Uconn article for Sun Bowl

[T-Man]

A few days old but should put to rest those who do not want to travel to SUN Bowl...

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Sun Bowl selection chair talks UConn football and Runway Challenge Week 12

Following this weekend’s games, the Sun Bowl selection committee should have a good idea of which Big East Conference football school may be the recipient of its invitation.

And UConn could become the clear front-runner if things go according to plan, says the chairman of the Sun Bowl’s selection committee.

Should UConn defeat Syracuse Saturday  coupled with a West Virginia victory over Cincinnati  it could mean the Huskies (8-2, 4-1) will be headed to El Paso, Texas on New Year’s Eve. That is, of course, unless UConn upsets West Virginia in its regular season finale and clinches a BCS berth.

John Folmer, who heads up the 10-person Sun Bowl selection committee, says the committee was split down the middle between UConn and Cincinnati after its weekly meeting on Monday.

That's partly because two Sun Bowl representatives were in Cincinnati to see the Bearcats whip UConn 27-3 on Saturday. Folmer visited UConn in October to see the Huskies beat South Florida, sending thousands of fans onto Rentschler Field to celebrate.

"Those who have seen Cincinnati think they are great, those who were at UConn think they are great," Folmer said Thursday. "Our last meeting got pretty heated, but it was fun. No one would have ever thought we’d be fighting over UConn and Cincinnati."

The Sun Bowl is third in line for the Big East after the BCS and the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla get their choices.

In 2006, the Big East (including football independent Notre Dame) and the Big 12 signed a four-year deal that assures each conference of sending its top, non-BCS teams to either the Gator Bowl or the Sun Bowl twice.

Since the Gator took West Virginia last year, it’s strongly believed its committee will opt for a Big 12 team rather than picking a Big East team this year (keeping its chances to land Notre Dame if and when it becomes bowl eligible over the next two years).

Folmer said the committee is anticipating pitting a Big East team against the No. 3 team from the Pac-10 Conference (likely California) this season. Following the strict conference standings, though not required by any of the bowls, may just be what separates the candidates for the Sun Bowl.

"Historically, our selection criteria is based on what teams do," Folmer said. "We consider where they finish in the conference first, and if there’s a tie, who beat who head-to-head. We also look at the TV market.

"And all indications are that Connecticut and Rutgers bring a very attractive Eastern TV market. But in that scenario, it would be hard to take Rutgers over Connecticut because Connecticut beat Rutgers head-to-head."

Folmer said the Sun Bowl (capacity 50,426) is a big event in the El Paso community, and tickets are scooped up quickly regardless of the opponent. So while participating schools are allotted 8,000 tickets each, it usually works out if schools sell even half of that total.

"We don't expect teams to bring 8,000 people," Folmer said. "We're lucky if they bring 5 or 6,000. We'll sell the rest out."

All factors considered, it could leave UConn and Cincinnati as the top options. Yet a Husky win over last-place Syracuse on Saturday, coupled with No. 5 West Virginia beating Cincinnati, would clinch sole possession of second place in the Big East.

It should also clear UConn’s bowl destination considerably.

[BullMedic]

Can Syracuse pull off 2 upsets this year?..........................

[SANJAY]

Well we're not even being considered by the Sun then.  If Uconn goes there, I expect Meineke to take Rutgers.  Back to PJC or off to Toronto.

[Held_AccountaBull]

hopefully the big east gets a contract with some better quality bowls one day. going back to papajohns.com bowl would be terrible

[Ruger7mmmag]

Actually, it might not be the end of the world.  Chances are we are going to PASTE whoever they give us in the Papa Johns or Toronto scenario and when I mean PASTE, I'm talking 50+ to less than 20, a real BLOW OUT.  This will show that USF should've never been in that game in the first place and will get some pub in the bowl recaps as a team to watch in 2008 as they'll chalk up our losses to immaturity, which won't be a problem next year.

Then when USF rolls up it's 9+ win seasons in the future, these blowouts will be in the mind of these committees and we'll be picked sooner as folks will be more interested to see what we could do against better teams on a better stage, plus have the assurances our fan base will be that much larger as the year to year differences at this stage of the program are incredible as we improve.

Best news is, chances are we should be looking at a BCS game next year with this team and the way the conference is shaping up as we'll either win it or be runner up and I don't see us having more than one loss looking at 2008's schedule.

[Guest]

That article was from LAST Thursday, FWIW...

[Apis Bull]

Well we're not even being considered by the Sun then.  If Uconn goes there, I expect Meineke to take Rutgers.  Back to PJC or off to Toronto.

If Rutgers loses and we win, they can not be taken ahead of us.

[Guest]

Well we're not even being considered by the Sun then.  If Uconn goes there, I expect Meineke to take Rutgers.  Back to PJC or off to Toronto.

If Rutgers loses and we win, they can not be taken ahead of us.

You are correct sir!

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

Well we're not even being considered by the Sun then.  If Uconn goes there, I expect Meineke to take Rutgers.  Back to PJC or off to Toronto.

as long as we win Saturday, Rutgers won't get picked ahead of us for Charlotte.

[bullcocky101]

we pasted ECU in the papajohns bowl last year, how would this year be any different...crappy town, crappy stadium, playing a crappy team, little game day atmosphere. Papajohns bowl is as low as it gets. We deserve better.