Sun Bowl
Pros: Historic. Easily the most prestigious Bowl BC will have played in since the Outback/Hall of Fame with Coughlin. It is sort of a local event in El Paso, so ticket sales are not a big deal. They are more concerned with good TV ratings. We don't have a big alumni base in west Texas, but who knows, our fans in Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio might rally. It's got a decent date and TV timeslot (December 31 at 2 PM). There is a rumored SEC opponent.
Cons: It is in El Paso. I've been to El Paso. It has its charm but very, very few BC fans are going to make that trip. It is also down on the list of desirable locations for the players and their families. The rumored SEC opponent is still just a rumor. We could very well end up playing a MAC team. The violence across the border has taken away from some of the seedy charm a trip to El Paso used to have. Fans and players can't wander over to Mexico to check things out.
Military
Pros: It's close. It's near one of our biggest Alumni centers. We might sell a decent amount of tickets.
Cons: We would play East Carolina and Dominique Davis. The BC DC Club fears that the 29th might be a bad date to generate interest and ticket sales. It is a bad date for exams and practice schedules and a less appealing TV timeslot (2:30 PM).
Kraft Fight Hunger
Pros: It is a good date and is potentially against Boise State or Nevada.
Cons: We were just there and it is potentially against Boise State or Nevada.
My opinion
Knowing that we would face East Carolina soured me on the Military Bowl. It is the ultimate lose/lose game. Our fans won't care. The Dominique Davis narrative is overwhelming and I actually think ECU would give us a heck of a game. I don't know if BC fans have noticed but they have a prolific offense. We could slow them down, but could our offense score enough?
I've been in favor of a return trip to San Francisco and the prospect of Nevada or Boise State makes it that much more appealing. In my mind it is a win/win. We would be huge underdogs against Boise State and slight underdogs against Nevada. I actually think that with a month to prepare we would and could beat both. It would be a huge attention getter at the end of the season and end the season on a high note.
The Sun Bowl seems like a decent and safe fit. Ticket sales are not a factor (which screams BC!). We would get it checked off of the ACC rotation (would you rather go to the Sun Bowl this year or in a year where we went 10-2). The biggest plus is that we could face a name yet struggling team like Georgia or Tennessee. For many BC fans the name means more than the ranking.
With all that said, my vote is for the Sun and I hope Gene is working the phones now.
Posts
23 comments:
The two things that matter to non-traveling BC fans:
(1) Quality of Bowl
(2) Name of Opponent
The Sun would give us both, and the Kraft would give us 1. The Military gives us neither and if things are a toss up, I'd avoid the Military Bowl. As ATL said, it's a lose/lose.
Selfishly I vote for Military or Kraft/SF Bowl. Both reasonably priced plane tickets and I would consider attending. Sun bowl in El Paso has some cache but airfare almost twice the price!
I'd love to see SF against Boise - would be a great win for us if we pull it off and I agree, ATL, with our D we could. It would be a nice send off for the seniors, who gotta be a little down on how this year played out.
ECU, they do score a lot and have a couple of quality wins (NCSt and Tulsa), but wow they have surrendered a lot too - 76 to Navy, 62 to Rice, 54 to UAB! I'd see the game unfolding like syracuse if we had our way - a lot of time-eating running plays and a two score lead we nurse along.
Take a look at sunbowl.org ... It asks: "Which ACC School Would You Most Like To See In The Hyundai Sun Bowl?"
You can pick from FSU, Maryland, Miami, UNC, NC State, and Vtech.
They don't even LIST us there, which would not seem to bode well for us being legitimately in the conversation. But who knows.
Among the many permutations I have seen for BC's bowl slot, the best seems to be:
BC v Army at the Sun Bowl
Good TV prospects; big fan draw (lot of military in Texas) and we would win (I think)
Playing ECU in gray, gray DC is just depressing, particualrly since ECu will be a tough opponent that we would be expected to beat.
BSU in SF would be exciting too -- win or lose.
TCU to the Big East...
I hope all of those morons who claimed our move to the ACC made no sense becuase of the travel will shut up.
The Big East is now a complete joke (if it wasn't already). It stretches from Florida, to upstate NY, to Wisconsin, to Texas!
Disagree on the Kraft Bowl. It's a TERRIBLE date - 6 weeks after our last game! End of Christmas Break! Seniors that are hoping to prepare for the draft dragged out into January. And one big problem with the location - anyone from BC who wanted to do San Francisco did it last year. For my money, give me any bowl but the San Fran bowl.
Herzy: wouldn't you like to see our D go up against Boise?
It's also 6 more weeks of practice for our young team. I'll take that.
I vote Kraft Hunger Bowl. A game against Boise would be great for us. The date and time slot can't be beat. Offers us best national exposure by a mile.
BTW: I have been to El Paso on a number of occasions. Let's just say it is lacking...
Everybody gets 15 practices I think for a bowl game. Not 6 weeks worth...
All of a sudden we could beat Boise because of our defense?
I'd love to see the line on that game. I'd lay the points. Kellen Moore.
I'd prefer a bowl game against a team we could beat--like Army or Tennessee. Close games both, but winnable. Boise is not.
Wow, a 5 game winning streak against Clemson, Wake, Duke, Syracuse, and UVA...and now Boise is beatable?
Dayne Crist picked our defense apart. I don't want to think about what Kellen Moore would do.
We fear Kellen Moore! (we should not; he did not rip up VT -- just 215 yards passing -- and our defense is comparable to VT))
But Moore and others are what makes BSU so fascinating. Moore was a mere 3 star recruit and was ranked 31 at his postion and now he is a star!. Check out this list of all the better Rivals recruts. Very few of the 35 names are even recognizable as starters:
2007 QB recruits
#1 Jimmy Clausen QB Notre Dame
#2 Ryan Mallett QB Michigan
#3 John Brantley QB Florida
#4 Mike Paulus QB North Carolina
#5 Peter Lalich QB SVirginia
#6 Pat Bostick QB Pittsburgh
#7 Jarrett Lee QB LSU
#8 Robert Marve QB Miami (FL)
#9 Steven Threet QB Georgia Tech
#10 BJ Coleman QB Tennessee
#11 Brock Mansion QB DCalifornia
#12 Griffin Robles QB Utah
#13 Bryson Beirne QB Arizona
#14 Matt Simms QB Louisville
#15 Jason Munns QB BYU
#16 Chasen Stangel QB Arizona St.
#17 Clint Brewster QB Minnesota
#18 Patrick Witt QB Nebraska
#19 Cody Catalina QB Syracuse
#20 Samson Szakacsy QB Washington
#22 Charlie Russell QB West Virginia
#23 Matt Ballenger QB Colorado
#24 Clay Belton QB Miami (OH)
#25 David Legree QB Syracuse
#26 Phil Haig QB Illinois
#27 L.D. Crow QB Stanford
#28 Wesley Carroll QB Mississippi St.
#29 Joe Weatherford QB UCF
#30 Nick Foles QB Michigan St.
#31 Kellen Moore QB Boise St.
#32 James Stallons QB Wisconsin
#33 Nathan Dick QB Arkansas
#34 Ryan Lindley QB San Diego St.
#35 Dan Klein QB list
only stars turned out to be #1, #2, #31, and #34 (did I miss a few?)
that list is just for the pro-style QBs, not the spread guys/dual threat guys
I vote for Boise.
I think our D can definitely at least keep us in it. Especially since the late date gives a steadily improving Herzy more time to rest up and might even get us Albright back on the D-line.
The late date could also give us a first look at the "Montel Williams Show". A healthy O-Line plus these two in the backfield will be tough for any team to handle and free things up some for Rettig. I'd also love to seem Shakim get healthy and have a breakout game ala Larmond in the bowl game against Vandy.
When does 203 yds 2 TDs and 1 INT constitute "picking a team apart"?
CT - If we draw Army, I don't wanna hear any sarcastic "Wow what a big game BC got." comments out of you :)
CT - we're the number 1 rushing D in the country and we have a good secondary including Donnie Fletcher and awesome LBs. Boiseo beat one good team this year - VaTech- tha doesn't mean they are not good, but I be our D takes it-- remember Spaz was the last DC to beat them in Boise
CT - your negativity is awful.
I would rather lose against a good opponent than against someone terrible - we already covered that with Vanderbilt a few years ago. And I would also rather win against some good than against someone terrible. The only place that is going to happen is in San Fran.
We would have to put pressure on Moore - otherwise he would pick us apart. We did a good job against Jared Zabransky in 2005, although he mounted a furious comeback in the second half. An interception by Ryan Glasper in the end zone proved the difference with time running out. I thought they were going to pull it out. Larkin sacked Zabransky on the previous play when they were on the 5 yard line - knocking on the door, and that was in his mind, I'm sure. You can't beat a guy like Moore unless you put pressure on him and take him out of his rhythm.
Matt Ryan threw three TD's in the first half. We don't have that now, unless Tranquill cuts Rettig loose.
Boise State would be a huge challenge for BC this year - THAT'S WHY I WOULD LOVE IT.
If it's the Sun Bowl - I hope the opponent is from the SEC.
sorry I meant Crist picked us apart in those three early drives. I know we had more success as the game went on, but that seems to be our trend the whole year on defense. Teams are most successful moving the ball early. If we allowed Boise to move the ball early the game would be out of reach.
Agreed, the key would be to put pressure on Moore, but that is easier said than done.
I am with Walter, and that is what I meant in my earlier post: I would rather play against a quality opponent like Boise and risk losing, than play, well...Army....Army?
CT you must be joking...
How can the desire be anywhere but San Francisco? It is a far more desirable destination than El Paso or Washington DC. Sure we went there last year, but would you rather have an excuse to return to SF or dig for a reason to visit El Paso?
It will actually give us a prime time slot that isn't on a week day (which will help more get more viewers).
The quality of opponent will be much higher. This not only helps BC avoid a lose/lose situation, but it could increase our rep (not to mention give the youngins some practice against a tougher opponent). And call me crazy, but both Nevada and Boise look beatable.
Lastly, the West coast game would allow Chase's family to travel to the game. I'm sure there would be a strong contingent there cheering on our new QB.
Scratch Army from the Sun Bowl,
Army going to Armed forces Bowl
I don't care about TV ratings, who travels well, the weather ... none of that matters. The only thing that matters is what the game means to the players. They've been through a wringer and deserve some reward for not just caving after the fifth consecutive loss. As a fan, I threw in the towel much earlier than that - after the NCState loss, when I thought they wouldn't win another game. Shame on me. I think of Albright: if there was ever a BC kid who deserved to finish his final season on the football field, it's Alex Albright. If waiting until Jan 9 gives him that chance, that gets my vote.
Given the way this bunch has battled, I have to believe they would be very fired up to play Boise St. anytime, anywhere, no matter the Vegas line.
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