CatsClaw Wrote:

Cubanbull Wrote:Some facts just like the Big East rep in the Meineke Bowl has taken fewer fans than the ACC counterpart. The CUSA rep has been outdrawn by the SEC team. So just like the ACC has the Meineke Bowl in its pocket is the SEC that has the Liberty bowl. I believe there is even aclause that if Miss St was the SEC rep they would not face USM even if USM was the CUSA champ. Bama and Auburn have similar deals not to face UAB there.

I heard about that, and that is pathetic. That just makes them look scared and weak.

No doubt. It wouldn't surprise me if kentucky tried to get in on that kind of action if there was ever the 'risk' of facing UL in a bowl. By state legislation the two teams are required to play one another, which they do early in the season. If uk could end that series, they would as well. Li'l beeatch's that they are.

Considering it is almost 800 miles from Orlando to Memphis and UCF sold 10,000 tickets, and more than likely many more bought them through ticket master, that is not bad.

Also look for the Champs Sports Bowl to make a change from the Big 10 when that contract is up. I hardly think they are thrilled with taking the Big 10 #9 or #7 team.

the champs is a possbility for the BE to lobby for.

South Tampa Knight Wrote:Considering it is almost 800 miles from Orlando to Memphis and UCF sold 10,000 tickets, and more than likely many more bought them through ticket master, that is not bad.

Also look for the Champs Sports Bowl to make a change from the Big 10 when that contract is up. I hardly think they are thrilled with taking the Big 10 #9 or #7 team.

10,000 is phenomenal considering the distance.

3601 Wrote:

Cubanbull Wrote:I believe there is even aclause that if Miss St was the SEC rep they would not face USM even if USM was the CUSA champ. Bama and Auburn have similar deals not to face UAB there.

There is a clause, but it doesn't keep the C-USA champ out of the Liberty Bowl. It simply affects who the SEC representative would be. For example, if Southern Miss won C-USA this season then Southern Miss and not Mississippi State would be in the Liberty Bowl.

bingo.. they have first choice of CUSA they will take the champ... then the SEC will swap a 6 for 7 or a 5 for 6 to fill the other spot.

South Tampa Knight Wrote:Considering it is almost 800 miles from Orlando to Memphis and UCF sold 10,000 tickets, and more than likely many more bought them through ticket master, that is not bad.

Also look for the Champs Sports Bowl to make a change from the Big 10 when that contract is up. I hardly think they are thrilled with taking the Big 10 #9 or #7 team.

I dont know if I see champs changing.. I don't see them wanting a BE #3 or #4..I know the acc wouldnt want that change..they already play BE in gator and charlotte....nor do I see them wanting a CUSA #2..or 3...it is some what possible U may see them keep big 10 and move up a notch on the ladder.. I think their payout is now something like 2mil.

Omnicarrier, You have been misinformed about CUSA. WE were never in jeopardy of loosing the liberty bowl. The only question was who was going to be the opponent of CUSA. Not sure where you got that information but it is dead wrong. The director of the Liberty Bowl has stated that CUSA was never in jeopardy.

omnicarrier Wrote:

Tallgrass Wrote:

omnicarrier Wrote:

goodknightfl Wrote:

omnicarrier Wrote:

TIGER-PAUL Wrote:looks like that might be a tough nut to crack for the BE. I guess starting a new bowl is the best strategy.

Why? You do realize it is the SEC team that is bringing the crowds much moreso than the C-USA team, right?

The more prestigious the Liberty Bowl, AutoZone, and ESPN want to make that game just might result in a different conference affiliation as time goes by.

Now granted, the other conference doesn't have to be the Big East. It could just as easily be the Big 12 or ACC. C-USA fans should be grateful to Memphis and its fans that the bowl is still affiliated with that conference.

But if that stadium ever gets a true make-over, I wouldn't count on it being with C-USA much longer after that.

Cheers,
Neil

read the article.. 7 of the 9 best crowds have been in the last 7 years... the SEC has only played in one of those...

Go beyond the article and do some research. You will see that two of those nine did involve the SEC prior to last year and that three of those 9 involved Louisville. One of the nine involved TCU, who is no longer with C-USA either. That leaves 2 of the nine not involving an SEC team or a former C-USA team. And both of those involved So. Miss, at #6 and #8. After this year's bowl, those numbers will move down to #7 and #9. Leaving the top 6 spots to the SEC and Louisville.

Cheers,
Neil

A couple points here. First, a lot of CUSA naysayers were predicting doom and gloom for the Liberty Bowl because of CUSA. That didn't happen. The ESPN and AutoZone deal confirms that.

Second, yes, CUSA lost Louisville and TCU. But CUSA added some good teams too who undoubtedly will also bring many fans to Liberty Bowl. Even itty bitty Tulsa brought 15,000 fans.

First, I am one of the ones who believes that as long as Memphis is in C-USA they are the favorite to retain the Liberty Bowl.

Second, as I recall it was a little over 10K Tulsa fans per their own site two days before the game was played. But, in either case, that still was an impressive showing for a school with a little over 2000 in enrollment.

I heard they didn't do anywhere close to that last year, but pre-Christmas bowls hardly ever do well.

Cheers,
Neil

Considering Tulsa is a fairly small school and had to travel 1/2 way across the country a bit over 10k is very impressive.. heck thats more than WV is bringing to a BCS this year..

Champs would be a replacement for the Gator Bowl, and would be our #2 slot. Expect us to tell the Gator that they have to drop the Notre Dame thing and drop the sharing with the Big 12, or lose the Big East to the Champs.

Champs would need to move to a Dec 31st/Jan 1st time slot. But the money is the same $2.25 million.

Music City would be a better pickup for the #3, because it gives us a BCS opponent, and the $1.6m is pretty close to Liberty Bowl.

Here's what this year's bowls would have looked like if we had this setup:

1. BCS ($17m) Oklahoma vs West Virginia
2. Champs (vs Big 10) ($2.25 m) Michigan State vs USF
3. Music City (vs SEC)($1.6m) Kentucky vs Cincinnati
4. Meineke (vs ACC)($750k) Wake Forest vs Connecticut
5. Tropicana Bowl, St Pete (vs acc)($750k) Florida St vs Rutgers
6. Labatt Beer Bowl (vs MAC)($750k) Ball State vs Louisville
7. PJ Bowl (vs CUSA)(needs to incr to $750k) Southern Miss vs Troy*
*replacement for BEC

There are some compelling matchups here.

mlb Wrote:Just because they got new sponsor deal does not mean things stay the same... however, I don't see the BE getting the game unless Memphis comes on board.

Agree

goodknightfl Wrote:

South Tampa Knight Wrote:Considering it is almost 800 miles from Orlando to Memphis and UCF sold 10,000 tickets, and more than likely many more bought them through ticket master, that is not bad.

Also look for the Champs Sports Bowl to make a change from the Big 10 when that contract is up. I hardly think they are thrilled with taking the Big 10 #9 or #7 team.

I dont know if I see champs changing.. I don't see them wanting a BE #3 or #4..I know the acc wouldnt want that change..they already play BE in gator and charlotte....nor do I see them wanting a CUSA #2..or 3...it is some what possible U may see them keep big 10 and move up a notch on the ladder.. I think their payout is now something like 2mil.

Didn't this bowl have a tie in with the Big East in the past or was it just an at large or fill in invite?

I know they said BB from CUSA was all over this bowl in the past trying to get it but I think the ACC kinda dictates who it plays in this bowl.

gdayre Wrote:Omnicarrier, You have been misinformed about CUSA. WE were never in jeopardy of loosing the liberty bowl. The only question was who was going to be the opponent of CUSA. Not sure where you got that information but it is dead wrong. The director of the Liberty Bowl has stated that CUSA was never in jeopardy.

gdayre, you are mistaken. The Liberty Bowl's #1 priority was getting an SEC tie in. Once that was accomplished, they did consider dropping the C-USA tie in. That almost happened a couple of years ago. They were considering an ACC or Big East tie in, but decided to stay with the C-USA champ.

3601 Wrote:

gdayre Wrote:Omnicarrier, You have been misinformed about CUSA. WE were never in jeopardy of loosing the liberty bowl. The only question was who was going to be the opponent of CUSA. Not sure where you got that information but it is dead wrong. The director of the Liberty Bowl has stated that CUSA was never in jeopardy.

gdayre, you are mistaken. The Liberty Bowl's #1 priority was getting an SEC tie in. Once that was accomplished, they did consider dropping the C-USA tie in. That almost happened a couple of years ago. They were considering an ACC or Big East tie in, but decided to stay with the C-USA champ.

3601 is right. the Liberty Bowl really wanted a higher ranking ACC team (b/c memphis is close enough that ACC teams would have traveled there) but when they could not get a high ranking in pecking order, it is better to stay with CUSA and put in the clause that they do not have to take to champ thereby gambling CUSA will always have one team ranked in top 25 or getting votes. The Liberty Bowl is looking out for the Liberty Bowl and no conference or team even in the past such as the ECU clause it had when the Liberty Bowl Alliance/CUSA founding was going on. And do not get me wrong, they are doing nothing bad by this, in today's college sports world they have to look out for themselves.

ECUgradstudent Wrote:

3601 Wrote:

gdayre Wrote:Omnicarrier, You have been misinformed about CUSA. WE were never in jeopardy of loosing the liberty bowl. The only question was who was going to be the opponent of CUSA. Not sure where you got that information but it is dead wrong. The director of the Liberty Bowl has stated that CUSA was never in jeopardy.

gdayre, you are mistaken. The Liberty Bowl's #1 priority was getting an SEC tie in. Once that was accomplished, they did consider dropping the C-USA tie in. That almost happened a couple of years ago. They were considering an ACC or Big East tie in, but decided to stay with the C-USA champ.

3601 is right. the Liberty Bowl really wanted a higher ranking ACC team (b/c memphis is close enough that ACC teams would have traveled there) but when they could not get a high ranking in pecking order, it is better to stay with CUSA and put in the clause that they do not have to take to champ thereby gambling CUSA will always have one team ranked in top 25 or getting votes. The Liberty Bowl is looking out for the Liberty Bowl and no conference or team even in the past such as the ECU clause it had when the Liberty Bowl Alliance/CUSA founding was going on. And do not get me wrong, they are doing nothing bad by this, in today's college sports world they have to look out for themselves.

Actually,.......what changed their mind was when the residents of
Shelby County along with the U of Memphis fans went on a massive
letter writing campaign.

Simple as that.

A couple more clarifications here.

Tulsa has an enrollment of 4,200 and not 2,000.

The Tulsa media reported 15,000 TU fans at the Liberty Bowl. TU has a small fan base but that fan base is loyal to the bone. TU never won more than 4 games in an 11 year stretch before the arrival of Kragthorpe. But TU always average about 18,000 in those 11 years of hopelessness.

Memphis is not that far from Tulsa. It is an easy drive. Combined with the excitement, the turnout from TU was good.

For the PreXmas Ft. Worth Bowl a year later, TU brought 5,000 to 6,000 fans at best. The PreXmas bowls are just killers...too much on fans' plate.

I think the 10,000 fans at Liberty figure quoted above was for Houston and not Tulsa. But I am not sure.