So the Chron has projected who’s going to which bowl game this postseason. Has anyone informed Tulsa that they’re doing double duty?
GMAC (Jan. 7): Tulsa vs. Ohio
New Orleans (Dec. 22): Middle Tennessee State vs. Tulsa
Pretty neat trick, I must say. But never mind that. All that matters right now is this:
Armed Forces (Dec. 23): TCU vs. Rice
That’s contingent on Rice taking care of business against SMU this Saturday – if they don’t, you can pencil in the Mustangs for that slot. I’ve been down this road before as an Owls fan. Rice would have gone to a bowl in 1990 had they beaten Baylor in the last game of the season. They’d have gone to a bowl in 1992 had they beaten UH in the last game of the season. I like to think they’d have gone to a bowl in 2001 had they beaten SMU in the last game of the season. Under any other circumstances, I’d be pretty damn fatalistic. But after seeing this team repeatedly work miracles to get itself into this position, I’ve gotta believe. I’ll be there on Saturday to watch it happen. If you have any connection to Rice, or if you just like good football, you should be there, too. Go Rice!
All that really matters is seeing Art Briles go up against Steve Spurrier in Memphis. That matchup sounds like a lot of fun.
I think UCLA is the front-runner for the Hawai’i Bowl, rather than ASU. For attendance purposes, I sure hope so. There are far more UCLA alumni on Oahu than ASU ones.
Chuck, not only does Rice need to win but it sure would help if more than 12-13K people showed up for the game.
When a bowl selection committee sees that many empty seats for a home game on Homecoming weekend with PERFECT weather, they can’t be excited about the prospects crowds of fans traveling to see the Owls play.
Also with the new 12 game schedule in the D-1 bowl division, there are lots of teams that are able to hit the 6 win threshold for bowl eligibility. That’s a change that I think will hurt mid-major bowl slots. Last year the SEC had 8 bowl tie-ins but only 6 bowl eligible teams freeing up 2 more slots. This year the SEC has 9 bowl eligible teams.
If there is a spare bowl slot and it comes down to 6-6 South Carolina or a resurgent 7-5 Rice, South Carolina’s history of selling out home games during 0-11 season will get them the nod 8 days a week and twice on Sunday.
Nice to see something about the Owls here. It has indeed been a special season.
Patrick: C-USA has stated unequivocally that the winner of the Rice-SMU game gets a bowl.