2 Sunbelt teams in bowl games

[Damon]

Now they have us in a different bowl...

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
San Diego, CA
Qualcomm Stadium
December 19, 2006, ESPN2
Mountain West vs. at-large
Bowl Projection: TCU vs. University of Louisiana

AHEM! Look at my "Location" above. If the quoted material comes true, tailgating fun for all!! Crawfish burritos.. mmm!

[ShowDog]

not to mention hawaii scores like 108 points a game. Tcu runs the ball so i would rather go to san diego. Anybody who has ever been to san diego knows it awesomw

As nice as Diego is, Hawaii blows it away.

[Arkstfan]

I think the Cajuns hopes depend on MTSU accepting a Motor City or Poinsettia bid coupled with Troy losing to FIU.

[CrazyCajun]

As nice as Diego is, Hawaii blows it away.

not in airfare, and i hate to say it but we would get blown away by hawaii. that would not be a good match up for us at all. Also, i think we would travel a lot better to san diego than hawaii.

[Clutch0364]

What website is this??

collegefootballnews.com

I believe cfn.com opens it also

[RaginEsquire06]

Very encouraging...Check it out!

"Nov. 25
University of Louisiana 28 ... Arkansas State 13
In a brilliant battle of runners with Arkansas State's Reggie Arnold rushing for 156 yards and University of Louisiana's Tyrell Fenroy tearing off 178, the Ragin' Cajuns broke away in the fourth quarter on a 23-yard Jerry Babb run and Fenroy's third short score of the game. ASU got up 10-7 in the second quarter on a 15-yard Levi Dejohnette catch, but could only managed two Josh Arauco field goals the rest of the way.
Player of the game ... University of Louisiana RB Tyrell Fenroy ran 26 times for 178 yards and three touchdowns
Stat Leaders: University of Louisiana - Passing: Jerry Babb, 10-18, 107 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Tyrell Fenroy, 26-178, 3 TD Receiving: Michael Desormeaux, 4-34
Arkansas State - Passing: Corey Leonard, 13-30, 132 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Reggie Arnold, 18-156 Receiving: Levi Dejohnette, 3-43, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... As bad as things looked a few weeks ago, it's stunning how things can quickly change. After beating Arkansas State with a nice mix of running from both Jerry Ball and Tyrell Fenroy, the Ragin' Cajuns can get to seven wins by beating UL Monroe next week and knock someone out of a bowl spot. As long as Fenroy, who's coming on like a league MVP, runs like he has the last few week, Louisiana Là will go somewhere for a 13th game."

See: http://cfn.scout.com/2/557695.html

[Snuffy]

Now they have us in a different bowl...

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
San Diego, CA
Qualcomm Stadium
December 19, 2006, ESPN2
Mountain West vs. at-large
Bowl Projection: TCU vs. University of Louisiana

This would be fine match-up. Not sure San Diego could survive the influx of Ragin Cajuns , but as a Cajun Fan of long standing it would be great to hear and see real cajuns.

Playing TCU would give us a true measure of our football team. The Horned Frogs come to play

[levetsj]

http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/blogs/...-possibilities

Bowl Possibilities
2006-11-26
Brandon Johnson

Alright, there’s not much to say about the game against ASU. Most of us will admit that we were out-everythinged in that game and probably weren’t going to win even with Willie Tuitama in the lineup. That said, a lot of people are saying there is no chance for a bowl game. However, I’ve done some research and if my findings are correct, Arizona still has an outside shot at a bowl game. Here’s how it breaks down:

There are 64 bowl slots available. There are 73 teams who have six wins or more and thereby meet the necessary criteria for a bowl berth. Teams with only six wins cannot be placed in a bowl game until all teams with seven or more wins have been placed. The ONLY exception to this rule is if a conference has a guaranteed tie-in. In the case of the Pac-10, this means a 6-6 UCLA team (assuming they lose to USC) will probably get the conference’s guaranteed spot in the Hawaii bowl.

Troy and Louisiana are both 6-5 heading into their final games next week. If both win, that would mean there are 64 teams that meet the criteria of seven wins OR a conference tie-in. Troy is playing winless Florida International so don’t count on much there. Louisiana faces rival Louisiana-Monroe (3-8) so that seems like the better shot of the two. For the sake of argument, let’s say that one of them loses. That would create a situation where 10 teams with a 6-6 record would be fighting for ONE FINAL SPOT. Those teams are…

Arizona
Washington St.
Pittsburgh
Kansas/Oklahoma St. (one will get a tie-in and the other becomes part of the ten)
Alabama
New Mexico/Wyoming (one will get a tie-in and the other becomes part of the ten)
SMU
Kent St.
Arkansas St.
Troy/Louisiana (if one of them loses)

The Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego has one of the few “at-large” spots available in a bowl game. That means they can take anyone they want. It also means they are likely to get stuck with the team #64. Of the teams listed above, Arizona has the best shot to get to San Diego.

The proximity of Tucson to San Diego would make it easy for fans to attend the game and this, combined with Arizona’s hunger for any bowl appearance, could be enough. Pittsburgh, Kansas/Oklahoma St., SMU, Kent St, Arkansas St., and Troy/Louisiana probably wouldn’t be able to provide the fan support that the other schools (particularly Arizona) would. New Mexico/Wyoming are out because a Mountain West team (probably Utah) gets an automatic berth in the game. Alabama is the biggest name on the list but they have just one win against a team .500 or better (Hawaii). Washington St. lost to Arizona and lost their last three so it’s hard to imagine them being picked over Arizona. Arizona has four wins against .500 or better teams and all of those teams spent some time in the Top 25 this year.

So there you have it. We are now Florida International/Louisiana-Monroe fans. In the event that Troy and Louisiana both win, that wouldn’t automatically rule out the Wildcats. Any team can decline an appearance in a bowl game thereby opening up a spot for another team (Arizona did this with the Humanitarian Bowl in 1999 when they finished 6-6). Also, the Hawaii Bowl could pick Arizona over UCLA. There is no official tiebreaker beyond first place so the bowl can take whomever they want from UCLA, Arizona, and Washington St. It’s hard to imagine UCLA not getting it since they beat Arizona and would probably bring the most fans.

No matter what happens, this season was exactly what we needed it to be – a step forward. The loss to ASU was incredibly disappointing but beating Wazzu, Cal, and Oregon in consecutive weeks takes a lot of the sting off. Next year at this time we won’t be discussing “if,” we’ll be discussing “where.”

[RedCajun]

http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/blogs/...-possibilities

Bowl Possibilities
2006-11-26
Brandon Johnson

Alright, there’s not much to say about the game against ASU. Most of us will admit that we were out-everythinged in that game and probably weren’t going to win even with Willie Tuitama in the lineup. That said, a lot of people are saying there is no chance for a bowl game. However, I’ve done some research and if my findings are correct, Arizona still has an outside shot at a bowl game. Here’s how it breaks down:

There are 64 bowl slots available. There are 73 teams who have six wins or more and thereby meet the necessary criteria for a bowl berth. Teams with only six wins cannot be placed in a bowl game until all teams with seven or more wins have been placed. The ONLY exception to this rule is if a conference has a guaranteed tie-in. In the case of the Pac-10, this means a 6-6 UCLA team (assuming they lose to USC) will probably get the conference’s guaranteed spot in the Hawaii bowl.

Troy and Louisiana are both 6-5 heading into their final games next week. If both win, that would mean there are 64 teams that meet the criteria of seven wins OR a conference tie-in. Troy is playing winless Florida International so don’t count on much there. Louisiana faces rival Louisiana-Monroe (3-8) so that seems like the better shot of the two. For the sake of argument, let’s say that one of them loses. That would create a situation where 10 teams with a 6-6 record would be fighting for ONE FINAL SPOT. Those teams are…

Arizona
Washington St.
Pittsburgh
Kansas/Oklahoma St. (one will get a tie-in and the other becomes part of the ten)
Alabama
New Mexico/Wyoming (one will get a tie-in and the other becomes part of the ten)
SMU
Kent St.
Arkansas St.
Troy/Louisiana (if one of them loses)

The Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego has one of the few “at-large” spots available in a bowl game. That means they can take anyone they want. It also means they are likely to get stuck with the team #64. Of the teams listed above, Arizona has the best shot to get to San Diego.

The proximity of Tucson to San Diego would make it easy for fans to attend the game and this, combined with Arizona’s hunger for any bowl appearance, could be enough. Pittsburgh, Kansas/Oklahoma St., SMU, Kent St, Arkansas St., and Troy/Louisiana probably wouldn’t be able to provide the fan support that the other schools (particularly Arizona) would. New Mexico/Wyoming are out because a Mountain West team (probably Utah) gets an automatic berth in the game. Alabama is the biggest name on the list but they have just one win against a team .500 or better (Hawaii). Washington St. lost to Arizona and lost their last three so it’s hard to imagine them being picked over Arizona. Arizona has four wins against .500 or better teams and all of those teams spent some time in the Top 25 this year.

So there you have it. We are now Florida International/Louisiana-Monroe fans. In the event that Troy and Louisiana both win, that wouldn’t automatically rule out the Wildcats. Any team can decline an appearance in a bowl game thereby opening up a spot for another team (Arizona did this with the Humanitarian Bowl in 1999 when they finished 6-6). Also, the Hawaii Bowl could pick Arizona over UCLA. There is no official tiebreaker beyond first place so the bowl can take whomever they want from UCLA, Arizona, and Washington St. It’s hard to imagine UCLA not getting it since they beat Arizona and would probably bring the most fans.

No matter what happens, this season was exactly what we needed it to be – a step forward. The loss to ASU was incredibly disappointing but beating Wazzu, Cal, and Oregon in consecutive weeks takes a lot of the sting off. Next year at this time we won’t be discussing “if,” we’ll be discussing “where.”

At this point, I would be thrilled to be #64
Go Cajuns
Go FIU (just to be safe)

[CajunProud]

DEEP BREATH, EVERYBODY CALM DOWN

As much as I would love to go to a bowl game, we first and foremost have to beat ULM. Let's stay focused people. Beat ULM and then we can talk about bowlin.

Remeber what happened after we started speculating after the Houston win???????

GEAUX CAJUNS!!!!!!

BEAT ULM!!!!!!!!!

[BirdofParadise]

DEEP BREATH, EVERYBODY CALM DOWN

As much as I would love to go to a bowl game, we first and foremost have to beat ULM. Let's stay focused people. Beat ULM and then we can talk about bowlin.

Remeber what happened after we started speculating after the Houston win???????

GEAUX CAJUNS!!!!!!

BEAT ULM!!!!!!!!!

I don't know where folks on these websites get this stuff.

Northern Illinois will go to the Poinsettia Bowl.

Our ONLY shot is to win and have FIU beat Troy.

[CutOff_Cajun]

I don't know where folks on these websites get this stuff.

Northern Illinois will go to the Poinsettia Bowl.

Our ONLY shot is to win and have FIU beat Troy.

I absolutely agree with you. Not about N. Illinois, but that our only shot at a bowl is for Troy to lose. My esteemed colleagues over at ESPN seem to agree.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2627844