***Official What Bowl Are We Going To Thread***

[CyFan61]

This discussion is really spread out so let's put it here.

Lots of options on the table, I've been doing some looking. Here's what I've found.

IF the Big 12 gets two into the BCS (which is likely if OU beats TCU and KSU beats UT next week), Iowa State is probably heading to Dallas for the Heart of Dallas Bowl. It's on January 1st, televised on ESPNU, against a Big Ten opponent - probably Purdue or Minnesota.

IF the Big 12 only gets one into the BCS, Iowa State is probably going to be an at-large selection, outside of the Big 12 lineup of bowls. The conference has 8 bowl ties, and 9 bowl-eligible teams. We're likely the odd man out. The question now becomes, which bowls are looking for teams?

The most likely outcome here is the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, LA on December 28th (a Friday). It's televised in the afternoon on ESPN. This bowl will not get teams from either of its tie-ins, so our opponent here would be another at-large team.

Iowa State would be the only major conference team to be an at-large, so our opponent here would certainly be a mid-major team. Some potential options include the MAC, which has a few more bowl-eligible teams than bowl slots (Bowling Green or Central Michigan) or the Sun Belt (Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, or Western Kentucky). Yeah, none of those options are at all sexy, but a bowl is a bowl and it would be nice to have a beatable opponent.

I'm hoping there are some more bowls out there that need some at-larges? I had earlier thought Military Bowl, but I had missed their contingency selection with the MAC. They'll still have an open spot if Rice loses to UTEP (Rice is up 17-14 at halftime), because they won't fill their C-USA spot, so keep an eye on that game tonight.

Any other games? I'm pulling for OU and KSU next week, because Heart of Dallas is better than the quagmire of these games, but I'm hoping there are better options out there in case we're stuck finding something else.

[jburke]

I think Heart of Dallas bowl, but with Baylor becoming bowl eligible, our best chance is for 2 Big 12 teams to get BCS berths, we need OU and Kstate to win out...

[TallKidIsTall]

is ou that likely of a bcs at large pick over clemson if both win out?

clemson has been very impressive lately and would be 11-1 and higher in the bcs

[Cyclonetrombone]

Liberty Bowl is ConUSA champ v SEC #8 or Big East #5 Neither of the SEC or Big East team is available at the moment but if Uconn or Pitt win next week then they will get it.

[CyFan61]

Liberty Bowl is ConUSA champ v SEC #8 or Big East #5 Neither of the SEC or Big East team is available at the moment but if Uconn or Pitt win next week then they will get it.

UConn plays at home vs. Cincinnati (Cincy should win), but Pitt plays at South Florida who is 3-8. Maybe USF can pull the upset.

But, there is another factor with Iowa State and the Liberty Bowl. The winner of the C-USA Championship, Tulsa vs. UCF, will play in that game. If it is Tulsa, that would make it unlikely that we would play there, as bowls typically avoid rematches.

So for our Liberty Bowl odds, we should be rooting for both USF and UCF next week.

Also - UTEP is now beating Rice in the 3rd, and if UTEP wins, the Military Bowl will have an open slot.

[Cyclonetrombone]

Military Bowl would be against Navy right? That would get a decent amount of eyeballs

[CyFan61]

Military Bowl would be against Navy right? That would get a decent amount of eyeballs

Not Navy, cyspy is right about Fight Hunger bid already being accepted. Military Bowl had a deal with Army this year that they would get it, if eligible, and Army didn't make it to six wins.

It would be against their contingency pick of #4 MAC (at least according to this page... don't know about its accuracy). Fourth team from the MAC looks like it'd be Ball State, who is 9-3. (Toledo is also 9-3, but was just there last year.)

I'd hope that it would be Ohio, who is 8-4 and could also be selected. I'd love for the Cyclones to take on Beau Blankenship and Frank Solich.

[cyspy]

Navy is bowl eligible and will play in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

[Wesley]

Lets play Navy in Hunger Bowl.....we are hungry for SF versus Pinstripe.

[CyCrazy]

Shreveport

[CyFan61]

Lets play Navy in Hunger Bowl.....we are hungry for SF versus Pinstripe.

Can't happen... Fight Hunger Bowl has a tie-in with the Pac-12, and they have enough teams to fill it. Will be Pac-12 vs. Navy this year

[awd4cy]

Not Navy, cyspy is right about Fight Hunger bid already being accepted. Military Bowl had a deal with Army this year that they would get it, if eligible, and Army didn't make it to six wins.

It would be against their contingency pick of #4 MAC (at least according to this page... don't know about its accuracy). Fourth team from the MAC looks like it'd be Ball State, who is 9-3. (Toledo is also 9-3, but was just there last year.)

I'd hope that it would be Ohio, who is 8-4 and could also be selected. I'd love for the Cyclones to take on Beau Blankenship and Frank Solich.

Yuck..... playing a MAC team.

[cyman05]

If the Big 12 only ends up with 1 BCS team (K-State loss to Texas), then here are the possible bowls looking to fill spots

-Beef O Brady’s (Big East spot).....St Petersburg, FL..Dec 21 vs. C-USA
-Pizza Bowl (Big 10 spot).............Detroit.................Dec 26 vs. MAC
-Military (Army)..........................DC......................Dec 27 vs. MAC
-Belk (ACC spot).........................Charlotte.............Dec 27 vs. Big East
-Independence (ACC, SEC spot)....Shreveport..........Dec 28 vs. MAC/Sun Belt/WAC
-Music City (ACC spot).................Nashville.............Dec 31 vs. SEC
-Liberty (SEC/Big East spot).........Memphis..............Dec 31 vs. C-USA
-Compass (SEC spot)..................Birmingham..........Jan 5 vs. MAC/Sun Belt/WAC

Some of these are still dependent on games next weekend...for example, if Georgia Tech beats FSU, Georgia Tech becomes bowl eligible (and in fact will be in the Orange Bowl). This is new rule for this year that 6-7 teams who lose in the Conf Championship game must only be selected after all 6-6 teams taken. Also, it's possible that the Liberty and Beef O Brady's come off this list with wins by Pitt and/or UConn next week.

If ISU isn't chosen in on the B12 bowls, the good news is that it will have 1st pick of all the above bowls if they are all still looking for teams. The only teams bowls will have to pick from are 3 MAC teams, 3 Sun Belt teams, and 1 WAC team. ISU will be by far the biggest draw of any of those, so ISU gets 1st pick if they fall to an at-large team.

[CyFan61]

Here is another wrench that could be thrown into things... from Twitter:

@DanWeiner: No. 23 Boise State needs to be in the top 16 to make the BCS and the EIGHT teams ranked ahead of them all lost.

This could mean the Big 12 only gets 1 in the BCS even if KSU and OU both win. The other spots are already accounted for (6 automatic bids + Notre Dame + SEC's 2nd bid + Oregon) so if Boise makes it, there's no more room. That would mean ISU would be looking for an at-large bid pretty much no matter what... ASSUMING that the Heart of Dallas Bowl would pick Baylor over Iowa State (which I'm still not 100% sold on).

[Jarrods79]

Here is another wrench that could be thrown into things... from Twitter:



This could mean the Big 12 only gets 1 in the BCS even if KSU and OU both win. The other spots are already accounted for (6 automatic bids + Notre Dame + SEC's 2nd bid + Oregon) so if Boise makes it, there's no more room. That would mean ISU would be looking for an at-large bid pretty much no matter what... ASSUMING that the Heart of Dallas Bowl would pick Baylor over Iowa State (which I'm still not 100% sold on).

If KSU and OU win out, no way they take Boise State as an at-large...one would think.

Edit: sorry, didn't see the potential three-way cluster tie for MWC title...assuming Boise wins next week and the conference title is decided by BCS standings, Boise wins the MWC. The question is will they climb to 16 with a win over Nevada and will the teams above them drop far to let them in...hold on to your butts.