Trib's Joey Johnston: USF in the St. Pete Bowl

[Guest]

I agree Joe.  It's hard for the folks in Jax to pass up on the Irish... they may or may not be available this year, but if ND is available, there is virtually no chance of the Gator folks picking another team... heck, I could even see the Gator extending a "conditional" invite early... (like "If you don't make the BCS, Coach Weis, we have a spot for you here...")

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The parameters for USF are really not good, especially if Notre Dame gets the Gator or Sun Bowl slot.

1) We need USF to get to 6 Big East wins. That may be good enough for the Big East championship and/or a slim shot at an at-large BCS slot.

2) If USF goes 6-1 in conference play and does not win the Big East or get a BCS at-large bid, then we need to have no other teams go 5-2 in Big East play.  Being 2nd at 6-1, USF needs the 3rd place team to be 4-3 or worse to be in a position for selection by the Gator bowl ... or MCCB if Gator/Sun selects Notre Dame.

3) If USF goes 6-1 in conference play and does not win the Big East or get a BCS at large bid, and there is only one more team 5-2 in Big East play... then USF would play in Charlotte if the Gator/Sun does not select Notre Dame.

4) If USF goes 6-1 in conference play and does not win the Big East or get a BCS at large bid, and there are two more teams 5-2 in Big East play... then it gets complicated:

4a) If the 5-2 teams are U Conn and anyone else AND the Gator/Sun selects the "anyone else" -- instead of Notre Dame -- then USF could still go to Charlotte because the Huskies played there last year.

4b) If the Gator/Sun selects Notre Dame, then chances are good the MCCB would take a 5-2 team other than U Conn over USF - if only because USF played in Charlotte more recently than any other Big East team (other than U conn).

5) If USF goes 5-2, then the Gator/Sun and MCCB could select just about any other team besides USF.

BOTTOM LINE -- FOR USF TO PLAY ANYWHERE BUT ST. PETE:

* USF needs 6 conference wins -- or win the Big East's automatic BCS slot.

* Other Big East teams need to lose 3 conference games - wherever possible.

* Notre Dame needs to get a BCS bid or fail to win 7 games.

[bull2saintleo]

Good points Jim, and another thing to remember NBC owns the rights to the Gator Bowl, so if ND is available with 8 wins it will be hard for them to pass up the Irish since they cover all of their home games.  St. Pete Bowl would be a major disappointment in my estimation for this season.  Lets hope we don't end up in Pinellas County.

Just an FYI, but starting last season, the Gator Bowl is broadcast by CBS and not NBC like in seasons past.

[jjlovecub]

I personally think we shouldn't be allowed in the St Pete Bowl. Part of the fun is traveling to the Bowl Game. How fun would it be to travel 20 miles??? Not to mention, bowl games are suppose to have an economic impact on the community. That isn't going to happen if they select the home team? Do they pick last? If not, hopefully they select somebody instead of us. Of course, I'm hoping BCS so this would all be a moot point.

[Matt]

you would think that the st pete bowl wouldnt want us there considering we wouldnt use any hotel rooms.

[Guest]

The St Pete Bowl is smart enough to know they won't get two teams willing to travel.  They want a team like USF or UCF to sell tickets, and another team to bring fans.

A UCF v Rutgers game would sell out... so would USF v Houston.

For these pre-Xmas games, they need butts in seats as much as they need hotel rooms sold.

[feardabull]

Just took a closer look at some of the bowl projections. 

January 2-Sugar Bowl.....Florida vs. West Virginia.

Could set up some an interesting possibility and added incentive if the BCS game is on the line going into the WVU game.

usc will be playing gators for NC

I agree with the Gators..... but not USC.  Ohio State will have the most talented team in the country, and with Terrelle Pryor, who WILL be used like Tebow his Freshman year, that offense will be scary good!!!  10 returning on offense, 9 on defense from a team that made it to the Big Dance last season....  tOSU runs the table easily and I wont expect a let-down this time around.

[SANJAY]

How will the 40,000 UCF fans who travel to every game fit inside the Trop if they end up there?

[Matt]

i cant see enough people from houston coming to this game.  rutgers is one thing...but houston?  why?  i hate having bowl ties with c-usa.  there isnt one intriguing team to play in that whole mess.

[SANJAY]

The most likely teams from CUSA are the eastern teams: UCF, ECU, SMiss, Memphis and whoever else is in there.  The most likely BE teams are USF and whichever northern team did not play in Tampa during the season (this year UL, WVU and Cinc).

[MechanicalBull]

I agree Joe.  It's hard for the folks in Jax to pass up on the Irish... they may or may not be available this year, but if ND is available, there is virtually no chance of the Gator folks picking another team... heck, I could even see the Gator extending a "conditional" invite early... (like "If you don't make the BCS, Coach Weis, we have a spot for you here...")

---

The parameters for USF are really not good, especially if Notre Dame gets the Gator or Sun Bowl slot.

1) We need USF to get to 6 Big East wins. That may be good enough for the Big East championship and/or a slim shot at an at-large BCS slot.

2) If USF goes 6-1 in conference play and does not win the Big East or get a BCS at-large bid, then we need to have no other teams go 5-2 in Big East play.  Being 2nd at 6-1, USF needs the 3rd place team to be 4-3 or worse to be in a position for selection by the Gator bowl ... or MCCB if Gator/Sun selects Notre Dame.

3) If USF goes 6-1 in conference play and does not win the Big East or get a BCS at large bid, and there is only one more team 5-2 in Big East play... then USF would play in Charlotte if the Gator/Sun does not select Notre Dame.

[glow=red,2,300]4) If USF goes 6-1 in conference play and does not win the Big East or get a BCS at large bid, and there are two more teams 5-2 in Big East play... then it gets complicated:[/glow]

4a) If the 5-2 teams are U Conn and anyone else AND the Gator/Sun selects the "anyone else" -- instead of Notre Dame -- then USF could still go to Charlotte because the Huskies played there last year.

4b) If the Gator/Sun selects Notre Dame, then chances are good the MCCB would take a 5-2 team other than U Conn over USF - if only because USF played in Charlotte more recently than any other Big East team (other than U conn).

5) If USF goes 5-2, then the Gator/Sun and MCCB could select just about any other team besides USF.

BOTTOM LINE -- FOR USF TO PLAY ANYWHERE BUT ST. PETE:

* USF needs 6 conference wins -- or win the Big East's automatic BCS slot.

* Other Big East teams need to lose 3 conference games - wherever possible.

* Notre Dame needs to get a BCS bid or fail to win 7 games.

Wow what a anticlimatic season it would  for the bulls if we finish 6-1 and end up in St.Pete.  Bottom Line BE bowl line ups sucks.