the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, but ESPN has announced the Bahamas Bowl, Miami Bowl, and Boca Bowl. The Boca Bowl which is being played at FAU will not include the Sun Belt. Good news for us since the P5 conferences are trying to push the G5 schools out of many bowls. That means the SB could have up to 5 bowl games.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... boca-raton

Sorry, JT, havin' a bad day and these are my first two thoughts after reading the article.

Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau seats...ta daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....................a whoppin' 15,000. But Nassau is an OK place to visit if you've never been there.

Nice of C-USA and friends to leave the Sunbelt out of the FIU event in Boca.

JTApps1 wrote:It looks like there will now be 4 new bowl games with Sun Belt teams locked into 1, and having a shot at 2 others. We already knew about the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, but ESPN has announced the Bahamas Bowl, Miami Bowl, and Boca Bowl. The Boca Bowl which is being played at FAU will not include the Sun Belt. Good news for us since the P5 conferences are trying to push the G5 schools out of many bowls. That means the SB could have up to 5 bowl games.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... boca-raton

5 Sounds like all we may have to do is finish about 5th in the conference to get as a huge shot at bowl bid. How rewarding.

Sounds like 5 games with more national prestige than the FCS National Championship game.

Cline don't worry you can follow WCU's run in the FCS now.

JCline0429 wrote:Sounds like all we may have to do is finish about 5th in the conference to get as a huge shot at bowl bid. How rewarding.

The CAA had 5 teams in the FCS playoffs as recently as 2011. If an FCS conference's 5th place team can play for its national championship, I don't think it's unreasonable that the 5th place Sunbelt team can play in a bowl game.

JCline0429 wrote:

5 Sounds like all we may have to do is finish about 5th in the conference to get as a huge shot at bowl bid. How rewarding.

Give it a rest. It's not as if we'll be shooting for fifth place. Our primary goal will be conference championships and we'll take it from there.

Saint3333 wrote:Cline don't worry you can follow WCU's run in the FCS now.

Both and why not? We have former coaches there.

BurlingtonApp wrote:

JCline0429 wrote:

5 Sounds like all we may have to do is finish about 5th in the conference to get as a huge shot at bowl bid. How rewarding.

Give it a rest. It's not as if we'll be shooting for fifth place. Our primary goal will be conference championships and we'll take it from there.

At this point in time I just want to see us finish in the top half of the SoCon before the true transition. And I'll as you say, take it from there.
When we get into the FBS, It would seem we should have a good shot at getting in a bowl bid every time the Belt has 5 bids. That is once Satterfield gets some experience as a head coach in FBS under his belt.

Gonzo wrote:Sounds like 5 games with more national prestige than the FCS National Championship game.

That's a joke.

This pretty much guarantees sub-.500 teams in bowl games every year. I believe this now brings the total to 37 or 38 bowl games. I'll be happy to watch App play as many games as possible, but there is no longer any reward for a bowl game.

I guess eventually there will be enough bowls so that EVERY team in the country can go to a bowl. We can even have the "Let's Get Started On Next Year Bowl" that matches up two 0-12 teams (maybe Georgia State and FIU). The pitch is that it will be exciting to see which team can squeeze off ONE win for the season, get a running start on the next season, and take home a big trophy. The hometown paper of the winning team can print photos of the winning players holding up one finger -- not for "We're No. 1" but for "We finally won 1". (Athletic fees at both schools can be raised to cover the cost of attending the bowl -- but it's worth it for the opportunity to end up "winners" and get so much "free" publicity.)

JCline0429 wrote:

Gonzo wrote:Sounds like 5 games with more national prestige than the FCS National Championship game.

That's a joke.

Agree. From a competition stand point you can't compare having a winning season and then winning four weekends in a row against the top subdivision competition to a sub 500 team playing in a "we get to play too" bowl game. Yes there are plenty of weak team in the FCS playoffs in the early rounds. But it still takes a great team to stay healthy and win four weeks in a row. As far as national prestige I will not argue that the big boy bowls do generate plenty. But the bowls we are talking about here will generate probably a similar amount of attention as an FCS NC. Hugely important to the fan base and maybe curiosity viewers beyond that. Before I am accused of being "anti-progress" I agree with the move and look forward to the Big 5 taking all of the money and leaving us with nothing but a playoff again.

I think it's important to note that live, televised events such as bowl games are attractive to ESPN and their advertisers. In this age of the DVR where viewers can fast forward over commercials, live programming is an antidote to such practices. That seems to be a factor helping to fuel additional bowl games.

Gonzo wrote:Sounds like 5 games with more national prestige than the FCS National Championship game.

So. let me get this straight - you think a middle of the SunBelt bowl game has more prestige than winning the FCS National Championship?

WVAPPeer wrote:

Gonzo wrote:Sounds like 5 games with more national prestige than the FCS National Championship game.

So. let me get this straight - you think a middle of the SunBelt bowl game has more prestige than winning the FCS National Championship?

The FCS title game is now played in a stadium called pizza hut Park in the same city and on the same weekend as the cotton bowl in the middle of the afternoon

So yeah, those bowl games carry more prestige now

WVAPPeer wrote:

Gonzo wrote:Sounds like 5 games with more national prestige than the FCS National Championship game.

So. let me get this straight - you think a middle of the SunBelt bowl game has more prestige than winning the FCS National Championship?

When it comes to cash flow, TV ratings, press coverage, national interest ect, yes; yes I do. If we're talking intangible, "Do I think we've earned it" sort of gut feelings, I'd probably agree with you and Cline.

Bowling is Bowling and I CAN NOT WAIT!

appbio91 wrote:

JCline0429 wrote:

Gonzo wrote:Sounds like 5 games with more national prestige than the FCS National Championship game.

That's a joke.

Agree. From a competition stand point you can't compare having a winning season and then winning four weekends in a row against the top subdivision competition to a sub 500 team playing in a "we get to play too" bowl game. Yes there are plenty of weak team in the FCS playoffs in the early rounds. But it still takes a great team to stay healthy and win four weeks in a row. As far as national prestige I will not argue that the big boy bowls do generate plenty. But the bowls we are talking about here will generate probably a similar amount of attention as an FCS NC. Hugely important to the fan base and maybe curiosity viewers beyond that. Before I am accused of being "anti-progress" I agree with the move and look forward to the Big 5 taking all of the money and leaving us with nothing but a playoff again.

...and further relegating the FCS into land of insignificance. My sole concern entering into the transition feasibility study was "what happens if we do/what are we giving up?". At the conclusion, and I was in agreement due to my concern of "what happens if we don't/what we will be left with?".

asu66 wrote:Sorry, JT, havin' a bad day and these are my first two thoughts after reading the article.

Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau seats...ta daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....................a whoppin' 15,000. But Nassau is an OK place to visit if you've never been there.

Nice of C-USA and friends to leave the Sunbelt out of the FIU event in Boca.

It's not glamorous but it does offer more chances for us to play in the post season. Since the big boys want to be greedy, and make all the other bowls their own, we have to do something.

JTApps1 wrote:

asu66 wrote:Sorry, JT, havin' a bad day and these are my first two thoughts after reading the article.

Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau seats...ta daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....................a whoppin' 15,000. But Nassau is an OK place to visit if you've never been there.

Nice of C-USA and friends to leave the Sunbelt out of the FIU event in Boca.

It's not glamorous but it does offer more chances for us to play in the post season. Since the big boys want to be greedy, and make all the other bowls their own we have to do something.

I'm in agreement, JT. But you have to realize that we have some fans who would just as soon re-hire Jerry and stay in the SuckCon. And our current season is giving them plenty of ammunition.