USF penciled in for St. Pete. Bowl

[Bull Martin]

If ND is selected by Gator there is no Sun. They take our spot.

I meant that if ND isn't eligible the Gator bowl will likely take a Big 12 team again leaving the BEast the Sun Bowl.  I honestly don't believe ND will be eligible, so I stand by my previous statement.

[Bull Martin]

2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl Will Be Played On Saturday, December 27

Game Set for 1:00 p.m. Kickoff, Televised on ESPN

Charlotte, N.C. – The 2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl will take place on Saturday, December 27, 2008, with a 1:00 p.m. kickoff, televised nationally on ESPN, it was announced today by Raycom Sports, owner and operator of the game. The Meineke Car Care Bowl, with a $1 million payout per team, features a matchup of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big East Conference. The game is played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

“We are extremely pleased to be playing the 2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl on Saturday, December 27,†said executive director Will Webb. “The prime Saturday afternoon kickoff has been an ideal time slot for us and produced great ratings for ESPN. This year, it will allow fans to travel in after Christmas and still attend the RBC Bank Street Festival & Pep Rally on Friday.â€Â

“The Meineke Car Care Bowl continues to be a tremendous success for the city of Charlotte and everyone involved with the game,†added Webb. “And in this economic climate, we are very fortunate to have a committed local company in Meineke Car Care Centers as the title sponsor.â€Â

The Meineke Car Care Bowl has averaged over 60,000 fans during its first six years, with two sellouts. It has reached over 13.5 million television households. In 2003, it was named one of the five-best start-ups in sports over the past five years by the Sports Business Journal, behind only the NFL Houston Texans and ESPN the Magazine.

The inaugural game, played on December 28, 2002 before a sold-out stadium, saw Virginia defeat West Virginia, 48-22. On December 27, 2003, Virginia once again claimed victory, this time over Pittsburgh, 23-16. The third year again produced a sellout, as Boston College defeated North Carolina, 37-24, on December 30, 2004. NC State defeated South Florida, 14-0, on December 31, 2005. Boston College defeated Navy 25-24, on a field goal as time expired on December 30, 2006. And last year, Wake Forest defeated UConn, 24-10 on December 29, 2007.

For more information, please visit www.meinekecarcarebowl.com.

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Meineke Car Care Bowl

[Bull Martin]

I have no idea why people don't think we'll go.

I'm just confused now.

[TheBullies]

BCS

Sun / Gator (though Gator still wants ND, so if it's sun we'll get passed virtually automatically)

Meineke Car Care  -  We may not have meineke this year (I can’t remember)

PapaJohns.com / International / St. Pete  -  This trio will all be selected by ESPN according to what would be the most favorable match-up.  The widely held belief is that ESPN will stick us in the St. Pete bowl is to up it's attendance to increase it's chances of surviving (if we're still available).  They could also pick UCF to do this, but are 2nd (or 3rd?) to pick in CUSA.

So my take then is either BCS... Car Care... Papajohns or St. Pete.

I think Int'l will continue to take teams closer until they are more established. I'd rather Car Care (ACC) or Papajohns (SEC) over St. Pete.

The opponent just doesn't make up for the number of fans, etc. Besides, half the fun of the bowl game is traveling and being in the presence of such dedicated fans (you guys).

[USF-PMR]

Bowl games are fun but some of these tie ins really suck.  Knock ACC from one or two of their tie ins an put quality/winning/winner big east teams in them.  ACC on the way down and BE on the way up...you'll see stay tuned.

[TheBullies]

agreed. we have like 2 good tie-ins in my opinion.

[Joe]

What bowl would we take frm the ACC that is worth a ****?

You have to remember only 2 BE teams have really shown he propensity to draw great traveling bases consistently. WVU and recently Rutgers.

Louisville traveled well for the BCS and the Liberty, but sunk it up when it came to the Gator.

UConn had a great showing last year.

I can see us grabbing the Music City eventually.

But the reality is th ACC bowl selection is not that much better than ours. The only 2 bowl games worth fighting for are the Music City and the Champs Sports.