Why so much excitement about Sun Bowl

[Who'sYourData?]

Sigh.

Bowl games don't want teams from their own backyard, unless they are desperate to sell tickets.  Bowl games are designed to bring in fans FROM FAR AWAY (note the judicious use of the caps).  Bowl games were built to aid tourism during a time of year when there isn't much tourism.  The Gator Bowl doesn't want 15,000 USF fans driving in the day of the game, it doesn't help the local economy much.

College teams want to travel to bowl games for two reasons.  First, it's a nice NCAA legal reward for their players hard work.  Not much fun to travel two hours to a bowl game.  Second, it means exposure in placed that the team normally doesn't get exposure.  The Sun Bowl will have many fans from the western half of the United States watching the game, many who have never or rarely seen USF play.  How many Oregon games have you watched this year?

Great for the local economy, great for the team economy.

Always follow the money.

[Who'sYourData?]

Incidentally, the Muffler bowl only took NC State a couple of years ago because they needed an attendance boost to keep the bowl viable.

[bulls96go]

if you do not go please buy tix from usf so our allotment is sold out

[Jamie]

Another prestige point - the Sun Bowl is one of only three non-BCS games on network TV. It's our first nationwide network TV game (CBS) and there's a good chance it turns into a four-hour USF commercial.

[TheBullies]

Another prestige point - the Sun Bowl is one of only three non-BCS games on network TV. It's our first nationwide network TV game (CBS) and there's a good chance it turns into a four-hour USF commercial.

I didn't even think about that -- nationwide on CBS... New Year's Eve. FREAK'N AWESOME.

[WoolyBully]

Sigh.

Bowl games don't want teams from their own backyard, unless they are desperate to sell tickets.  Bowl games are designed to bring in fans FROM FAR AWAY (note the judicious use of the caps).  Bowl games were built to aid tourism during a time of year when there isn't much tourism.  The Gator Bowl doesn't want 15,000 USF fans driving in the day of the game, it doesn't help the local economy much.

College teams want to travel to bowl games for two reasons.  First, it's a nice NCAA legal reward for their players hard work.  Not much fun to travel two hours to a bowl game.  Second, it means exposure in placed that the team normally doesn't get exposure.  The Sun Bowl will have many fans from the western half of the United States watching the game, many who have never or rarely seen USF play.  How many Oregon games have you watched this year?

Great for the local economy, great for the team economy.

Always follow the money.

And this has to be one of the most rational posts regarding bowls. Which is a very good counter to:

gator/sun bowl officials were too stupid to see this and see the benifits of filling up the stadium moreso then picking a better team...

...and if you do a bit of research, you'll find that the Sun bowl sells out - year after year - regardless of who plays. This is

El Paso's day in the national spotlight and it's the second oldest bowl still being played. So piling six of your buds into the car for a four hour ride to the game is EXACTLY the scenario the bowl committees want to avoid, in particular for a bowl like this. 

[MikeG]

it's the best alternative availoable to the Bulls--- and the extra half million dollars we get in bowl revenue sure doesn't hurt either.

Gator would be nice--- maybe if we fail down the road to win the BE in the next two years- they will feel like giving us a shot to have a good team and a well attended venue-- if that is a problem by that time. Other than the UGA-UF and the recent FSU-Bama game-- they actually put tarp over portions of their stadium because the Jags can't bring in a big enough crowd to fill the stadium (or has the Jags recent "success" changed that back again?) Man-- Jax is a serious bandwagon town imo

[JrGMan2004]

If the Gator Bowl picks USF this year...they will NOT be able to Pick a Big East team over the next two seasons.

They want to keep that OPTION...for this year.

SO...either we do the Sun Bowl now or LATER, you know?

GO BULLS!!!

Right... I can't believe that people are so STUPID to not be able to see that the Gator is making the smart decision by keeping their options open, rather than being forced to take a B12 team the next two years. What if next year, Gator's best B12 option is a weak program with a weak fan base that's not going to bring fans. So maybe next year their choice is a weak B12 team... or a strong USF, or strong Louisville, or strong Rutgers, or even ND... thinking subjectively, think from the perspective of your goal is to make the most money for the bowl as you can, and thinking beyond this year, but to next year and the year after too.

[crambone]

I am all about the Sun Bowl, even though it means I won't be able to go.

[DELdaBull]

I am all about the Sun Bowl, even though it means I won't be able to go.

It's looking bad