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Bowl Chances Still Alive??

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skip-zip Newbie

skip-zip

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I don't know if anyone knows this, but I read an article this morning that says that 68 bowl berths are available, and only 61 teams currently have enough wins to qualify. I'm not sure how many teams are playing this weekend, and how many of them have a chance to get to .500 or better with a win. But, this is certainly a scenario that leaves the door open. This appears to be much different than our situation in 2004, where there were more bowl-eligible teams than available bowl berths. And I must say, i'm still angry that Michigan State blew that 21 point lead against Hawaii (yes, the game that cost us our bowl berth that year).On a side note, the other great news for teams like us is that the article is crediting this change in bowl-eligible teams to the across-the-board increase in parity among all of the teams in D-1A. I've been saying this all along......the change in scholarship limits from 95 to 85 a few years ago is naturally closing the gap among the top and bottom levels of major college football. Lets hope it continues.

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bobbyake Newbie

bobbyake

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I don't know if anyone knows this, but I read an article this morning that says that 68 bowl berths are available, and only 61 teams currently have enough wins to qualify. I'm not sure how many teams are playing this weekend, and how many of them have a chance to get to .500 or better with a win. But, this is certainly a scenario that leaves the door open. This appears to be much different than our situation in 2004, where there were more bowl-eligible teams than available bowl berths. And I must say, i'm still angry that Michigan State blew that 21 point lead against Hawaii (yes, the game that cost us our bowl berth that year).On a side note, the other great news for teams like us is that the article is crediting this change in bowl-eligible teams to the across-the-board increase in parity among all of the teams in D-1A. I've been saying this all along......the change in scholarship limits from 95 to 85 a few years ago is naturally closing the gap among the top and bottom levels of major college football. Lets hope it continues.
:zzz: We haven't even beat Temple yet.
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flipthezip Newbie

flipthezip

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bobby...no kidding B) Let's take care of that first. I just didn't realize that we had any chance left at all to get in, until I read that article. Does anyone even know at this point how many teams have a chance this weekend to get to the .500 mark or better?
I put a post on here Sunday detailing each team that is still eligible and what they must to do in their last games. There is one correction to that post and it is for Hawaii. They only need to split their last 2 games to be eligible.
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ZachTheZip Newbie

ZachTheZip

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There are 63 teams currently bowl-eligible, and 68 bowl spots. 19 teams are fighting to become eligible (either 5-6 or 6-5 with two 1-AA victories). Lots of teams in the hunt are underdogs in their final game. 5 borderline teams are in the Sunbelt, and we would likely go ahead of them.

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InTheZone Apprentice

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Lots of teams in the hunt are underdogs in their final game. 5 borderline teams are in the Sunbelt, and we would likely go ahead of them.
Why in the world would we go ahead of them? Most of these bowl games are in the South, and Sun Belt teams would bring more fans. Plus, if you honestly think the name "Akron" carries more prestige on a national scale than "Louisiana-Monroe", you're kidding yourself.
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skip-zip Newbie

skip-zip

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In The Zone...I am not implying anything here about who would get picked over us..etc. etc....I'm only making the point that we have a chance because this is turning out to be a strange year where there may be very few more teams that become bowl eligible this weekend, and there are still several slots to fill. Beyond that, please read any conference ranking you can find. In most cases, the MAC is rated around the 5-6 range in conference ranking, and the Sun Belt is rated DEAD LAST among D-1A conferences. So, why do you see that it's innaccurate for any of us to imply that we'd get picked over a Sun Belt school? And I have more news for you....if you think that droves of Sun Belt fans will flock to bowl games...they can't even get them to come to their home games. Check their attendance numbers.

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ZachTheZip Newbie

ZachTheZip

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Lots of teams in the hunt are underdogs in their final game. 5 borderline teams are in the Sunbelt, and we would likely go ahead of them.
Why in the world would we go ahead of them? Most of these bowl games are in the South, and Sun Belt teams would bring more fans. Plus, if you honestly think the name "Akron" carries more prestige on a national scale than "Louisiana-Monroe", you're kidding yourself.
This might be hard to believe, but in the South, the MAC is looked upon as being a far better conference than the Sun Belt. To someone living in the south, it would be a no-brainer to pick a MAC team over a team from the SBC.
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ZachTheZip Newbie

ZachTheZip

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While rooting for the ZIPS today, we also need to root for some other teams to keep our bowl hopes alive.UCLA against Arizona St.East Carolina against UTEPToledo against BGSTDUNebraska against Colorado
A good chunk of the bowl picture will be decided today with these five games. Let's hope we come out on the good end of it all.
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johnnyzip84 Enthusiast

johnnyzip84

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In The Zone...I am not implying anything here about who would get picked over us..etc. etc....I'm only making the point that we have a chance because this is turning out to be a strange year where there may be very few more teams that become bowl eligible this weekend, and there are still several slots to fill. Beyond that, please read any conference ranking you can find. In most cases, the MAC is rated around the 5-6 range in conference ranking, and the Sun Belt is rated DEAD LAST among D-1A conferences. So, why do you see that it's innaccurate for any of us to imply that we'd get picked over a Sun Belt school? And I have more news for you....if you think that droves of Sun Belt fans will flock to bowl games...they can't even get them to come to their home games. Check their attendance numbers.
At the risk of being called "Debby Downer" (insert forlorn trumpet sound here), I'm not sure I agree with this. I know there have been posts on here in the past that have highlighted how the Sun Belt inflates attendance (not like the MAC doesn't). BUT, if you check the RECORDED attendance figures for the two Sun Belt teams that are likely to be bowl competition at 6-6 (UL-Lafayette and Arkansas St.) they have both had pretty good years. UL-Lafayette, in particular, has had over 20K for EACH home game EXCEPT the flushes (and they had 18,300 for that one). Given this and the fact that the bowl locations are generally closer to these teams, I would not at all assume a 6-6 MAC school gets picked over a 6-6 Sun Belt school. The bottom line is how many fans that particular bowl committee thinks the team will bring. If we're talking, for instance, the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, there is NO WAY Akron or any other MAC school would be picked over a throng of Ragin' Cajuns who would merely have to drive a few hours to the game.
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ziptrumpet87 Contributor

ziptrumpet87

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In The Zone...I am not implying anything here about who would get picked over us..etc. etc....I'm only making the point that we have a chance because this is turning out to be a strange year where there may be very few more teams that become bowl eligible this weekend, and there are still several slots to fill. Beyond that, please read any conference ranking you can find. In most cases, the MAC is rated around the 5-6 range in conference ranking, and the Sun Belt is rated DEAD LAST among D-1A conferences. So, why do you see that it's innaccurate for any of us to imply that we'd get picked over a Sun Belt school? And I have more news for you....if you think that droves of Sun Belt fans will flock to bowl games...they can't even get them to come to their home games. Check their attendance numbers.
At the risk of being called "Debby Downer" (insert forlorn trumpet sound here), I'm not sure I agree with this. I know there have been posts on here in the past that have highlighted how the Sun Belt inflates attendance (not like the MAC doesn't). BUT, if you check the RECORDED attendance figures for the two Sun Belt teams that are likely to be bowl competition at 6-6 (UL-Lafayette and Arkansas St.) they have both had pretty good years. UL-Lafayette, in particular, has had over 20K for EACH home game EXCEPT the flushes (and they had 18,300 for that one). Given this and the fact that the bowl locations are generally closer to these teams, I would not at all assume a 6-6 MAC school gets picked over a 6-6 Sun Belt school. The bottom line is how many fans that particular bowl committee thinks the team will bring. If we're talking, for instance, the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, there is NO WAY Akron or any other MAC school would be picked over a throng of Ragin' Cajuns who would merely have to drive a few hours to the game.
I have to agree here. It's not about who has the better team; it's about the $$$$.
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ZachTheZip Newbie

ZachTheZip

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A few things need to fall our way for this to work, but I have a funny feeling that the Zips will be playing another game if they beat Temple.You can't call yourself a Zips fan if you can't get excited about going bowling. We've only been to one bowl game in D-1 history, and some people wouldn't care if we get the chance to do it again?

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MDZip Mentor

MDZip

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While the thread may be dead, there is still some interest for the league as a whole. We have 6 teams bowl eligible, 4 are projected to go. That seems about right. Neither of the 6-6 MAC teams (BGSU and NIU) are projected to go. What it means is that our game against Temple really was pretty meaningless. Buffalo is projected for the International Bowl, which is a great spot for them.

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johnnyzip84 Enthusiast

johnnyzip84

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While the thread may be dead, there is still some interest for the league as a whole. We have 6 teams bowl eligible, 4 are projected to go. That seems about right. Neither of the 6-6 MAC teams (BGSU and NIU) are projected to go. What it means is that our game against Temple really was pretty meaningless. Buffalo is projected for the International Bowl, which is a great spot for them.
OK, SURELY I'm stealing this from the minds of a few great Rowdies but I can't resist. With regards to UB in the International Bowl, I agree that this is a great spot for them. After all, this game is played in Toronto. This way, the Bulls can stay in their great Canadian homeland for the Holidays :D Seriously, UB richly deserves this and I hope they get a boatload of fans to the game. And I'm not talking a "Maid of the Mist" boatload either! :lol:
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