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SEC May Need Genius to Figure Out Bowls (LSU to...Shreveport????)

Discussion in 'The Tiger's Den' started by TejasTiger, Nov 27, 2005.

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TejasTiger Founding Member

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Sad but true, and surely no more a long shot than an 11-1 LSU getting to Pasadena next weekend. Guilbeau's latest is below.

BATON ROUGE -- The Southeastern Conference bowl matrix is getting very interesting.

There are not enough bowl eligible teams to go around, so the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., is not getting an SEC team this year. There may also not be enough good bowls for four SEC teams that finished with nine wins or better.

LSU (10-1), for example, has an outside chance at the Rose Bowl if UCLA beats USC on Saturday and it beats Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday and somehow passes Penn State in the BCS computer rankings. The Tigers are fourth in the BCS presently to Penn State's third.

Florida's win over Florida State, Arizona State's win over Arizona and Tennessee's win over Kentucky all helped LSU's number-crunching cause. LSU's sloppy 19-17 win over a bad Arkansas team Friday did not.

LSU (7-1 SEC West champions) is headed to Atlanta, perhaps twice regardless of what it does in Atlanta. If LSU beats Georgia, it will play West Virginia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2 in the Georgia Dome. If LSU loses to Georgia, it could play as a 10-2 West champ in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 30 in the Georgia Dome.

"It's possible," SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom said Saturday. "But you throw out almost any scenario, and I can't say it's wrong. It's too early."

Here's how it and something else could happen:

If Georgia beats LSU, it will go to the Sugar Bowl. And Georgia will beat LSU if LSU plays as it did against Arkansas with two second half turnovers, three dropped passes by Dwayne Bowe and a kickoff coverage snafu.

The Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla., (Jan. 2) is often a landing spot for losers of the SEC championship game, but it is not interested in LSU this year because it just had LSU last year. Bowls are always looking for freshness. Auburn at 9-2 and ranked ninth is a virtual lock for the Capital One, having not played there since the 2000 season. Orlando is also not a hard trip from Auburn, Ala.

The Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla., (Jan. 2) has not taken an SEC West team since 1997, and it has not shown a lot of interest in LSU. The Outback loves South Carolina, which has the best traveling fans in the league, and they're usually hungry because the Gamecocks have been to just three bowls since the late 1980s. Two of those were the Outback, which took South Carolina at 7-4 in 2000 over 8-3 Tennessee. Bowls rarely want back-to-back visitors, but it took South Carolina at 8-3 again in 2001. The Outback likes 7-4 South Carolina this season because of new coach Steve Spurrier. The Gamecock faithful is hungry again, too, because South Carolina has not been to a bowl since the Outback on Jan. 1, 2002.

The Outback will be looking at Florida now, though, in light of the Gators' 34-7 trouncing of Florida State Saturday. Florida, which played in the Outback after the 2002 and 2003 seasons, is 8-3 close to Tampa.

The Cotton Bowl in Dallas (Jan. 2) took the SEC title game loser last year in Tennessee, but the Cotton has been all over Alabama and its tradition in recent weeks. The Crimson Tide is 9-2 with a loss to LSU and Auburn, but there's something about that red jersey. The offense is bad, but the name Alabama still carries a lot. That's why it was on CBS seven times this season. Alabama has not been to the Cotton Bowl since 1982. LSU was just there after the 2002 season. And Alabama fans are hungry and ready to travel. The Tide, not far removed from its latest probation, has not been to a New Year's Day bowl in four coaches when Mike DuBose took it to the Orange Bowl in 1999.

The Independence Bowl (Dec. 30) was looking at Florida in its game for the first time, but the Gators likely played their way out of Shreveport on Saturday. The team the Outback does not want -- South Carolina or Florida -- could end up in Shreveport.

That leaves the Peach Bowl (Dec. 30) to take LSU. But the Peach Bowl would rather South Carolina or Florida, considering LSU already has a Dec. 3 date in Atlanta. The Peach has only taken the SEC title game loser once -- Auburn in 1997.

So, could it happen? LSU in the Independence Bowl?

Remember, the bigger bowls can basically can do what they want. The Capital One took 9-2 LSU last season over 9-2 Georgia, which beat LSU 45-16 and is closer to Orlando, and over 9-3 SEC East champ Tennessee. The Capital One just wanted LSU, which had not been to a Florida bowl since 1988.

LSU's bowl luck last year may backfire this year.

The SEC office will try to get LSU in the Outback or Cotton, but in the end the SEC office does not have the power.

Anything is possible.
Click to expand...

TejasTiger, Nov 27, 2005

#1
saltyone So Mote It Be

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Beat the dogs and don't worry about it. :thumb:

saltyone, Nov 27, 2005

#2
DarkHornet Louisiana Sports Fan

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This appears to be an article, what's the source? Advocate?

DarkHornet, Nov 27, 2005

#3
lsuk Founding Member

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shreveport times.....glenn gilbeau

lsuk, Nov 27, 2005

#4
lsuk Founding Member

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no way this will happen. how can the i-bowl go from having miami of ohio one year to have the sec runner up the next year. it just cant be true.

lsuk, Nov 27, 2005

#5
mesquite tiger Diabolical Genius

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if this is to happen, it will get the powers rumbling that a playoff is necessary. no way a top 10 team should be playing in Shreveport for a bowl game

mesquite tiger, Nov 27, 2005

#6
Chip82 Founding Member

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The winner of the SEC CG is in the Sugar Bowl. ( 14 million payout)

If Georgia loses, a Capital One Bowl bid is likely. (5.87 million)
If LSU loses, a Cotton Bowl bid is likely. (3 million )

Auburn will then be the other team in this mix by virtue of being the #3 team in the SEC and will go to whichever bowl of the two is not taken.

Alabama goes to the Peach Bowl (2.2 million)
The Outback will take South Carolina (2.75 million) and the Independence will go to Florida. (about 1.2 million)

I wouldn't mind seeing Georgia play Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.
I'm tired of the Big Ten.

Chip82, Nov 27, 2005

#7
Bayou Bengal11 ~Orlando Tiger Coonass~

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I guess an at large bid for LSU, should they lose to UGA, is not realistic???

Bayou Bengal11, Nov 27, 2005

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Ralph_Wiggum Founding Member

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Bayou Bengal11 said:

I guess an at large bid for LSU, should they lose to UGA, is not realistic???
Click to expand...

Most scenarios have Ohio State getting an at-large bid over a 10-2 LSU. One scenario has Ohio State in the Fiesta against Notre Dame. The BCS bowls care a lot about tv markets and conference footprints. LSU without Nick isn't as attractive. Nick attracted national attention.

Ralph_Wiggum, Nov 27, 2005

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Bayou Bengal11 ~Orlando Tiger Coonass~

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Ralph_Wiggum said:

Most scenarios have Ohio State getting an at-large bid over a 10-2 LSU. One scenario has Ohio State in the Fiesta against Notre Dame.
Click to expand...

Yeah that is what I have seen too. But these scenarios all assume LSU is in the Sugar Bowl, right???

Bayou Bengal11, Nov 27, 2005

#10

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