Bowl Games

[citroknight]

So, had this been in place this past season, would a path to the Belk Bowl have been a greater possibility?

Not quite related, so no.

The Belk Bowl has primary tie ins to the ACC and the SEC. The only way an alternate team from outside of those two conferences can get in is if either conference was unable to provide a team, which didn't happen last year as the match up was Virginia Tech vs Kentucky.

App's chances hinged entirely on the SEC and their teams not picking the Belk since the SEC did not have enough teams to fill all their bowls.

The SEC bowl pecking order is:
1. CFP bowls (both playoff and regular NY6)
2. Citrus bowl
3. Pool of 6 (Outback, Taxslayer, Music City, Belk, Texas, Liberty)
4. Birmingham and Independence

Because they sent 3 teams to the NY6 bowls, there weren't going to be any for the Birmingham or Independence bowls and they only had 5 teams for the pool of 6. But the pool of 6 bowl they chose to leave empty last year was the Liberty bowl, with Navy going in as the alternate in the SEC spot.

[huskie3]

Boca Raton is my choice.

[Appstrong]

So, had this been in place this past season, would a path to the Belk Bowl have been a greater possibility?

Not quite related, so no.

The Belk Bowl has primary tie ins to the ACC and the SEC. The only way an alternate team from outside of those two conferences can get in is if either conference was unable to provide a team, which didn't happen last year as the match up was Virginia Tech vs Kentucky.

App's chances hinged entirely on the SEC and their teams not picking the Belk since the SEC did not have enough teams to fill all their bowls.

The SEC bowl pecking order is:
1. CFP bowls (both playoff and regular NY6)
2. Citrus bowl
3. Pool of 6 (Outback, Taxslayer, Music City, Belk, Texas, Liberty)
4. Birmingham and Independence

Because they sent 3 teams to the NY6 bowls, there weren't going to be any for the Birmingham or Independence bowls and they only had 5 teams for the pool of 6. But the pool of 6 bowl they chose to leave empty last year was the Liberty bowl, with Navy going in as the alternate in the SEC spot.

If circumstances from last year go the same way again this year, and, taking the new model into account, we could be considered for the Liberty Bowl in this scenario or are we just stuck with the bowl pool if we do not make NY6? Thanks for the response btw. I do not keep such close tabs on how bowl selections play out and you cleared things up for me.

[AppGrad78]

So, had this been in place this past season, would a path to the Belk Bowl have been a greater possibility?

No. App had a remote shot at the Belk Bowl only while there was a chance that either the ACC or the SEC might not have enough qualifying teams. Once the ACC and SEC both reached their qualifying thresholds, any hope of App playing in the Belk Bowl vanished.

[EastHallApp]

So, had this been in place this past season, would a path to the Belk Bowl have been a greater possibility?

No. The Belk Bowl (or whatever it's called now) is not among the tie-ins listed.

We'd have probably gone to Boca Raton under this setup.

ETA: Sorry, didn't see this was already answered.

[EastHallApp]

So, had this been in place this past season, would a path to the Belk Bowl have been a greater possibility?

Not quite related, so no.

The Belk Bowl has primary tie ins to the ACC and the SEC. The only way an alternate team from outside of those two conferences can get in is if either conference was unable to provide a team, which didn't happen last year as the match up was Virginia Tech vs Kentucky.

App's chances hinged entirely on the SEC and their teams not picking the Belk since the SEC did not have enough teams to fill all their bowls.

The SEC bowl pecking order is:
1. CFP bowls (both playoff and regular NY6)
2. Citrus bowl
3. Pool of 6 (Outback, Taxslayer, Music City, Belk, Texas, Liberty)
4. Birmingham and Independence

Because they sent 3 teams to the NY6 bowls, there weren't going to be any for the Birmingham or Independence bowls and they only had 5 teams for the pool of 6. But the pool of 6 bowl they chose to leave empty last year was the Liberty bowl, with Navy going in as the alternate in the SEC spot.

If circumstances from last year go the same way again this year, and, taking the new model into account, we could be considered for the Liberty Bowl in this scenario or are we just stuck with the bowl pool if we do not make NY6? Thanks for the response btw. I do not keep such close tabs on how bowl selections play out and you cleared things up for me.

We're still going to a preselected pool, it's just a larger pool. The other thing that's different is that the SBC champion is no longer contracted for an automatic bid to New Orleans. Typically that would be another thing that stands in the way of going to a non-contracted bowl (e.g., Belk or Liberty), but in our case New Orleans would have rather had ULL than us anyway, so they would have been happy for us to go elsewhere.

[SayYesToTheRock]

I'd like to hit Boca Raton, Cure Bowl, and Myrtle Beach once each.

Long-term, we need bowl tie-ins in:
––Charlotte
––Atlanta
––D.C.
––Charleston SC.

[AppState89]

https://goccusports.com/common/controls ... tadium.png

Never been a fan of Myrtle Beach, but Brooks Stadium is a first-rate facility that seats 21,000. I’m guessing a majority (or at least a plurality) of App fans would be thrilled to spend a bowl weekend there in December.

100% would want to be there. We will pack the stadium and the travel will be short and cost a lot less than New Orleans. I'd be fine going there each year and beating an AAC team if they are in the mix with the Myrtle Beach bowl.

[EastHallApp]

I'd like to hit Boca Raton, Cure Bowl, and Myrtle Beach once each.

Long-term, we need bowl tie-ins in:
––Charlotte
––Atlanta
––D.C.
––Charleston SC.

We can quibble about the exact locations, but I think a mix of fun destinations and easy ones to drive to would be good. Obviously if you can get both in one, that's ideal.

In my perfect world, there'd be a lower-tier bowl in Charlotte that we could go to in not-great years, so the motivation needed to get there would be lower when fan enthusiasm is also down a bit. And then there'd be better tie-ins in places like NOLA and Orlando so in great years the team could play a high-end opponent while also getting to go someplace fun.

[citroknight]

I'd like to hit Boca Raton, Cure Bowl, and Myrtle Beach once each.

Long-term, we need bowl tie-ins in:
––Charlotte
––Atlanta
––D.C.
––Charleston SC.

We can quibble about the exact locations, but I think a mix of fun destinations and easy ones to drive to would be good. Obviously if you can get both in one, that's ideal.

In my perfect world, there'd be a lower-tier bowl in Charlotte that we could go to in not-great years, so the motivation needed to get there would be lower when fan enthusiasm is also down a bit. And then there'd be better tie-ins in places like NOLA and Orlando so in great years the team could play a high-end opponent while also getting to go someplace fun.

On your wish list, I think you may see a better Cure bowl match up in Orlando. This was usually the last AAC bowl filled despite no official pecking order due to it being on CBSSN and not ESPN. But now that it's an ESPN bowl, it's more attractive and is also part of that pool of bowls.

[EastHallApp]

I'd like to hit Boca Raton, Cure Bowl, and Myrtle Beach once each.

Long-term, we need bowl tie-ins in:
––Charlotte
––Atlanta
––D.C.
––Charleston SC.

We can quibble about the exact locations, but I think a mix of fun destinations and easy ones to drive to would be good. Obviously if you can get both in one, that's ideal.

In my perfect world, there'd be a lower-tier bowl in Charlotte that we could go to in not-great years, so the motivation needed to get there would be lower when fan enthusiasm is also down a bit. And then there'd be better tie-ins in places like NOLA and Orlando so in great years the team could play a high-end opponent while also getting to go someplace fun.

On your wish list, I think you may see a better Cure bowl match up in Orlando. This was usually the last AAC bowl filled despite no official pecking order due to it being on CBSSN and not ESPN. But now that it's an ESPN bowl, it's more attractive and is also part of that pool of bowls.

I think that seems likely as well. It's too good a destination to be as far down the pecking order as it has been.

On the flipside, while the AAC does also have a potential tie-in with Myrtle Beach, I have a hard time seeing one of their top teams going there. I know there is a desire among our fans to see App play "an AAC team" since that hasn't happened yet, but I wonder if people are really going to be happy for, say, an 11-2 App team to go to Conway and play a 6-6 AAC team?

Now if we go 7-5 some year, by all means send us to Myrtle; that seems like an appropriate reward in that case.

[citroknight]

I'd like to hit Boca Raton, Cure Bowl, and Myrtle Beach once each.

Long-term, we need bowl tie-ins in:
––Charlotte
––Atlanta
––D.C.
––Charleston SC.

We can quibble about the exact locations, but I think a mix of fun destinations and easy ones to drive to would be good. Obviously if you can get both in one, that's ideal.

In my perfect world, there'd be a lower-tier bowl in Charlotte that we could go to in not-great years, so the motivation needed to get there would be lower when fan enthusiasm is also down a bit. And then there'd be better tie-ins in places like NOLA and Orlando so in great years the team could play a high-end opponent while also getting to go someplace fun.

On your wish list, I think you may see a better Cure bowl match up in Orlando. This was usually the last AAC bowl filled despite no official pecking order due to it being on CBSSN and not ESPN. But now that it's an ESPN bowl, it's more attractive and is also part of that pool of bowls.

I think that seems likely as well. It's too good a destination to be as far down the pecking order as it has been.

On the flipside, while the AAC does also have a potential tie-in with Myrtle Beach, I have a hard time seeing one of their top teams going there. I know there is a desire among our fans to see App play "an AAC team" since that hasn't happened yet, but I wonder if people are really going to be happy for, say, an 11-2 App team to go to Conway and play a 6-6 AAC team?

Now if we go 7-5 some year, by all means send us to Myrtle; that seems like an appropriate reward in that case.

Yeah it may still be a little struggle lol. At least now App can have more freedom if not in an NY6 bowl and not just locked to the New Orleans bowl.

But as for getting a good AAC team, it may be hard because the conference does have a couple of tie ins with P5 teams. So the top tier teams normally go for those bowls. But there's still a possibility, especially on years where the conference is deep. Last year for example, the good AAC teams that didn't play P5s were UCF and SMU. Memphis, Cincy, Navy, and Temple all got P5s. SMU was probably happy taking on the CUSA champ even tho they got wrecked, but for UCF, a match against App is way more appealing than the one we had against an okay Marshall team.

[kornegaylw]

I'd like to hit Boca Raton, Cure Bowl, and Myrtle Beach once each.

Long-term, we need bowl tie-ins in:
––Charlotte
––Atlanta
––D.C.
––Charleston SC.

If David Tepper & Dan Synder can get the domed stadiums they want 2 bowls in DC/Charlotte/Atlanta would be better for everyone than bowls in Mobile & Montgomery.

[HkyMtneer]

I'd like to hit Boca Raton, Cure Bowl, and Myrtle Beach once each.

Long-term, we need bowl tie-ins in:
––Charlotte
––Atlanta
––D.C.
––Charleston SC.

We can quibble about the exact locations, but I think a mix of fun destinations and easy ones to drive to would be good. Obviously if you can get both in one, that's ideal.

In my perfect world, there'd be a lower-tier bowl in Charlotte that we could go to in not-great years, so the motivation needed to get there would be lower when fan enthusiasm is also down a bit. And then there'd be better tie-ins in places like NOLA and Orlando so in great years the team could play a high-end opponent while also getting to go someplace fun.

Nailed it! If we're going to a bowl game in Myrtle Beach in December then it needs to be the easy-drive fallback for one of those "mediocre" (by our standards) seasons, and hopefully few and far between. If it's a great year, and hopefully this continues to be the norm -- then I'll always prefer to go somewhere warm and/or at least with lots to do. In that case, give me Boca or New Orleans or Orlando or Dallas. I kinda wish we could have stolen Nassau from CUSA in this new rotation...as the Bahamas Bowl is really the only thing they have that I envy.

[citroknight]

I'd like to hit Boca Raton, Cure Bowl, and Myrtle Beach once each.

Long-term, we need bowl tie-ins in:
––Charlotte
––Atlanta
––D.C.
––Charleston SC.

We can quibble about the exact locations, but I think a mix of fun destinations and easy ones to drive to would be good. Obviously if you can get both in one, that's ideal.

In my perfect world, there'd be a lower-tier bowl in Charlotte that we could go to in not-great years, so the motivation needed to get there would be lower when fan enthusiasm is also down a bit. And then there'd be better tie-ins in places like NOLA and Orlando so in great years the team could play a high-end opponent while also getting to go someplace fun.

Nailed it! If we're going to a bowl game in Myrtle Beach in December then it needs to be the easy-drive fallback for one of those "mediocre" (by our standards) seasons, and hopefully few and far between. If it's a great year, and hopefully this continues to be the norm -- then I'll always prefer to go somewhere warm and/or at least with lots to do. In that case, give me Boca or New Orleans or Orlando or Dallas. I kinda wish we could have stolen Nassau from CUSA in this new rotation...as the Bahamas Bowl is really the only thing they have that I envy.

From what I've heard from both CUSA and MAC fans, it has its pros and cons. Pros of course is the location. Awesome vacation spot in December. Main con is that it's roughly a two week turnaround from when the bowls are announced to when the Bahamas bowl is played (usually around 12/21-12/24). So expensive last minute travel and often inconvenient due to being on Christmas Eve, but theres probably another bowl or two with that problem every year.

[Mjohn1988]

https://goccusports.com/common/controls ... tadium.png

Never been a fan of Myrtle Beach, but Brooks Stadium is a first-rate facility that seats 21,000. I’m guessing a majority (or at least a plurality) of App fans would be thrilled to spend a bowl weekend there in December.

100% would want to be there. We will pack the stadium and the travel will be short and cost a lot less than New Orleans. I'd be fine going there each year and beating an AAC team if they are in the mix with the Myrtle Beach bowl.

It’s a little thing and I would certainly go to Myrtle for a bowl game but I don’t want to play a bowl game on that turf. It would be like playing with another teams logo in the middle of the field. Truth is they should have a real grass field. Bermuda grass does great in that area. With all the golf courses in Myrtle Beach, Coastal should have a turf management degree and they should proudly grow all of their sports fields.

[WASU 93]

https://goccusports.com/common/controls ... tadium.png

Never been a fan of Myrtle Beach, but Brooks Stadium is a first-rate facility that seats 21,000. I’m guessing a majority (or at least a plurality) of App fans would be thrilled to spend a bowl weekend there in December.

While I don't disagree with your statement and I agree that travel distance is much easier for our fan base to Conway, SC. New Orleans is a much better bowl experience for our players and fans. Brooks is a sterile aluminum-bleacher (with stadium seats) stadium with December weather that is hit and miss. The only advantage it has over New Orleans is tailgating.
The Superdome is one of the most stories football venues ever, with NFL amenities including the best sound system that I have ever heard at a stadium. It's guaranteed to be a comfortable playing environment, the restaurants of New Orleans are far superior, as is the post game night life. You are going to run into App Fans throughout the bowl week in the French Quarter and on Bourbon Street, whereas the Grand Strand is spread out. Plus, there is an electricity in New Orleans during Bowl Season (with the Saints often wrapping up a winning season as well).

I am really in favor in the Conference Champion earning the right to play in XYZ Bowl (as we've had the tie with the New Orleans Bowl the last two years), The choice system could result in bad options and bad matchups.

[appbanker]

It’s a little thing and I would certainly go to Myrtle for a bowl game but I don’t want to play a bowl game on that turf. It would be like playing with another teams logo in the middle of the field. Truth is they should have a real grass field. Bermuda grass does great in that area. With all the golf courses in Myrtle Beach, Coastal should have a turf management degree and they should proudly grow all of their sports fields.

Horry Tech which is located next to Coastal offers the turf management course. Coastal offers a degree in Golf Course management. Coastal bought the former Quail Creek golf course, now called Hackler, which is located next to the university.

[AppSt94]

https://goccusports.com/common/controls ... tadium.png

Never been a fan of Myrtle Beach, but Brooks Stadium is a first-rate facility that seats 21,000. I’m guessing a majority (or at least a plurality) of App fans would be thrilled to spend a bowl weekend there in December.

100% would want to be there. We will pack the stadium and the travel will be short and cost a lot less than New Orleans. I'd be fine going there each year and beating an AAC team if they are in the mix with the Myrtle Beach bowl.

It’s a little thing and I would certainly go to Myrtle for a bowl game but I don’t want to play a bowl game on that turf. It would be like playing with another teams logo in the middle of the field. Truth is they should have a real grass field. Bermuda grass does great in that area. With all the golf courses in Myrtle Beach, Coastal should have a turf management degree and they should proudly grow all of their sports fields.

I vote for a hybrid turf of Kentucky Bluegrass, a featherbed bent, and Northern California sinsemillia.

[Mjohn1988]

It’s a little thing and I would certainly go to Myrtle for a bowl game but I don’t want to play a bowl game on that turf. It would be like playing with another teams logo in the middle of the field. Truth is they should have a real grass field. Bermuda grass does great in that area. With all the golf courses in Myrtle Beach, Coastal should have a turf management degree and they should proudly grow all of their sports fields.

Horry Tech which is located next to Coastal offers the turf management course. Coastal offers a degree in Golf Course management. Coastal bought the former Quail Creek golf course, now called Hackler, which is located next to the university.

So isn’t using synthetic turf kind of an insult to those programs and the farming communities that surround Coastal? I don’t think NCSU or Clemson will ever play on an artificial surface.