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SURVEYING THE LANDSCAPE
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Pirate Notebook No. 289
Monday, November 22, 2006
By Denny O'Brien |
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C-USA seeking
additional options
©2006 Bonesville.net
All Rights Reserved.
For the second straight season, Conference
USA will not have enough bowls to distribute to all of its eligible teams.
In an attempt to meet the demand, the league office has been working the
phones to secure additional postseason slots, according to a C-USA official
who attended East Carolina's game against Rice.
The MPC Computers Bowl and the Insight Bowl
have emerged as possibilities in the event that vacancies arise, and the
C-USA office has already been in contact with both of them.
The Atlantic Coast Conference has a tie-in
with the MPC Computers Bowl, which is played in Boise, ID. It gets the
eighth and final pick of ACC bowl eligible teams, but there is a good chance
the league won't meet that quota.
Virginia and Miami remain the last hopes to
fill that final slot, but both are underdogs this week. Virginia plays at
rival Virginia Tech, while Miami hosts Boston College.
Even if Miami wins, there is speculation
that the Hurricanes won't accept a bid because of the likely firing of head
coach Larry Coker.
C-USA participated in the Boise game from
1997-99, when it was known as the Humanitarian Bowl. If a C-USA team
receives a bid this year, it will be against a Western Athletic Conference
opponent.
The Insight Bowl, played in Tempe, AZ, is
one of seven bowls with which the Big Ten has a direct tie. The Big Ten will
have only seven teams that are bowl eligible, and Ohio State has secured a
spot in the Bowl Championship Series title game.
That creates at least one opening, perhaps
two if Michigan hangs on to the second spot in the BCS standings. The
Wolverines' chances of a rematch with Ohio State would be aided greatly by a
Notre Dame win over Southern Cal, and a Florida loss to either Florida State
or to Arkansas in the SEC title game.
C-USA selection process
The postseason pecking order for C-USA is
clear for both the AutoZone Liberty Bowl and GMAC Bowl, but it gets a little
fuzzy after that.
The Autozone Liberty Bowl has first choice,
and it does not have to take the C-USA champion. In other words, the winner
of the Dec. 1st championship game isn't necessarily packing its bags for
Memphis if bowl officials and sponsors aren't giddy about the champ.
The GMAC Bowl gets second choice, but it
can potentially lock that up prior to the championship game if the Liberty
Bowl releases that team.
Beyond that, the selection process does not
have a pecking order, meaning heavy politicking will be involved between
school administrators, C-USA officials, and the league's three other bowls:
the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth; the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham;
and the New Orleans Bowl.
In such cases, it is typically in the best
interest of the conference to ensure that its bowl partners have interesting
match-ups and well-attended games. That heavily favors schools with good
attendance numbers and a reputation for traveling well.
In other words, East Carolina, even if it
loses to N.C. State and finishes 6-6, still remains an attractive
possibility to both the New Orleans Bowl and PapaJohns.com Bowl.
But that scenario gets complicated if
Texas-El Paso beats Memphis Saturday to push its record to .500. The Miners
have a solid fan base and could be courted by the Armed Forces Bowl.
All this is thrown out the window if the
Pirates win Saturday and push their record to 7-5. That would guarantee ECU
a postseason slot.
ECU also isn't out of contention for the
C-USA championship game. If Marshall defeats Southern Miss on Saturday, the
Pirates will claim the East Division crown for previously beating both the
Golden Eagles and Thundering Herd.
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02/23/2007 02:03:33 AM |
