Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Vegas vs San Francisco

The ACC has nine bowl eligible teams and only eight official slots. Everyone seems to agree that BC will be the ninth team and have to float to an open bowl position elsewhere. I have no problem with this. If the alternative is playing in Shreveport, I think most BC fans would rather play in another conference's bowl on the west coast. The Pac 10 is unlikely to fill all of their bowl slots, so everyone is assuming BC will return to San Francisco for the Kraft Fight Hunger on January 9. I think a much more interesting destination for BC would be the Las Vegas Bowl. It is another PAC 10 game and most think Vegas will use the slot to invite Notre Dame. What wouldn't BC push to go there? We've been to San Francisco twice. Vegas won't be a big draw but I bet BC fans in San Fran, Southern Cal and Phoenix might rally for a quick flight, a fun game and a night on the Strip.

Let's break down the pros and cons of each bowl.

Date

Vegas is December 22. San Francisco is January 9. This is a huge advantage for San Francisco. The later January date doesn't conflict with an exams and allows BC a little more time to sell tickets. Both games would enable the players to spend more time at home. San Fran allows the coaches to spread out the practices a bit more.


Location

Both a great for entirely different reasons. Vegas wins though on a newness factor. The only downside of Vegas is that it would inevitably lead to a million BC gambling jokes.


Opponent

Vegas would be a Mountain West team. San Francisco would be a WAC team. In the big picture a MWC opponent is a better for rankings and ratings, but the WAC representative could be a ranked Nevada team.


TV timeslot

Since most of us will be watching from the comfort of our own couch, I thought I would factor in TV. In this case San Fran wins easy. The Vegas Bowl is a Wednesday right before the holidays. Most of us will be busy and doing and thinking of something other than BC football. January 9 is a Sunday, well after the holidays.


I think we are 99% going to San Francisco, but I hope Gene is at least working the phones for see what else we might be able to do.

26 comments:

Erik said...

and as you indicated in an earlier post, the later the game, the better chance Montel can play in it. Advantage San Fran.

mod34b said...

As mentioned earlier, Phil Steele has us going to Detroit for the little Caesar's bowl


Against MAC champ, northern Illinois

Yuk

eagleboston said...

Mod, No Illinois might actually give us fits. They are actually a fairly decent football team. Anyway, we need to start a new bowl win streak.

Benjamin said...

I say San Francisco. It would be the only opportunity I have to attend a BC game this year. At a reasonable time as well. Watching games at 9 am in the morning takes a little of the magic away.
Also, it would be great to see Harris break the BC rushing record this year, as a junior.

John said...

San Francisco all the way.

But first - let's get the lead out and start keying in on Syracuse. This team wants to do to us exactly the same thing they did 6 years ago.

They are coming off a bad loss - so let's not become their first win at home of any significance this year.

"Marrone’s Orange have been sort of an enigma, winning all four conference games on the road and losing all three at home. The only home victories for SU have come at the expense of Division I-AA teams Maine and Colgate.

During his weekly news conference Monday, Marrone said the fans deserve better.

“I guess what hurts me the most, and I think we all feel this in our program, our fans and the people in Syracuse haven’t been able to enjoy the wins that we’ve had this year -- like South Florida, West Virginia and Cincinnati. And I understand the importance of winning at home,” he said.

Marrone has said he doesn’t understand why the Orange hasn’t won more at home. SU has dropped three straight in the Dome to Pittsburgh, Louisville and Connecticut. Former Big East rival Boston College are the team's final chance to defeat a Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) foe on the Dome's turf."


Go BC - beat Syracuse. Avenge the 2004 humiliating lossw - kick their butts.

Tranquill - let out some more of the playbook and let's get the jump on these guys.

No prevent offense - no prevent defense. Let's play not only to win the game, but to win convincingly.

ACC vs. Big East - let's go!!!!

Dan said...

The lack of Montel this week has me really intrigued to see the offensive game plan. True freshmen at QB, RB and WR might force Tranq to finally let the reigns off and see who steps up.


Oooor we might just defer offense altogether and see if the defense can outscore Syracuse.

Ry said...

the best BC sports news we are likely to get this week

mod34b said...

Dan -- agreed. It will be interesting to see how Tranq adapts without the Montel crutch.

I think we will still see a lot of rushing, but hopefully balanced with the passing. Time for the TEs to get in the mix too.

Galvin said...

Agreed particularly on the TE's. I like Pantale and wish they incorporated him a bit more.

Question - if we lose to Syracuse, do our chances of going to the Kraft Hunger bowl in SF diminish greatly? I would love if we could somehow play Boise State. Not saying they would or wouldn't murder us, it would just be really cool. Also, I would find great joy in listening to their gripes.

Big Jack Krack said...

We're going to beat Syracuse - Go BC.

We are not going to "back into" any bowl. We will complete our season with a 5 game winning streak and beat the Orange at the Carrier Dome.

Katie Gardner said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Katie Gardner said...

I know that is not a favorable bowl to be in because of the 2:30 pm start, but what are the chances that BC lands in the DC bowl game?

Being the 29th and far enough after Christmas this may attract students and fans to the game.

mod34b said...

Katie. With 9 bowl eligible ACC teams, I think the chance of bowling in DC are less than 5% , if not lower. In other words, from a bowl sponsor / attendance point of view, BC is the least desirable ACC team.

AlbanyEagle said...

Heading to the 'Cuse Saturday to cheer on the troops.
Hate that place. Worse tailgating scene than BC - - BY FAR. Any suggestions?

mod34b said...

Galvin -- u may get your wish

SF Chronicle Projects BC v Boise in Kraft bowl

BCDoubleEagle said...

Albany-
Godspeed. I've been to Syr. twice and can't stomach another trip to that hellhole. Let me know if the students still do the "f--- 'em up f--- 'em up go SU" cheer. And does the entire dome still smell like stale urine? Good luck.

Lenny Sienko said...

Albany:

I always liked to find a spot to park in one of the supervised pay lots and have brunch at Phoebe's Garden Cafe. You can then walk up to the Dome. On the way out, just buzz out of the pay lot onto I-81.

Phoebe's ( I guess they shortened the name since I was last there)
900 East Genesee Street Syracuse NY 13210 315.475.5154
(Located across from the Syracuse Stage) At the corner of Irving Ave & East Genesee St.

Big Jack Krack said...

Hey Lenny - we old guys know how tough it is to beat Syracuse up there in November.

Having said that, wouldn't it be wild to beat the Orange ( we can do this - this is a Must Win)and somehow wind up in San Francisco playing Boise State.

You couldn't make that up.

Good luck AlbanyEagle and all BC fans going to the game. Don't get hit with any half full bear cans.

I hate these guys - let's win one for our seniors and our true freshmen - and everyone in between; let's win one for Herzy and Spazy and for BC Nation.

Let's roar into the bowl season, a team that lost 5 straight, but never quit, found a way and now can win 5 straight.

Proud to be an Eagle - Go BC.

dixieagle said...

I really like your attitude, Big Jack. ;)

CT said...

bowlguru.com.

This guy is all over it. With too much time on his hands. Clearly.

eaglephile said...

Someone correct my misunderstanding of the BCS rules...if Boise is in the top 8 of the BCS, aren't they guaranteed a spot in a BCS bowl, making it impossible for them to get to SF? is the assumption that they will lose to Nevada?

Galvin said...

From what I understand, it is possible that they are completely left out of a BCS bowl, if TCU maintains their lead over BSU. The Rose Bowl apparently must take the top ranked non-BCS school if either the Big 10 or Pac10 champ play in the National Title game. I don't believe the other bowls are forced to take any non-BCS team. After the conference champs, etc. they can pick whichever at-large team is their best bet (based on some sort of order?). One-loss powerhouses like LSU will get picked over Boise State in those circumstances.

modest34b said...

Kuechly a Butkus Award finalist. Sweet.

Maybe this will make up for him not making it as a Bednarik Award finalist.

modest34b said...

Maybe we should start a new award.

The Josh Haden Quitter award, aka the *ussy Award.

First recipient: Sterlin Phifer.

We could have have used 'ol Sterlin had he been a true gamer. But he is not, so he gets the Josh Haden Quitter Award.

Galvin said...

Pretty cool, 2 juniors, 2 seniors and our sophomore Luke. He is the man.

BC78LH said...

I'd love to see us beat Syracuse, loss in 04 still a bad memory. Time for our collection of true freshmen and Kuechly to shine. Can't forget that this is Herzlich's final regular season game, look for a performance similar to last weeks.